Found out some wild stats about creosote buildup the other day...

I was reading through an old trade magazine from like 2018 that I found in my uncle's garage. Turns out that a 1/8 inch layer of creosote can actually reduce your chimney's draft by almost 30 percent. I had no idea it was that sensitive to small amounts. I always figured you needed a big chunky buildup before it really messed things up. Made me rethink how often I tell my customers to get inspections even if they think their fireplace is running fine. The article was from the National Chimney Sweep Guild bulletin, pretty dry reading but full of little nuggets like that. Anyone else come across a stat that surprised you about your daily work?

2 comments

2 Comments

lauras8314d ago

Always check the cap too, birds nests cause way more draft issues than most folks realize.

mia74814d ago

Gonna push back a bit here. A 30% draft reduction from 1/8 inch of creosote sounds like a number pulled from a very specific test setup, not real world conditions where flues have rough surfaces and variable temps that already hurt draft. Most guys I know see negligible performance changes until you've got at least a quarter inch of glazed buildup that actually changes the flue diameter. That old trade article probably used a perfectly smooth metal pipe to run their tests, which doesn't match the masonry chimneys most of us work with.