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Posted By: Trumpy Is this snake oil or not? - 07/04/12 01:06 PM
Over here in NZ, we are in the grip of winter.
Products like these tend to show up from time to time.

Have a look at this:

Smartburn

From what I can see, this is a bit of galvanised steel pipe squashed at the ends and it is supposed to hold some "magic" substance that cleans your chimney and makes your fire burn more efficiently.

I fail to see how this works if at all.

Your thoughts?
Posted By: mikesh Re: Is this snake oil or not? - 07/05/12 05:51 PM
I think they are supposed to contain a bunch of chemicals that react with the creosote and burn it in place. Ie they create an intentional chimmeny fire. I presume they also raise the chimmeny temperature.
I would be cautious using this as how would you know if the fire load in the chimmeny is too high to intentionally burn it out?
I am sure these are intended as part of a regular maintenance plan and I would want a proper sweep first to be sure I started out with an appropriatly clean flue first.
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Is this snake oil or not? - 07/06/12 08:43 PM
Tests showed, little, if any effect on the brands tested. [3 pages]

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1981-09-01/Testing-Chemical-Chimney-Cleaners.aspx

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