How To Clean A Hardy Wood Furnace

Ultimate Summer Shutdown Checklist - Part 2 of 10: Cleaning Your Chimney and Deflector Plate

Do you take good care of your home? Your car?

Do you want your things to last?

You made a big investment in your outdoor boiler system. Itcan last 30 to 40 years, but

only if you do a few simple maintenance items.

We make this simple for you with our checklists!

NOTE:

This checklistONLYrelates to brushing the inside of your boiler, and does not replace the full instructions.

This article is about the parts of your outdoor boiler that must be cleaned with brushes or other cleaning tools.

Which parts of the outdoor boiler need to be cleaned with a brush or other cleaning tool?ALL INSIDE SURFACES!

This may sound harder than it is - and we make it even easier.

1. First, make sure you have the necessary items required for the summer shutdown - in particular make sure you have two creosote sticks, a "

D-Plate Brush", a wire brush, and a shovel.
Creosote Sticks are available HERE, and
D-Plate Brushes are available HERE

2. Three days before you shut down your boiler, put both

creosote sticks in the fire.

3. On the day you shut down your boiler, allow the fire to completely burn out. This will dry out the boiler. Do not add any fresh firewood to the fire , but let it burn down to coals and let the coals burn out completely. (SeeDry Burn instructions for more info.)

4. Remove all ash and coals.

5. Scrape out the inside of the boiler with your shovel or any tool that allows you to make the steel surfaces clean.

6.Remove the Chimney cap. (If you have not done this in a while, it may be difficult, but it is MANDATORY.)

7. Using a

wire brush, brush out the inside of the chimney.

8. Using your

D-Plate Brush, push the wooden handle end down the chimney and towards the front of the furnace until it hits the front wall. Open the firebox door and reach up and pull the handle so that you pull the D-Plate Brush through the Deflector Plate Channel . Do this three times or until the area is clean.

9. Climb on top of the furnace roof and using a shop vac, vacuum out the deflector plate area from the chimney.

THIS IS AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED , yet ESSENTIAL maintenance item. It is FATAL to your boiler to overlook this important step.

NOTE TO GX Series Furnace Owners: GX furnaces do not have a deflector plate and do not need a D-Plate Brush. However, a tube cleaning brush or cleaning tool is required.Those GX Cleaning Tools can be found HERE.

Remember that this important maintenance item will keep your boiler in top condition and help youSAVE BIG Money for decades to come!

Coming Soon - Part 3!

Back to Outdoor Boiler News