If your chimney cap has a metal mesh around it, pay extra attention to its condition, as they can clog up with creosote in a hurry. This i found out the hard way, when over a period of two days my woodstove started to lose its draw, then proceed to leak smoke all into the house, basically driving me out one night! I'd have never suspected this piece would clog so fast, due to several factors, among them being I've only been burning well seasoned hardwood, and make sure to build at least one really hot fire per day..., AND the fact that the stove has only been in operation 2 months! So if you're noticing a reduced draw in your woodstove, its a definite sign somethings not right... I believe i will replace the 'factory' mesh with chicken wire, this should keep things from gunking up so fast.
Using crumpled up newspaper to start the draw in your chimeny before starting a fire can also clog the chimney cap. Much of the newspaper ashes fly up the chimney in big pieces during this process and get stuck in the chimney cap mesh.
I watch mine all the time.This years has really been bad,as I haven't had to have much of a hot fire up until now.What I like about my stove is it is a straight shot from the stove to the Roof,no turns so everything keeps burnt out pretty good. big rockpile
When helping the fellar install my solid poured flue, he said you should never have a cap on the top during the heating season. Then only a rain cap in the summer. I use a mixture of pine and hardwood but usually burn it wide open and I have no trouble. The nice thing about the solid flue is that if I do get a fire , it shouldn't do any damage as there are no seems for the creosote to get into. handy
Found this out first hand ourselves this year. The mesh cap is gone and won't be returned until spring just to keep out the critters
