My chimney is sooty - How did that happen?

If the temperature is too low you might experience tarry soot in your chimney. The combustion temperature will be too low if not enough air is supplied compared to the amount of wood. Tarry soot is easily recognized as a brown sticky coat. Supply more secondary air to increase the temperature. A stove pipe thermometer placed on the lower part of the flue pipe will indicate if the air supply is correct. The flue gas temperature must be approx. 250o C. If the flue gas temperature is considerably lower, tarry soot may be created in the chimney. If the flue gas temperature exceeds 250 – 300o C, the inside parts might be superheated.

Smoke comes out from my stove I open the stove door. How do I avoid that?

Do not open the door before the wood is burned all the way down to embers. When opening the door, a lot of cold air will get in contact with the flames which may cause smoke incon-veniences. If you for some reason have to open the door before the wood is burned to embers, this has to be done carefully. Let the door stand on a 2cm gap for a moment before opening it completely. Another reason might be poor draft conditions. A chimney sweeper is able to measure the draft.

There is not enough draft in my chimney. What do I do?