Can I prevent creosote buildup?
PREVENTING CREOSOTE BUILDUP
Creosote accumulation is unavoidable. To minimize creosote buildup, pay attention to what kind of wood you are burning. Seasoned, dry wood produces less smoke and burns hotter which allows for proper combustion. A small, hot, well vented fire and a yearly chimney inspection is the key to maintaining fire safety in the home.
OLD WISE TALES – PREVENTING CREOSOTE BUILDUP
As a professional chimney sweep for many years, seeing and cleaning thousands of chimney’s I’ve heard just about every wise tale one can imagine on nifty little tricks and solutions for home-remedies on preventing or getting rid of creosote buildup in your chimney. For example:
- Putting potato peelings/skins on a bed of coals
- Soot spray
- Burning Aluminum cans
- Cleaning logs
- Chemicals
Many have claimed these techniques/products work and may have helped slightly in some cases, but nothing can take the place of actually cleaning out the chimney.
In all honesty, however, the old wise tale about burning potato peelings/skins does in fact help. You have to use fresh/uncooked potatoes. What’s interesting is the byproduct of the potato peels/skins create a chemical reaction that drys out the chimney allowing any creosote buildup to dry up. Although you still need to have your chimney cleaned regularly, because even potato peels won’t prevent the chimney from getting dirty, but it will help decrease chances of a chimney fire due to creosote.
BEST PRACTICES TO PREVENT CREOSOTE BUILDUP
Review the following best practices for a clean chimney to truly prevent creosote buildup in your chimney:
- Only burn seasoned wood.
- Burn at the proper temps.
- Inspect and clean when needed on a regular basis.
Obviously, when it comes time to clean the chimney (and every single chimney needs cleaned regularly) we’d be glad to help and prevent creosote buildup in your chimney.
Here at Baun’s Chimney Sweeping, we strive to educate our customers on the importance of inspections and cleaning the chimney. For questions or if you would like an inspection or cleaning, you may contact us any time.
