Cleaning a masonry stove (Russia)
Leigh, this post is for you. I have no expectations that you will DO this, but it is informative to see how other people solve universal problems.
There is very little dialog explaining what is going on.
Based on the vegetation (Populus nigra, Acer platanoidies), available fish species (including Scomber scombrus) and the displays in the WWII memorial parks, I think this is in Russia on the east side of the Baltic Sea.
It looks as if the exhaust from the fire is drawn through a labyrinth (to the left of the fire) to transfer the heat to the bricks.
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The grandmother scrapes off the plaster in a few places and "knocks-out" some plugs and cleans the passage ways of soot and masonry dandruff.
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At the ten-minute mark, she mixes up mortar (perhaps as simple as sand and a bit of flour to bind it).
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| The mortar is mixed "soupy" or wet. |
I have wanted a Russian stove for years. I thought a big plus was essentially zero creosote buildup due to having a short, roaring-hot fire and robust draft. No? From unfortunate experience, I know a chimney fire can be absolutely exhilarating.
ReplyDeleteStoves like that are common in Finland and from there here in the west UP of Michigan. I know of some here in newer houses. (installed after the final building inspection). They work very well and if I was younger I would build one in my house. But above all prevent chimney fire , and house fire, by using Rutland Creosote Remover once a week. I do it in my wood burning stoves on Sunday when I wind my Grandfather Clock so I don't forget. See Sanna Vaara website to see one.--ken
ReplyDeleteWe also use Rutland Creosote remover. Seems to work well, we don’t get buildup in the pipes, just chunks that fall out easily. We rattle the pipe once month and take out any chunks.
DeleteSouthern NH
ERJ, thank you! It's funny, because Dan and I were talking about cleaning ours the other day. Everybody talks about building, but I've seen little on maintenance. One feature about the modern batch box fireboxes is that they are designed to burn hotter and help avoid soot and creosote buildup. I will say that it (our design, at least) does a much better job of keeping the house warm.
ReplyDeleteThere are masonry fireplaces available in kit form today and (to me) the great selling point is that they burn one big, extremely hot fire, per day, at very high temps, so as not to generate any soot. The fire heats the masonry which warms the home til tomorrow's fire. They recommend a mason to do the install.
ReplyDeleteBuyer beware and all that.
So.
Milton