Saturday, April 17, 2010

Woodstove Maintenance

Since we use our Kozi woodstove almost 24/7 during the winter, it needs maintenance and cleaning about every two months. We've been good about going on the porch roof and cleaning out the outer section of the pipe, but I'm embarrassed to say that we haven't cleaned the inside section since the beginning of the fire season last fall.

The first hint that creosote is building up in the chimney pipe is smoke coming out of the fire box door when it is opened. So when this happened again last week, we picked a fair day to let the fire die out to do the deed. As you can see in the first picture, tapping the pipe dislodged so much creosote that it filled the smoke shelf and pipe connector.

First we took down the inside pipe and removed the creosote adhering to the inside walls. A little newspaper on the floor helped keep the mess contained. When everything was done, here is what I saw. It seemed like quite a bit, but I guess I shouldn't have been surprised after so much use over the winter and early spring.

Last time we cleaned the pipe we noticed a small amount of smoke coming out through a joint in the pipe near the ceiling. We decided to seal the problematic junction with some Rutland "Seal it Right" to provide a better draft up and out of the chimney. If you would like more information on this subject, I found a good article by The Gas Man at Epinions.com. So far it has remained sealed with no further problems.

Chimney cleaning involves some disassembly both indoors and out, but it doesn't take long and the results provide for safer and more enjoyable fires. Play the video clip below to take a look at ours.


And yes, that is the USC Band playing Tusk (a personal favourite for Wayne) in the background. -- Margy

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:35 AM

    The weather here is wierd It is snowing a lovely fire in a wood stove would be so nice. I love the video. ~Betty~

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  2. great reminder...we use our stove 24/7 especially this winter...hubby took it apart last year...but I guess I good check isn't a bad idea....

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  3. We love our wood stove fires. And it's a good thing. Without them we couldn't stay in our cabin all winter long. It is amazing how much heat that little fire can generate. - Margy

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  4. Anonymous3:16 PM

    We heat with wood only, as well. In the fall we got a wood cook stove from Berryhill. It is a Bakers Choice, nothing fancy, but we used it all winter for cooking and baking while heating our house. General maintenance is important.

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  5. Love the fog and Fire. Have a great week.. Where do you get all your firewood?? I would guess it takes quite a few cords of wood for the winter and I know from personal experience getting that much wood is an undertaking..

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  6. We used to heat our home with wood heat before moving here and Art used to clean the chimminey about three times, fall, halfway through winter and spring. I loved the wood stove but my back is now doing a happy dance because we don't have to cut so much wood, we just need a little for out cabin. I love the fog pictures. Must have been lovely to see the fog come and go up the lake.

    Margaret

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  7. You are right Margaret, there is nothing like a good fire up the lake. And you have the neat deck fire pit. Bet that works in all seasons. In summer I really miss my fires. - Margy

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  8. I have a schraeder wood burning stove, it was given to me several years ago and I have been using it for about that amount of time. I can find very little info about it on the internet and had to install it according to a worst case scenario, (plenty of distance from combustibles-not that it matters for this question, just trying to head of any incorrect assumptions) the doors which I think are made of cast aluminum seem to be warping on the bottom (at least the one that latches to the top of the stove is) Any idea how to bring it back into alignment? i am trying to get it to seal better.

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  9. Hi Alex - I don't have an answer for your question. Sorry. Our stove has only one door and it is cast iron with a glass insert. We have replaced the door gaskets to help with the seal, but none of the metal parts have ever warped even under high heat conditions. Good luck with your quest for information. - Margy

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  10. I agree with what you stated. Your explanation was certainly the easiest to understand. I tell you, I usually get irked when folks discuss issues that they plainly do not know about. You managed to hit the nail right on the head and explained out everything without complication. Maybe, people can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks.

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We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy