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Keeping a chimney clean means a lot more than just using dry firewood. If you use a wood stove to heat your home more than once a week, you should have an EPA certified stove. EPA certified stoves also wear out. If your stove is your primary heater, replacing your stove every 10 - 15 years is a good idea, just like most appliances.
When this blog was written in 2012, most EPA certified stoves emited an average of around three to four grams of particulates per hour, compared to 20-40 grams for the uncertified wood stoves made before 1988. As of 2020, all stoves must emit no more than 2 or 2.5 grams an hour in the lab. But the reason your chimney can still get dirty, is that in the home, a stove can still easily emit up to 10 grams if your wood is not fully seasoned and/you don't give your stove enough air.
Also, the EPA tells us that certified stoves are “50% more energy efficient” than uncertified stoves. This means, for example, that instead of burning wood at 50% efficiency, you could be getting 75% efficiency from your wood. Instead of sending smoke up your chimney, the most efficient stoves reburn the smoke before it goes up the pipe, either with secondary burn tubes or a catalytic converter. Smoke, after all, gives off plenty of heat because it has lots of Btus.
One last piece of advice: when the chimney sweep comes, spend a little time looking over his or her shoulder and ask them lots of questions. They are a great resources and, for instance, can tell just by looking at your ashes how well you run your stove. Ask them if your clearances are right and if the stove is showing any signs of deterioration. They can also check out your wood supply. Make sure to keep their report in your files in case, god forbid, the insurance company ever asks for it.
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