Poultice Creosote Removal
This might be the best and most creative solution of our last decade for the fireplace industry. This is an incredible method of removing glazed creosote (the glass-like or tar-like substance on the inside walls of some wood burning flues). Regular chimney sweeping services do not remove this glass like substance. Physically abrasive sweeping action does not even touch this tough and chemically bonded carbon based glaze on the inside of the wood burning fireplace or furnace flue. Therefore, we need a solution to remove it. Enter Poultice Creosote Remover, or PCR. PCR is a revolutionary product designed to completely remove 3rd degree glazed creosote from flue tiles, smoke chambers and fireplaces.
How Does PCR Work?
When PCR is applied, it dissolves the creosote and absorbs it. As it absorbs the creosote and dries, it loses its adhesive properties and falls off the sides of the flue tiles. Any remaining PCR can then be removed by chimney sweeping. PCR can be applied by brush in areas that are easily accessible or with a specially designed tool that can be pulled up through the chimney by a winch. To remove glazed creosote in smoke chambers, PCR can be applied with SaverSystems’ Smoke Chamber Sprayer. PCR should be used where glazed creosote is present in order to eliminate the dangers of chimney fires.
What Causes Glazed Creosote?
The people to suffer from glazed creosote are usually people with wood burning fireplaces, freestanding wood burning stoves, wood burning inserts with no liners, and wood burning inserts with full length liners, and those who own wood burning furnaces that sit in the basement and exhaust up through a masonry flue tile system. The cause of glazed creosote is most frequently pointed to insufficient combustion air during the burning process. When a fire burns in an open fireplace it consumes approximately 300 cubic feet per minute of fresh air, either for direct combustion or for diffusion air that is incidentally drawn into the firebox opening and drawn up the chimney. If a customer burns green wood, or wood that has higher than 25% moisture because it is a recently felled tree, or a recent cutting from a live tree, then this will deposit glazed creosote in the flue.
When a fire burns in a wood burning insert, or a in a freestanding wood stove with an engineered firebox, there is an air control capable of restricting the combustion air. Controlled combustion wood stoves require considerably less combustion air for proper burning than open traditional fireplaces. The average air flow requirement of an open fireplace ranges from 80-150 cfm, while a wood stove ranges from 5-15 cfm. If a customer restricts the air flow inlet on these appliances, glazed creosote will result in the flue.
