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
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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
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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
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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.