Log chimney: reviews, instructions. Cleaning chimney stoves and fireplaces from soot

Fireplaces and wood stoves are rarely used in modern houses for heating because high-tech methods of maintaining heat are much faster, more convenient and do not require such physical expenses. But, despite this, the fireplaces do not lose their popularity, creating a unique spiritual atmosphere in country houses or urban apartments.

One of the important procedures to ensure the safe use of a wood stove or fireplace is regular cleaning of the chimney. Doing this is required no matter what type of chimney design, through the wall or with the exit through the roof. Why clean the chimney and how often should it be done? How effective can this procedure be by using a chimney cleaner on the Chimney sweep?

Why do you need to clean the chimney

In order to understand why it is necessary to clean the chimneys of stoves and fireplaces from soot, first of all, you need to know what happens in the chimney when using any type of solid fuel material, including firewood. When a fire burns in a fireplace or stove, the so-called combustion products, soot and soot are actively allocated. All this together with the smoke gets to the top, right into the chimney chimneys and a soft, greasy layer settles on the walls of the pipe. The more time has passed since the last cleaning, the less there are places in the chimney for the extraction of smoke and combustion products.

Of course, proper operation, as well as observance of simple principles of selection of firewood for a stove or fireplace, can significantly slow down this process:

• You do not need to burn anything in the stove (fireplace) except firewood. Any household, even paper trash is better to try to utilize in other ways.
• Choose firewood only those wood species that contain a minimum of tar. This, for example, is dry wood of alder, aspen, oak, birch. A little worse in its quality characteristics of firewood from fruit trees, which are so fond of the amazing aroma that is released during combustion. Outsiders in this list are considered by specialists to be coniferous trees, which release a large amount of soot, due to the high content of natural resins. It is also not recommended to use often not the most expensive, but rapidly burning poplar and willow.
• Do not forget to clean the ash pit regularly.

Compliance with all of the above, together with prevention, will allow years to avoid serious clogging of the chimney. But, in spite of this, it will not be possible to avoid cleaning the stove (chimney). In addition to settling soot, clog can form from the outside, if trash or a foreign object gets into the pipe. Therefore, professionals involved in the repair and cleaning of the chimney, often recommend in the autumn and spring to check the chimney.

How to understand that you need to clean the chimney? The first sign that the procedure can not be postponed will be a visible deterioration in traction. The output of the main amount of smoke and smell not through a pipe, but into a room flying from the fireplace of a spark is a signal that the chimney is contaminated. Thrust, slow and inadequate, not only creates smoke, but can also lead to intoxication with carbon monoxide components. Moreover, a fire or injury may result from a spark that has escaped from the fireplace.

What else is so dangerous a polluted chimney pipe? The ignition of accumulated soot can easily lead to cracking and destruction of the walls of the chimney. Conclusion, which can be reached on the basis of all of the above: cleaning the chimney - an important procedure, on the thoroughness and regularity of which depends the good work of furnaces and fireplaces, as well as the safety of the house.

Ways of cleaning

Depending on the means by which the chimney flues of the furnaces and fireplaces are cleaned from soot, all methods for removing the dirty sediment from the chimney can be divided into three groups:

• The oldest known method is mechanical, it is also a traditional cleaning of chimneys. The procedure is carried out with the help of special "chimney sweep instruments": various brushes and "core", a cable with a heavy load to break through the clog. Despite the external primitiveness, such cleaning of chimneys of stoves and fireplaces from soot gives the best effect and allows you to cope with the most neglected types of chimney clogging.

• Thermal cleaning is also a fairly old way, proven for years. It is to "burn" the soot by heating well-dried firewood from pine. Technically, to dissolve the fire and wait for the result is the simplest and most cost-effective way. But the most dangerous: with a large accumulation of soot ignition in the chimney is almost a small explosion. Pipe, especially from masonry, with small cracks, while it may just fall apart. Therefore, experts advise to use this method only as prevention, provided that in the chimney pipe did not have time to settle a large amount of soot and soot.

• Chemical (nonmechanical) cleaning. Considering the application for the cleaning of the stove (chimney) pipe exactly such a tool as the log chimney, reviews about which are found in most construction forums, it is worth considering the chemical methods in more detail. Apply chemical properties of substances to dissolve or dry soot in the chimney began many decades ago, with the so-called folk remedies. For example, the most famous lifhak, invented yet by our great-grandfathers, is the burning of potato peelings. Also, often the chimney was cleaned, falling asleep on the hot wood ordinary salt. To date, along with folk remedies, a large number of modern products of chemical laboratories have been added to the stores, designed to clean smoke-fired furnace pipes in a non-mechanical way. Similar products are available in the form of pressed bars (or logs), as well as in the form of dry powdered masses. It differs from folk methods of modern "chemistry" the need to strictly follow the instructions and observe the dosage, as well as a smaller amount of substance used at a time.

Chemical cleaners include a log of "Trumpeter", often recommended on construction sites on the Internet. What is this tool and how should it be applied to effectively get rid of soot deposits in the chimney?

Log chimney: what is it?

What is a patented product for non-mechanical cleaning of the smoke exhaust pipe? Its firm name is "Log chimney sweep" (reviews about this tool are given below). Outwardly it is a pressed bar, 25x8x6 cm in size, wrapped in a protective paper wrapper. Sold in the original packaging containing information about the product and instructions for conducting the procedure.

The product is recommended for cleaning furnace and fireplace pipes of any type, even complex construction, for example, a curved chimney through the wall. Substances that make up the logs, during the burning, release volatile chemicals that enter the chimney together with smoke and hot air and act on the accumulated layer of soot. As a result, the contaminants in the pipe are drained and fall off the chimney walls.

