Was dead set against power sweep heads until a fire chief showed me the data

Honestly, I always thought rotary power sweeps were just lazy man's tools. But last month at a state conference in Harrisburg, a 20-year fire chief pulled up a study showing 68% of chimney fires start from creosote packed into the first 18 inches of flue. He said a power sweep with a poly whip gets that bottom section way cleaner than a hand brush ever could on average 40% faster removal. I watched his demo on a test flue and saw the difference in the debris pile myself. Now I'm saving up for a 3/4 inch drill and a good whip kit. Any of you guys run a power sweep on older clay liners without issues?

2 comments

2 Comments

diana_black7d ago

My buddy Dave tried one on his 1940s house and said it actually worked fine. Just had to go slow and check the whip condition after every job.

wendy3917d ago

I read somewhere that older wiring is Actually tougher than people think, @diana_black.