...is the friggin socialist among us! Every time this subject comes up amongst chimney sweeps, I and only one other guy butt heads with all the rest!





[blue][Original Message]
From: xxxxxxx
> To: Chimney Sweeps Discussion List ; Chimney Sweep L list
Date: 12/6/02 23:47:13
Subject: Re: A Wise Decision
----- Original Message -----

From: xxxxx
Subject: [CHIMNEYS-L] A Wise Decision

Imagine living in a country where every homeowner understands the importance of having his or her chimney checked each year... A place
where a mother harps on her 20-something son to "get that chimney swept before it gets too cold".

Don't roll your eyes.

It can happen.  Most likely none of us checking our email will live to see it.

>>>>Actually, isn't still the law in the UK and other parts of Europe to have your chimney swept/inspected each year? It seems to me that it is/was a city bylaw in Montreal QC Canada as well...? Maybe we should think about making it a law around here, especially for wood burning flues[red].....aaahhhhh the potential....[/red] I know, keep dreamin'...right..off to bed![/blue]

My reply:

You guys scare me! Seems that most of you are only concerned about eliminating competition and lining your pockets by using the governments ability to use force. I will fight tooth and nail against such a law on my local level and the federal level. What you guys have suggested is what's so wrong with our country today. Passing a law in the guise of it being for the peoples safety when actually it's to make your life easier is an outrage! The day that licensing is required is the day that I will burn my CSIA I.D. card!!!

Personally I don't think this will ever fly, so I'm not to concerned about the socialist ideas here. The majority of the chimneys in my area are not in use and how many people died due to chimney fires in the last statistics? ...130 or so? Out of how many people? ...250-270 million? That works out to be some where around .000052%. You're more likely to be killed in a car accident tomorrow than die in a fire caused by a chimney fire. Hell, your child is more likely to drown!

So lets pass a law against driving and swiming before we consider passing a law requiring everyone have their chimney swept!

Only considration I would give to any such law would be condo's and apartment buildings, or where homes are actually joined together like they are in some European countries. However, I see no point in making that 80 yr/o lady that is trying to survive on Social Security have her chimney inspected/swept on a yearly basis, especially when she doesn't even use it!

Live Free or Die!

From the CSIA web site:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, reports that some 23,600 residential fires in the 50 states were related to solid fuel appliances and equipment in 1996. An additional 5,500 fires were attributed to chimneys and chimney connectors serving heating systems burning liquid and other fuels. As a result of these fires, 130 people died, 230 people were injured, and total property losses were set at more than $184.4 million.

...in other words, no where near enough to justify some stupid law being passed requiring people to have their chimneys swept.

They only work on glazed creosote and most people don't have glazed creosote, especially with an open fireplace. You mainly find glaze with stoves. So, unless you have glaze creosote, it's a waste of money. Plus, that log doesn't have a set of eyes to tell you if something is wrong.

LMAO! It's this type of ignorance that provides these guys with their logic to have such a law. Truth is, that a flue fire will at the very least cost you a few thousand in repairs, and at worst damage to the home itself and/or loss of life...although rare.

Have customers tell me they do this all the time. Truth is, you should only burn seasoned wood.

Actually green wood has a higher moisture (water) content.

Now here's a interesting tid bit that might leave you scratching your head. Wood doesn't burn.

That's right. Wood doesn't burn. However charcoal will. When you expose wood to heat over a period of time, it goes through a chemical change known as pyrolosis. During pyrolosis, the organic molecules of the wood are broken down and the original weight and structural integrity of the wood is lost.

As the pyrolosis completes, the material left behind is charcoal, also known by its technical term pyrophoric carbon, which is completely different than wood.

The first stage of pyrolosis is the driving out of all moisture. The more moisture in the wood, the more water vapor goes up your flue. The more water vapor that goes up your flue, the cooler the flue gases. The cooler the flue gases the more creosote build up.



 

Ya wish![:D]

You're going to get creosote build up no matter what, unless your able to achieve complete combustion. In order to do that you'll need constant temperatures in excess of 2000 degrees. Not possible with a free burning fire much less in a wood stove where the fire is restricted.



This mandantory public service announcement has been brought to you by the National Chimney Sweep Gestapo.

That's cool. I have 2 or 3 customers a year that I will sell brushes and rods to and show them exactly how to sweep their own chimney without making a mess. However, they normally call me ever other year or so to have me come out and do an inspection on it.

And you'd definitely would want someone to inspect it if you've had a chimney fire. Preferably someone with a camera designed to run up the flue to make sure there isn't any damage to the flue liner. I've filed almost a dozen insurance claims so far this year. Half of those the customer didn't even know that they had had a chimney fire until I told them.

BTW, these idiots tend to forget that if they had it like they do in Germany, where the sweeps have police power, they wouldn't be making any money on the re-lines of chimneys. In Germany, the sweeps aren't allowed to do repair work.