For 12 years I have been digging around trying to figure out why I'm getting excessive creosote build up. After trying all the right possibilities, A to Z, I finally got tired of it all.. as drastic situations require drastic solutions..... went on the roof and cut off that sheet metal band that they designed around the chimney cap opening. Sure the rain can go in a bit but, it had got to make it breath better. Straight piped ha ha.

I got to tell ya' man oh man does it ever burn correct now. I can even turn it down a lot more for some all night burns with no build up. Can't believe I put up with it for 12 years just fighting with every poss. change I could make. Itliterally drove me nuts with creosote leaking outside the pipe. I was just too afraid to play around with Gov't approved $h1t they put on there.

Edited December 17, 201410 yr by JAG1

To study convection and  air currents in your home take a kids helium balloon and tie a paper towel to the string. Use scissors and cut small amounts of paper towel off until it floats about mid level in the room upstairs. Open all the doors and watch how the balloon travels under doorways, cools down comes back along the floor all the way back to the woodstove. Keep watching you will learn a lot about your house where air is trapped etc.

 

That might also indicate where to cut vents for cold air to return back to the woodstove.

Edited January 10, 201510 yr by JAG1

To study convection and  air currents in your home take a kids helium balloon and tie a paper towel to the string. Use scissors and cut small amounts of paper towel off until it floats about mid level in the room upstairs. Open all the doors and watch how the balloon travels under doorways, cools down comes back along the floor all the way back to the woodstove. Keep watching you will learn a lot about your house where air is trapped etc.

 

That might also indicate where to cut vents for cold air to return back to the woodstove.

 

Extremely great idea... wow! I would of never thought of that.

Thanks Mike, I learned it when my 3 little daughters kept letting their prized balloons go and we'd have to climb up and get them down. We tied longer strings to them but nothing interesting until we figured out how to do a balanced weight to float about. It was real interesting for all of us... about every hour or so here comes this balloon returning along the floor again, get warmed up, rise, go away along the ceiling, even dropping down a bit to clear under doorways.

Edited January 10, 201510 yr by JAG1