Home heating season is upon us. We heat with oil, but offset our oil usage by running nightly woodstove
fires. In an earlier post, Woodheat Tips: How to Sweep a Chimney (Part 1), I discussed the "outside" work of chimney sweeping-- here is the "inside" work (this is the easy part). 

First, a quick review . . . Chimney sweeping is important for to reasons:

• Efficiency-- I like good, hot burns and that requires good airflow
• Safety-- Burning wood releases chemicals and those create creosote buildup in the chimney.  Too much build up leads to chimney fires

I sweep three times:

• Before season
• Mid season
• After season

The good news is chimney sweeping is a relatively easy DIY project and requires a low time investment.  Here is what is involved:

• Setup-- It takes about 10 minutes to get the ladder and tools in place
• Sweeping-- approximately about 10 minutes to visually inspect, sweep, and reinspect
• Cleanup-- Cleanup is vacuuming the "Crumbs" in the woodstove and pipe and put everything away

Now, let's finish the chimney sweep . . .
 
So here's what you need for the inside work:

• Flashlight 
• Work gloves 
• Dust mask 
• Glasses or goggles 
• Screwdriver 
• Vacuum 

What to do:

• Use the screwdriver to remove insert border plates
• Perform a visual inspection with the flashlight-- what needs to be vacuumed up
• Disconnect the stove pipe
• Tap the stove pipe to get debris to loosen and fall
• Vacuum cob webs, leaves, and "crumbs"
• Replace stove pipe and insert plates and you are done

This part of the process takes about 10 minutes from setup to cleanup. Enjoy your first fire . . .

Thank you for visiting the Self Reliance Workshop and come back soon for more . . . follow me on Twitter at SelfRelianceWS, LowProfileLife, DvrcdDadFrglDad, and Surfcasting2Day.

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Related Posts:
Woodheat Tips: What to Burn Indoors and What to Burn Outdoors  
Disaster Strikes: Ways to Start a Fire  
Disaster Strikes: Are You Ready? A Quick Review 

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DDFD believes that self reliance and self sufficiency are the roads to individual freedom and he is an advocate for personal privacy.  He is dedicated to living a quality life through frugality, personal growth and productivity, and defensive entrepreneurship.  He also enjoys cooking from scratch   and fishing.