Wood Stove Maintenance

How to Properly Clean and Maintain Your Wood Stove?

Regular wood stove maintenance will ensure that your wood stove works efficiently, providing you with warmth and beautiful ambient fires year after year. Be sure to check the seals and replace any cracked or broken wood stove glass.

No matter what type of fuel you burn in your wood stove, deposits will build up in your wood stove chimney pipe. You must clean a wood a wood stove chimney pipe regularly to prevent house fires, and how often you should clean a wood stove chimney pipe will depend on how often you enjoy fires in your wood stove.

Burning a chimney sweeping log prior to cleaning a wood stove chimney pipe may be helpful in loosening creosote build-up, however, it is not absolutely necessary. Always be sure your wood stove is completely cooled before you attempt to clean a wood stove chimney pipe.

• Determine what size kit you will need for your wood stove chimney pipe, either by consulting the manufacturer’s manual or taking measurements yourself. You can purchase this kit from most hardware stores.
• Remove the pipe from the wood stove and place the end into a bucket or a garbage bag to catch the creosote build-up as you clean. Brush the inner sides of the stove pipe well with the wire brush to break up creosote and residue. If it’s been a while since you’ve cleaned, this may take some extra effort. *Note – If you use a solvent or cleaner, make certain it’s approved for this type of application.
• Reconnect your pipe to the wood stove and ceiling. You’re done!

Cleaning a wood stove pipe is fairly simple and if done on a regular basis, should not be difficult to do. Always consult your wood stove manufacturer’s manual for details on how often you should be performing this routine maintenance.

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