HIGH STAKE SWEEPS

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[2] Stack Temperature. A cold chimney serves as a distillation tube for warm tar fog, and a slow-burning fire is accompanied by lower flue temperatures and a correspondingly high rate of creosote formation. Other factors that come into play are the type of chimney and its location. The newer, insulated metal flues are reported by many sweeps to be much less prone to creosoting problems, while masonry chimneys that run up an outside wall are among the worst. The ideal chimney, in most opinions, is one which is contained within the house and therefore is much easier to keep warm.

[3] Residence Time. This term refers to the period necessary for smoke to exit from the stove and chimney. In a slowburning fire, smoke rises sluggishly up the chimney, providing increased exposure to the cooling effect of the flue walls. Bends and elbows in the stovepipe and flue also serve to increase the residence time by creating turbulence and swirls of tar fog.

One environment in which creosote formation is kept to a minimum is the typical open fireplace. With an unhampered flow of air, the wood burns rapidly and completely, with nearly complete combustion of flammable particles in the smoke and wood gas. The chimney of such a fireplace should be checked at least once each year, but cleaning may be necessary only in alternating years.

At the other end of the spectrum we find the efficient airtight stove, which, if kept in a perpetual slow burn, may clog a flue with creosote in two weeks or less.

SWEEPING BASICS

Various folk methods of cleaning chimneys have evolved over the years, and range from sending the Christmas goose up the flue prior to beheading it, to pulling a small evergreen through the pipes. Other techniques involve drawing a burlap sack filled with sand up (or down) the flue, or rattling lengths of chain in the chimney to dislodge creosote and soot deposits (a tactic that may lead to cracked masonry or flue tiles).

None of the above can compare with the effectiveness—and ease—of using a modern steel chimney brush. Several slow passes through the chimney with one of these bristling devices is usually sufficient to remove virtually all removable creosote.

Two types are commonly available, the first being a brush with eyelets at the top and bottom, designed to be pulled through the chimney on a rope or ropes. A one-man method using this type of brush involves hanging a weight from the lower eyelet and lowering the brush down through the chimney. This method is occasionally used by professional sweeps when faced with a restricted access chimney, in which extension poles cannot be employed.

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