Chimney Services in Franklin Township (Gloucester County), NJ

What the numbers suggest for chimneys in Franklin Township

Census estimates show about 61% of Franklin Township's occupied homes on utility gas, 25% on fuel oil, 7% on electricity, 5% on propane and about 1.6% using wood as the main fuel. The oil share is far above that of neighboring Monroe Township (8%) or Glassboro (3%). Oil-fired boilers and furnaces send soot up the chimney, which is why those flues need regular service; see oil furnace and boiler flues.

The township's 6,057 housing units are mostly from the 1960s onward: about 33% from the 1960s and 1970s, 28% from 1980 to 1999 and 19% since 2000, with 16% from 1940 to 1959. About 93% are detached houses, so most chimneys here serve a single household.

These are township-wide figures and say nothing specific about a single property's chimney.

One chimney, two fuels: where a wood stove can vent

The first question is which flue the stove would use. A wood stove cannot share the oil boiler's flue. The Jøtul F 400 manual, for one, states in capital letters that the heater must not be connected to any chimney servicing another appliance. That leaves three common routes:

• The fireplace flue. A wood insert sits in the fireplace, or a stove stands on the hearth, and vents through a liner run up the fireplace flue. U.S. EPA's Burn Wise program notes that a certified installer will make sure the flue liner in a masonry chimney is installed correctly. See fireplace insert installation.
• A spare flue in the same chimney. Some chimneys have an unused flue. It is inspected and usually relined to the size the stove's manual calls for. Our guide to chimneys with more than one flue shows how to find out what each one serves.
• A new chimney. With no suitable flue, a factory-built chimney listed for the stove is the alternative; see wood stove installation.

The Jøtul manual also requires any existing chimney to be inspected before the stove is installed.

Living with two heat sources

Burn Wise suggests using a wood heater for supplemental heat or as backup during power outages, and the U.S. Department of Energy says every woodstove sold today should carry an EPA certification sticker. A certified stove burns cleaner, but how you run it still decides what ends up in the flue.

Each flue keeps its own schedule. The oil flue follows the boiler: CSIA points to NFPA 211, which calls for a yearly inspection with cleaning and repair when needed. The wood flue follows how hard the stove works. The Jøtul manual advises inspecting at the start of the heating season and every other month during it, and cleaning whenever creosote and fly ash build up past 1/4 inch. It also explains that slow, smoldering fires produce the tar vapors that condense into creosote, so a stove turned down low all night to save oil can load its flue quickly. Our guide to creosote stages and the firewood guide cover the habits that keep deposits down.

Two appliances burning fuel in one house also make carbon monoxide alarms worth a fresh look. New Jersey's fire code (N.J.A.C. 5:70-4.19) requires CO alarms in the immediate vicinity of sleeping areas in one- and two-family homes that contain a fuel-burning device. Our guide to carbon monoxide alarms covers placement and testing.

Local questions

Sources

1. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates (tables B25034, B25040, B25024), via Census Reporter
2. Jøtul F 400 Castine wood stove installation and operation manual (PDF)
3. U.S. EPA Burn Wise: Choosing Wood-Burning Appliances
4. U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Saver: Wood and Pellet Heating
5. CSIA: Annual Service of Your Oil-Fired Appliance Chimney
6. N.J.A.C. 5:70-4.19, Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms in one- and two-family dwellings (via Cornell LII)