Chimney cleaning for oil furnace?

[KD]

Greetings all:

I have a co-worker who is a new homeowner, and she was just asking me about how frequently I get my chimney cleaned.

We have a fireplace that we use a lot in the winter, and we have it cleaned every year. But she doesn't have any woodburning appliances in her home, just the oil furnace, and this is what she was talking about.

We get our furnace cleaned annually, it's leased and the cleaning/maintenance is included in our lease price. I didn't have any idea we needed to get the chimney cleaned for the oil furnace! Am I nuts, or is she? :)

KD

[Goedjn]

It should be inspected annually, but it would be suprising if it needed to be cleaned, pretty much ever.

[louie]

If it needs cleaning very often (or as Goedjn suggests, "ever"), I would suspect the furnace of not working properly.

[KD]

OK, that's better. The furnace itself is inspected and cleaned annually, but not sure if the tech actually looks at the chimney. Furnace is working fine, so I don't think that's a problem.

Thanks!

KD

[Art]

In 50 years my parents never had their oil furnace chimney cleaned until it was almost a disaster. I would at least recommend a chimney cap so a squirrel doesn't build a nest in it like at my parent's house.

[Bob]

Chimneys connected to only an oil heater do not normally need to be cleaned. The chimney base should be vacuumed out during the annual tune up.

[George E. Cawthon]

Call it uneducated! Yes, an oil burning furnace and the chimney need to be inspected annually for correct operation and the chimney needs to be cleaned out every few years. If the burner is working ok, the inspection should take about 10 minutes and you can learn to do it yourself. Unburned stuff falls down and if it accumulates you might find the stuff blown throughout your house. Happened to my parents, every surface in the house needed to be clean and all the walls and ceilings painted. He could have avoided that by just cleaning out (that's what the opening is called) the bottom of the chimney.

[mm]

My cap blew off, and blew off again after reattached. Didn't get it replaced for a few months or more, and white crud started coming out of the seams where the flue bent around to go into the chimney. I guess it was a mixture of water and soot and something else.

More below.

I'm sorry. Didn't the first two replies tell you the chimney should be checked. How did you get from that to, If the furnace works fine, then the chimney is clean.

You just heard what you wanted to hear.

You don't watch the tech when he is there? If not, call them and see if that is part of their routine furance iinspection/claning, or at least make sure someone checks it the next time. afaicr, you didn't say how many years you've been there.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[Bob]

That "white crud" is actually sulfur that's eating away at your flue pipe and chimney. It should be going out the top of your chimney with the flue gases. Your heater stack temp is probably too low. IMO, a net stack temperature should be no less than 325 degrees F, and preferably at least

350 degrees.

[AM in MA]

replying to KD, AM in MA wrote: Chimney Safety Institute points out that oil burner servicepersons do not clean out the flue, and only some even check it. They recommend annual service that checks and cleans the flue:

they are in the business of chimney sweeping; we have a new flue liner, the warranty for which requires annual maintenance, but it seems to me at least every two years would be a good idea, esp. if you use the burner a lot in the winter as we do in MA. If you don't, be sure you have a good CO monitor!!!

[rose]

replying to George E. Cawthon, rose wrote: I have a kerosene burning wall furnace that has to be lit with a match. I have had it cleaned annually in the past, but I skipped last year and now I can't find the person I used to have do it and I can't find anyone else who does it. The cleaning included the furnace, pipes, and chimney.

[Tekkie®]

rose posted for all of us...

That's too bad.

[Jim]

replying to Bob, Jim wrote: Re: White Crud. When 4 inches of rain fell (and I had no chimney cap), white crud seeped out at the very bottom of the chimney (in a basement, onto a sealed floor). I scraped it up with a razor blade scraper. I thought it might be from bones of a dead bird or squirrel. (I didn't buy the house new, but did put a wire cage over the top of chimney to keep animals out. After the 4" rain I put a small chimney cap on it (like a umbrella over the hole). THANKS for your post about white crud. Some soot was coming out of the "exhaust flue hole". Serviceman said to get chimney swept. First time I ever heard about that. Found this site via Search. 9/2019