Oil heat is harder on a chimney than gas, and Denville has a good deal more of it than the towns to its east. AM Chimney Sweep cleans, inspects, relines and repairs chimneys in Denville, including the flues that serve oil-fired boilers and furnaces.
Oil heat in Denville
According to Census Bureau estimates, about one Denville household in five heats with fuel oil. In many Essex and Bergen County towns that figure is in the low single digits. If your house has an oil tank, this page is for you.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 five-year estimates.
What oil exhaust leaves behind
An oil burner produces fine black soot, and oil exhaust contains sulfur. The soot sticks to the flue walls and falls to the base of the chimney. When it meets moisture, from rain in an uncapped flue or from condensation, the sulfur in it forms an acid. That acidic sludge sits against clay tile and mortar and slowly dissolves them. It is why the inside of an oil flue often looks worse than the outside of the chimney suggests.
Signs your oil flue needs attention
- Soot spilling out of the clean-out door or piling up behind it
- Black staining around the barometric damper, the small swinging flap on the pipe between the burner and the chimney
- An oil or exhaust smell in the basement when the burner fires
- A “puffback”: a burst of soot from the burner into the basement
- Flakes of clay tile mixed in with the soot at the base
- Dark streaks on the outside of the chimney near the top
“The oil company services it every year”
It services the burner. A tune-up normally covers the nozzle, filter, combustion settings and often the pipe from the burner to the chimney. The flue inside the chimney is generally not part of it. Ask your technician directly; most will confirm it is separate work.
A blocked or narrowed flue also undermines the tune-up itself, because a burner cannot be set up properly against a poor draft.
How often?
The national standard, NFPA 211, calls for chimneys and vents to be inspected at least once a year. An oil flue in regular use typically needs sweeping on most of those visits, since soot accumulates every heating season.
What we do
- Brush the flue from top to bottom and remove the soot from the base
- Run a camera through it to check the tile and joints once they are clean enough to see
- Check the cap, crown and top courses of brick, where acidic moisture does visible damage
- Report on whether the liner is still doing its job
When the liner has failed
If the clay tile is cracked, flaking or missing, the flue should be relined. For oil, the liner has to be a grade of stainless steel rated for oil exhaust. Not every liner sold is, so it is worth asking what is being proposed.
Thinking of converting from oil to gas?
Deal with the chimney before the new equipment goes in.
- The old oil soot has to be cleaned out completely. Gas exhaust is cooler and wetter, and if it meets leftover sulfur deposits it produces the same acid in greater quantity.
- The flue almost always needs a new liner sized for the gas appliance. A flue that suited an oil boiler is usually too large.
- If the new equipment vents through the side wall, check what remains on the chimney. A water heater left on its own often needs a smaller liner.
- A change of fuel is one of the situations in which a Level 2 inspection is called for.
Fireplaces and wood stoves
Many Denville homes have a fireplace or stove in addition to the heating system. Those flues are separate and are cleaned and inspected on the same visit if you ask.
Schedule oil flue service in Denville
Call (862) 225-6529 or contact us online. Late spring, after the heating season, is a sensible time: the soot is removed before summer humidity can turn it acidic. We also install caps and repair crowns. See Our Work for completed projects.