When I Overfire My Wood Stove Am I Burning Off Creosote?

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smokeyCityTeacher
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Post by smokeyCityTeacher » Sun. Nov. 29, 2009 5:17 pm

I have found statements online that its good to burn a very hot fire once in a while to burn off creosote.
Is this true ? If so my chimney would be perfect since I regularly over fire my wood burner and have stack surface temps of 900 deg.

( yes ... I know this is bad. Just asking if it burns off creosote deposits in the chimney )

 
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009to090
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Post by 009to090 » Sun. Nov. 29, 2009 5:45 pm

Yes it will. I run my FireplaceXtrordinaire at 100% output at least a couple hours each week. "Overfiring" cannot be good. Just burn it to the stoves limit. I know I am evaporating creosote when the glass begins to clear. Once the glass is clear again, I throttleback a bit. I never let the fire smolder. If you have wood in the firebox that hasn't turned to hot embers yet, you have to provide over-fire air until all the volatiles are burned off.
I have never had creosote build up in my chimney. I inspect it twice a year, but it is always clean as the day I installed it.
Hope this helps.


 
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topper
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Post by topper » Sun. Nov. 29, 2009 6:07 pm

to be safe - don't rely on "overfiring" your stove to handle creosote. as you know, only inspecting your chimney regularly lets you know if you have a creosote problem or not.

 
smokeyCityTeacher
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Post by smokeyCityTeacher » Sun. Nov. 29, 2009 6:43 pm

DVC500 at last wrote:Yes it will. I run my FireplaceXtrordinaire at 100% output at least a couple hours each week. "Overfiring" cannot be good. Just burn it to the stoves limit. I know I am evaporating creosote when the glass begins to clear. Once the glass is clear again, I throttleback a bit. I never let the fire smolder. If you have wood in the firebox that hasn't turned to hot embers yet, you have to provide over-fire air until all the volatiles are burned off.
I have never had creosote build up in my chimney. I inspect it twice a year, but it is always clean as the day I installed it.
Hope this helps.
Yep - this is my regular practice. I don't run my stove in any other mode than full capcity. I always let it burn to hot embers over night and by morning there is nothing but powder.

Ill bet my chimney will look like yours when I get it inspected.

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