Good Luck!

Chimney sweeps have long been considered a source of good luck. It was considered good luck to touch a chimney sweep particularly early in the morning. Chimney sweeps were (and still are) employed to stand at weddings to kiss the bride and extend good fortune around the new hearth and home.

In many parts of Europe chimney cleaning is mandatory and well regulated. Sweeps there are well trained. Chimney sweeps in the U.S. are unregulated. Although there is an abundance of educational opportunity through the sweep guilds and trade organizations relatively few chimney sweeps take advantage of it.

The Present:

There is a National Chimney Sweep Guild and related state associations. The Chimney Safety Institute of America provides education seminars and certification testing. Sweeps are on the various code creating bodies as consultants. Among sweeps active over the years in these organizations the technical expertise tends to be well above average. Cancer from soot inhalation is on the wane. Yahoo!

By the early '80's new testing procedures and codes for wood heat safety were being developed and a more technical language began to be employed when speaking of flues. Sweeps were finding damage in chimneys, drafting problems as houses were tightened up, and were on the front lines regarding wood stove design and chimney systems. 80% of structural fires related to solid fuel burning were from improper installations. The "new" wood stoves called "airtight" proved to be major creosote distilleries.

Environmental Concern

Pollution from all the new wood burners became an issue. This was ironic since many of the people involved in the industry tended toward the environmentalist side of things. In 1986 Oregon came out with the first emission regulations followed by the E.P.A. in 1987. Also in 1987 high temperature chimney (2100 degree F) became required for stoves.

The emission laws changed the wood burning industry. Faced with cleaning up the air (which we were in favor of) or going out of business the manufacturers began the first radical stove redesign work since Ben Franklin. By 1992 the number of manufacturers in the U.S. had dropped from over four hundred to around thirty. These were the survivors of the extensive research and development required to meet the new regulations.

The outcome of this "governmental interference" actually turned out for the good of all. The new products give more heat for less wood. Emissions in the real world dropped from an average of forty eight grams per hour of PM10 particles, (the size particulate you breathe in but not out), to under six. New E.P.A. standards are calling for under 3 grams an hour and many new stoves meet this standard already. Pellet stoves were developed for clean burning and convenience and high efficiency gas appliances began to rival wood stoves in heat output and aesthetics.

The modern sweep must be a specialized, trained, technician
able to service, troubleshoot, and repair today's highly refined appliances.

 
No more being a silly goose.