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FreshDuct services Clean Air wood heaters across Melbourne, and helps households dealing with wood smoke complaints work out whether the problem is the appliance, the firewood or the way the fire is run.
Had a smoke complaint from a neighbour? Most are solvable, and most are not the appliance.
Clean Air is an established Australian wood heater brand, well supported for spare parts and widely stocked through heating retailers. The appliances are conventional closed combustion heaters and we service them the same way we service any other. What makes this page different is the subject the brand name invites, and which we get asked about constantly: smoke.
New wood heaters sold in Australia are tested against emissions and efficiency standards, AS/NZS 4013 and AS/NZS 4012 respectively. That testing is done on the appliance under controlled conditions with specified fuel. It tells you what the heater is capable of. It tells you nothing about what a particular heater in a particular house is actually emitting, because that depends overwhelmingly on three things the standard cannot control: the fuel, the operation and the flue.
Fuel is the big one. Unseasoned wood can be a third or more water by weight, and that water has to be boiled off before the wood will burn properly. Energy that should be making heat goes into evaporating water instead, the firebox runs cool, combustion stays incomplete, and the result is exactly the dense white smoke neighbours complain about. Painted, treated or construction timber is worse again and should never go into a domestic heater.
Operation is the second. A fire choked down immediately after loading, or run permanently shut to make a load last, smoulders rather than burns. That is the mode that produces both the visible smoke outside and the creosote inside. When we service a heater in a household that has had a complaint, we go through fuel and operation properly, because in most cases that is where the answer is, and a sweep alone will not resolve it.
Brand facts and the Australian standards that apply. No figures we could not source.
A full service, plus a genuine diagnosis of why a chimney is smoking.
The single largest factor in visible smoke. Wood that has not been split and stacked under cover for long enough carries far too much water to burn cleanly. We will look at what you are burning and tell you honestly whether the fuel is the problem, because no amount of servicing will make wet wood burn clean.
A fire needs to be run with enough air to establish properly before the air is reduced, and it should never be choked to the point of smouldering. We go through the actual sequence on your appliance — how to light it, when to reduce air, how to reload — because operation is the second biggest lever after fuel.
The clean-burn system is what turns smoke into heat inside the firebox. When those air passages block with ash, the appliance stops burning its own smoke and it goes up the flue instead. Clearing them is part of our service and it directly reduces what comes out of the chimney.
If the door rope has hardened or the door no longer closes true, the heater draws air it cannot control. That makes the fire behave unpredictably and makes it much harder to run in the clean, controlled way that produces little smoke. We test the seal all the way round on every service.
A cool or poorly drawing flue makes clean burning harder to achieve and sustain. Restriction, an oversized flue for the appliance, or a marginal termination height all work against you. We assess the flue as part of diagnosing a smoke problem rather than treating it as separate.
FreshDuct recommends an annual sweep and service before the season. Where a household has had a smoke complaint, we would rather spend part of that visit on fuel and operation than simply sweep and leave, because that is where the resolution usually is.
Real FreshDuct chimney and flue photography. Captions describe the work only, not any particular brand of appliance.
On a Clean Air heater we sweep the flue, strip the firebox, pull and inspect the baffle, clear the secondary combustion and airwash passages, check the firebricks, test and replace door rope, and inspect the flue and terminal from the roof where access is safe.
Where smoke is the reason for the call, we also go through fuel and operating technique with you properly, and give you a written note you can use if you are dealing with a neighbour or a council enquiry. FreshDuct is not a regulator and does not issue compliance determinations, and we have no affiliation with Clean Air or its suppliers. We are simply in a position to tell you what is actually causing it.
Book a Clean Air ServiceWe service Clean Air heaters across metropolitan Melbourne. Smoke complaints are most common in the denser inner and middle suburbs — Brunswick, Northcote, Fitzroy, Collingwood, Carlton, Footscray and Essendon — where houses sit close together and a neighbour’s window may be a few metres from your flue terminal.
We also work throughout the outer east and the ranges, where heaters run harder but neighbours are further away. The technical issues are identical in both settings; what differs is how quickly a poorly running heater becomes somebody else’s problem, and how much value there is in getting it burning cleanly.
Service the appliance, then solve the smoke.
When it smokes, how much and for how long after lighting.
What is being burnt, and how long it has been split and stacked.
Full length swept and any restriction ruled in or out.
Secondary air and airwash passages cleared, seals tested.
Lighting, air reduction and reloading, on your actual appliance.
Photos and a plain summary of cause and fix, in writing.
Verified 5-star reviews from across FreshDuct’s chimney, fireplace, duct, heating and insulation services. These are company-wide reviews from our Melbourne customer base — not reviews of any particular appliance brand.
“Allen provided exceptional service — friendly, professional and went above and beyond.”
“Highly impressed with the professionalism and efficiency. On time, and no mess left behind.”
“Exceeded my expectations. Knowledgeable, meticulous and respectful of our home.”
“So glad I chose FreshDuct. Knowledgeable team and the whole process was smooth from start to finish.”
“Quick, efficient and professional — we could immediately feel the difference.”
“The technician arrived on time and was incredibly thorough — the difference at home is obvious.”
What helps most when smoke is the issue.
Check your firewood before anything else. Wood that has not been split and stacked under cover for long enough is the cause in most cases, and it produces the dense white smoke that generates complaints. After that, look at how the fire is run, particularly whether the air is being shut down too early or too far. Both are fixable without touching the appliance.
No. Emissions testing under AS/NZS 4013 tells you what the appliance is capable of under controlled conditions with specified fuel. What actually comes out of your chimney depends on the fuel you burn, how you run the fire and the state of the flue. A compliant heater burning wet wood while shut down will smoke heavily.
Often significantly. Blocked secondary combustion passages stop the appliance burning its own smoke, and a failed door seal makes the fire impossible to control properly. Clearing those restores the clean-burn behaviour the heater was designed to have. It will not, however, compensate for wet firewood.
No. FreshDuct is an independent chimney and fireplace service company with no affiliation to Clean Air or its suppliers, and we are not a regulator. We clean, sweep, inspect and service the appliance and its flue, and we advise honestly on causes of smoke.
Long enough that it is genuinely dry through, which depends on the species, how it was split and how it was stored. The reliable indicators are that it has been split rather than left in rounds, stacked off the ground with airflow and covered from rain, and that it sounds hollow rather than dull when two pieces are knocked together.
Full service and sweep, plus a straight diagnosis if smoke has become a problem for you or your neighbours.
Mention any smoke complaints and we will scope the visit for it.