The "Chimney sweep" log is intended for fireplaces or stoves on coal or wood raw materials. It is strictly forbidden to use this product in furnaces equipped with special devices, as well as working on gas or electricity.

Important! Quite often there is the question of whether such a tool as the log chimney can completely replace mechanical cleaning. Feedback from professionals about this tool warn: this cleaning can only be preventative. Using logs for a long time eliminates the need to contact a specialist who is cleaning the chimney. However, to completely abandon the mechanical cleaning will not work.

Composition of means "Chimney sweep"

The "Chimney sweep" log was declared by the producers as a means safe for humans and pets. In the composition of artificial logs:

• Coal wax (a small amount of coal dust).
• Sawdust of natural wood.
• Natural substances: urea and silica amorphous.
• Ammonium sulphate is a substance which, in fact, is a sulfuric acid compound and is actively used for industrial needs. Including, for the purpose of water disinfection in urban water pipelines.
• Sodium sulfate (anhydrous), another commonly used compound of sulfuric acid (sodium salt). In addition to industrial purposes, this substance is officially a food additive, and previously used in pharmacology.
• Substances in the composition that can cause concern - phosphorus oxide and zinc chloride: in concentrated form, both are contraindicated for contact with the mucous membranes of the eyes and human skin. Therefore, it is not necessary to pull a log from a protective paper envelope. Better yet, protect yourself with ordinary rubber gloves.

Preparation for the procedure

To ensure safety, before cleaning the chimney with the help of logs "Chimney sweeps", it is necessary to conduct preparatory actions.

First of all, you need to inspect the chimney to check if the pipe is clogged with foreign garbage. If there is a blockage in the chimney, the use of logs should be discarded in favor of a mechanical method of cleaning.

Is it necessary to lay firewood together with logs "Trubochist"

The use of the "Chimney sweep" means is quite possible without "support" in the form of coals or wood firewood. However, the hot coals left over from the previous fireplace fireplace (stoves) or dry firewood laid before cleaning the chimney with the help of the Chimney sweep log will greatly enhance the effect of using this tool. When cleaning the chimney logs "Trumpeter" in conjunction with firewood (coals), the bar of the money is laid out from above.

Forbidden! Burn more than one log in a complex with hot coals.

Instructions for use

How is it correct and safe to use the Trumpet Cleaner? The instruction is placed on the original packaging of the device:

• Remove the log from the original packaging, without opening the protective wrapper, and put it in the firebox. Set the paper wrap on both sides.
• In the closing furnace, the door leaf should be covered, a protective grill should be used in the fireplace.
• Wait until the bar is completely burnt (about 90 minutes).
• Remains (ash) of the bar should be left in the fireplace for the entire duration, about 1-2 weeks. During this time, you can use the oven (fireplace) in the usual mode.
• After the procedure, it is recommended to ventilate the room.

The last stage of purification

By giving detailed recommendations on how to use the log chimney, the instructions for use contain a detailed description of the mandatory stage of cleaning - removing waste from fireplace elements or a wood stove.

Carefully clean the stove (fireplace) will take two weeks after the application of the "Trumpet" log. During this time, all active substances have time to exert the greatest possible impact on the deposits in the chimney. Soot, softened by their action, falls down.

At this stage, it is important to scrape off the soot from the flue pipe, the chimney flue and other available elements of the fireplace (stove), the chimney is again to be inspected. Especially it is necessary to clean fireplaces with curved chimney channels, otherwise the remaining soot can clog the chimney.

For disposal of cleaning waste, the tools available to all are well suited: a vacuum cleaner and a conventional fireplace brush.

How much money will it take for a single cleaning

Another question that can arise in a person who first applies "Chimney sweep": how many logs need to be burned at a time for more effective cleaning? Producers recommend for regular cleaning to burn one log, but for wide chimneys two, but one after another, not simultaneously. Two logs can be laid in one run-through for the first cleaning or removal of a large layer of settled contamination. But it should be done carefully, observing all fire safety measures.

With what frequency should the cleaning be carried out with the help of logs "Trumpeter"

To carry out the procedure of cleaning by the manufacturer of the "Chimney sweep" means is recommended regularly, at least twice a year. The frequency of cleaning depends to a great extent on the frequency of use of the stove or fireplace. For example, if the fireplace melts once a day, it is enough to conduct a preventive cleaning twice a season, using one bar each time. If the fireplace (stove) is melted not more than once a week, one log for the heating season is enough.

Reviews about the means for cleaning the chimney

Undoubtedly, whatever the official website says from the manufacturer, it is reasonable to listen to the opinion of homeowners who in practice have experienced this chemical. What do they tell us about the effectiveness of the "Log chimney sweep" tool at the forums on repair and construction?

• According to the experience of homeowners cleaning the stovepipe with this tool, it makes sense to inspect the pipe for damage or cracks before the procedure. The temperature of burnt soot when using chemical logs is high enough that it can be a danger of destruction for a faulty chimney.
• After burning in the room for several days, there is an unpleasant chemical odor.
• If the pipe (chimney) is heavily soiled with soot - the log does not help. Specialists recommend mechanical cleaning at least once or twice a year. In the chimney, in which a few years of accumulated soot, the log can give the opposite effect: the mud will collapse and clog the chimney.
• There is an opinion that the "Trumpeter" log is not different in efficiency from potato peeling. The only difference is that, where one bar is enough, you will have to burn at least half a bucket of potato waste.
• Sometimes professionals professionally engaged in cleaning chimneys warn of the danger of acquiring a fake of this well-known means. From the use of "counterfeit", at best, there simply will not be the proper effect, at worst - the substances from which the "fake log" is made can have a detrimental effect on the health of the homeowner. It is necessary to be guided by the presence of a certificate from a store selling the "Trumpet" log.