We love the fire in the wood stove during winter, but without yearly cleanings they can be the single biggest fire danger on your property!
Creosote builds up in your chimney with ever fire you burn and is extremely combustible.
Not only is it a fire danger but it can restrict air and cause your wood stove or fire place to burn very inefficiently.
Its fairly simple to clean yourself and doesn't take long.
Here is what you will need.
First you need chimney brush rods (pictured below). They usually come in four foot lengths and three should be plenty long for a single story structure. A two story house would obviously require more.
Next you need a wire chimney brush(pictured below). SIZE does matter and you will need to match the brush to your stove pipe size.
The most common sizes are 6" and 8". This is a I.D. or inside diameter size.
Once your ready to clean your stove pipe safety first. Put up a ladder and head to the roof.
Remove the cap on the stove pipe. This can be done with a Phillips head screw driver normally but take an adjustable wrench with you just encase.
Your chimney rods and brush all screw together.
Start pushing the brush down gently until it stops.
With a fast up and down motion start to slowly work your brush out of the chimney
Use the same motion to clean top to bottem and replace the stove cap and vacuum out your wood stove/fireplace and your done.
Enjoy those cozy winter fires with a lot less risk this year..
Thanks,
Thanks for the reminder! We need to clean ours as well!
Really good information guys, and important. Thanks. Where did you get the brushes?
Lowe's ,Home Depot,online maybe even the mom and pop hardware store downtown. If they are still in business.