When installing a stove or fireplace in a home, one question that always comes up is how often does the chimney need cleaning? The answer isn’t always as simple as “every year”.

The frequency at which you will have to clean your chimney will depend on several factors such as;

~How many cords of wood you burn per season. Burning twice as much wood as your neighbor, your chimney will need cleaned twice as often.

~What is the quality of your firewood? Did you buy seasoned firewood with a moisture content of 20% or did you buy someones “cut-to-order” firewood with a moisture content of 75%? Seasoned firewood burns hot, clean, and more complete and will deposit a fraction of the creosote as wet wood. Your firewood should be split and stacked to air dry for about a year to fully season.

~Is your stove or insert properly sized? An oversized stove burned on low most of the time will deposit a lot more creosote than a properly sized stove burning hot. Don’t worry, the stove can take it. Fire that baby up!

~Is your stove or fireplace EPA Certified? An EPA certified stove, burned hot, will reburn smoke and gasses before they ever enter the chimney resulting in much cleaner chimneys.

~Are you burning an open fireplace? Open fireplaces burn very hot with a lot of dillution air. They produce very little accumulation in the chimney.

As you can see, many factors play into a seemingly simple answer. To make things simple, always have the sweep out to have a good look at your chimney. A light cleaning will cost you less and you will know that you’re ready for next season with a healthy chimney. You may find your burning habits are good and not much creosote is deposited. GOOD FOR YOU! On the flip-side, poor burning habits, wet wood, old stoves or over-sized stoves may require more than one cleaning per season. I have several customers using old stoves that need cleaning 3 or 4 times per season! WOW, add those bills up and an investment in a new stove doesn’t sound so out of reach.

Whatever your habits, always be safe with an annual inspection and cleaning if necessary. The best time to schedule is in the off season from April through July. Once July ends people start to prepare for winter so the cleaning promotions will be gone.

If you need your chimney cleaned, Jack’s Stove Shop in Black Mountain, NC can help. Just give us a call and we will set up service for you at your convenience.