Wood heating boom brings back BY SALLY DUNMIRE Staff Correspondent LEWISXOWN - If you run across a fella wearing a top hat and tails, chances are he’s a professional chimney sweep. According to Randy Dean, of Dean’s Chimney Sweep, Lewistown, “the top hat is for luck.” He wears his rather bat tered head gear on every job. His tails, since they are rather snug, are worn for appearances only. The traditional outfit of chimney sweeps hails from old England. In the heyday of London coal burning, the sweeps were thin, small boys who were lowered into huge chimneys to clean them. Being quite poor, these little fellows wore the cast off clothing of undertakers. To this day, the distinctive garb is the mark of a professional sweep. In England, the size of the top hat is a sign of HEWEY WELDING Box 2312, Rd 4, Lebanon, PA 17042 717-867-5222 ALUMINUM GRAIN BODIES & ALUMINUM REPAIRS These ultra-light bodies are designed for strength through engineering, not strength with bulk. For example a 16’ grain body with tailgate and 48” sides weighs only 1490 lbs, complete. We’ll build you any length or any side height up to 60”. ★ Double swinging hay hauling tailgate ★ Barn door type tail gate ★ Slide out cattle chutes —i I - 11 Replace Your MANURE TANK Truck-Mount or Trailer-Mount Tank Sizes (Gal, • 1200 • 1800 • 2400 • 3000 • 3600 • 5000 K • Heat Treated • All Chain Has 10 Yr. Warranty ROOK AND EYE This Chain Will Replace Most Brands Of Chain 24 Hrs. - 7 Days A Week - Refrigeration Service Installation, Sales And Service mm (Formerly Shenk’s Farm Service) 505 E. Woods Drive Lititz, PA 17543 (717) 626-1151 or 626-5996 experience. The novice sweep starts out with a small top hat and tails, working his way up to a larger, more elaborate one. Tradition also holds that good luck and financial stability is reputed for any bride that sees a sweep on her wedding day. Since the re-kindling of home wood heating, this old skill has seen a revival. “You can do the job yourself. All you have to do is buy the proper size brushes at any local hardware store. Start small and work up,” advised Dean. “You never know when you might run into a bird’s nest or two, with a big creosote buildup. Too big a brush and it could get stuck inside the chimney. Then you really have trouble.” “Never use a sack of bricks or chains to clean out a chimney, even though you do read that it can be done this way. One brick can ivailable ★ Diamond Flooring it Pull out panel tailgates it Any size grain chute Available: cause 20 cracks in a cmmney liner, all potential escape routes for flames and sparks into your house,” warns Dean. “Either buy the brushes or call a sweep.” For those who don’t care to tackle the mess themselves, there are the professionals who will clean and inspect your chimney for safety. This should be done at least once a year, before striking the first match of the fall heating season. Think ahead though, September and October are the busiest months of the year for sweeps. When hiring a professional sweep, it’s wise to make sure he is also a certified wood safety in spector. “Many fire insurance companies are beginning to require inspections of wood stove and chimney installations. Fire insurance coverage has been known to be cancelled due to faulty SELL IT am A LANCASTER FARMING CLASSIFIED % THE POUNCE GUARANTEE. % FMC guarantees that Pounce* 3.2 EC insecticide (t 0 will control cutworms or true armyworms in field corn (£? am when used pre-emergent and according to label directions. am If Pounce fails to control cutworms or true armyworms, PMC will replace the Pounce used wherever control was C 9% not achieved, or reimbruse the grower for the purchase price. See your dealer or custom applicator for the details /*vi of the guarantee. m \t? JSWUM* & I (B fWt (B r iv;- vf! IMLL mi (loin i>m \i»r k nit (i itlLh« ii m tl ( iinup Mitii* Mtiki • Sin (t Phit.uN (phi i l'\ l l M(M < l l »MP hML L m p,.i it ion Poiiru « <iikl #MC <m u u(I n uli m n k-> of hML L <i p<n iti< n I’■ uiu t I" tKtstiu (< (I I "t liw itu idt K\ <i.| nut follow 1 it»i I <'n.. h..ik Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1,1986-C7 the chimney sweep stove and chimney connections or maintenance,” stated Dean. To reduce the amount of creosote buildup inside your chimney, he suggested that “every day, you should let your stove bum wide open for 15-30 minutes.” Also, Dean recommended daily use of a liquid anti-creosote product. “You just spray it on your wood. It really works. I recommend ASC, a catalytic chemical chimney cleaner. It can be a bit expensive to use, but will prevent your chim ney’s creosote from baking to a hard glace that no brush can remove. The chemical turns the creosote to easily removed fly ash and flakes. But, this is no sub stitute for yearly cleaning,” he added. Burning only seasoned hardwood will help reduce creosote. Also, the cleanest, most efficient chimney is a round, smooth, interior chimney, of the shortest length possible for good draft. Anything that slows and cools the rising smoke - such as square corners, rough mortar joints, cracks, thick creosote, or cold chimney walls, will accelerate creosote accumulations. Finally, installing a catalytic USD A eyes regs on peas, grain WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed revising its regulations covering inspection of rice, beans, peas, lentils and processed grain commodities. Kenneth A. Gilles, administrator of USDA’s Federal Grain In spection Service, said the proposal would remove the requirement that all information determined during federal inspection of these commodities be reported on the official inspection certificate. However, the proposal would continue to require that all grade determining factors be shown on the certificate. The proposal would also establish provisions for providing a retest service on non-graded converter on your stove pipe, or buying a stove with one built in, will greatly decrease dangerous creosote and air pollution from your woodstove. After inspection, if your flue is found unsafe, there is still hope short of tearing it down and building a new one. According to Dean,” an old unlined chimney or a cracked one, can be revived with either a stainless steel flexible liner or a poured epoxy liner.” He recommended pouring the epoxy liner first. “This will fill any cracks and will last 15-20 years. Later you can install a stainless steel liner that will last just about forever. ” These installations can be tricky, so unless you really know what you are doing, renewing an old flue liner should be left up to provessionals. If safety isn’t enough incentive to keep that chimney clean, consider that “one millimeter of creosote in a flue will cut your heating ef ficiency by 15%,” said Dean. That means less heat for more work and wood. For safety & efficiency, clean & inspect your flue at least once a year. commodities, and would permit appeal inspections on a new sample when insect fragments are found in the original sample during initial inspection. “The proposed changes would combine and consolidate com patible regulatory requirements, simplify the regulations and bring them into conformity with current marketing practices,” said Gilles. Public comments on the proposal may be submitted until Feb. 24, 1986, to Lewis Lebakken Jr., Information Resources Staff, Federal Grain Inspection Service, Room 0667-S, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250; (202) 382-1738. This proposal was published in the Federal Register.
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