Flue Temperatures

Regardless of your fuel source, a stovepipe thermometer is a critical tool for monitoring your stove's performance.  Keep the flue temperatures in the "ideal" range to help prevent creosote from forming in your flue system.

If you're burning low and slow fires, you'll likely get some extra creosote buildup overnight.  You can help remove some of that buildup by getting your flue system nice and hot in the morning.  People call this "burning off" the creosote, which is a misnomer.  The goal is not to actually burn the creosote, but just to heat it up.  Getting the flue hot enough will help to gas off some of the sticky volatile compounds in the creosote, which both reduces the volume of the creosote and makes it less sticky, so deposits collect less readily.