How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove
Wood stoves are a cozy method to heat a room and save energy. However, they need a certain amount of maintenance.
Many modern wood stoves comply with EPA emission guidelines. Look for an EPA sticker either under or on the grate, to ensure that your stove doesn't create many harmful pollutants.
How to start a Wood Fire
The sound and smell of a wood fire can be a pleasant addition to any house. But it's important to learn how to properly create a fire on your stove. Improper techniques can result in the fire not burning efficiently and creates smoke or creosote. The following tips can help you start a fire that will heat your home with minimum effort and maximum security.
Examine the condition of your logs and coals before you start the fire. If they are wet, they will smother the fire and prevent it from burning properly. You might want to open the chimney to get rid of any ash that falls into the stove.
Begin by putting a handful of small, dry pieces of newspaper into your stove. This will help to ignite the sparks. Once these begin to burn, add another layer of larger pieces of tinder to the top of the pile. This should be done with a crosshatch design so that there is air between each piece.
If you have a wood stove that has an automatic control for combustion it will automatically supply an air stream controlled to your fire as it grows. This will help the fire to burn at a consistent pace without the need to open the stove door to tend it.
It's important to avoid using too much tinder, since it can cause an unburned fire that burns at an excessive rate and doesn't utilize the fuel as efficiently as it can. Once you've got a good bed in your stove of sparks, tinder and kindling begin the main flame by laying down two large logs of the base on the grate. On the top of these base woods lay a layer parallel to them. This "top-down" method of building a fireplace will result in a long-lasting, efficient fire that doesn't engulf larger logs from the base.
Once the fire is established Close the damper and ensure it stays closed. The fire may be smothered if you open the damper before it has fully established. This can also affect the efficiency of the fire.
Adding Wood
Stoves can be used to heat your home efficiently and help you save money. They can be used alone or together with central heating or a furnace system to provide the additional heat required in large houses or houses with a lot of rooms. Many of the new stoves that burn clean utilize a superior combustion method that differentiates the burning process of volatile compounds from combustible gasses and tar by providing air in two distinct stages. The first stage is to aid in the vaporization process, and the second is to supply pre-heated fresh air. This improves the process of combustion and helps to reduce odors.
The amount of heat you will get from a stove will depend on the species and moisture content of the wood used and also the dimensions of the logs. The logs must be stored in a well-ventilated space for several months before you try to burn them to give the wood a chance to dry. If the logs contain excessive moisture, they will produce steam which is essentially wasted energy.
During the burning of the fire, add more wood to the pile at intervals, and not all at once. Adding too much wood at one time causes the temperature inside the firebox to increase and produces a vortex that sucks smoke and volatile compounds that have not been burned back into the flame which can reduce the efficiency of your stove.
Avoid using other combustibles in your stove, like paper or cardboard because they are not wood. They have different physical properties and cannot be burned without causing dangerously high temperatures. It is not recommended to burn compressed combustibles like wood briquettes because they differ in chemical and physical composition from firewood. They are also not type-approved to be used in wood-burning stoves.
It is important to have a professional install and test your wood burning stove. A certified WETT technician will examine your stove to make sure it is safe and functional. They will also check that your chimney works correctly. They offer maintenance services for your stove and chimney to keep them in top shape. They can look for leaks in the areas connected to your chimney, and fix any issues they spot. They will also ensure that all occupants of the house are aware of and follow the fire evacuation procedure in case of an accident.
Adjusting the Damper
A damper regulates how much heat escapes up the chimney when you're not cooking on your stove. It can also be used to regulate the fire. If the flue is opened but the damper is too closed, the fire won't burn properly and it will release smoke into your living space. To get the most effective fire using your damper set correctly, you should experiment with different positions and observe how each one affects the flames.
It is important to keep your damper open to allow air to be able to enter and exit the flue while a fire is burning. This allows the fire to start a fire and keeps it in good shape so that you can enjoy it for a long time. The right opening will prevent the fire from becoming depleted of air and prevent it from blowing smoke.
To properly adjust your damper, you must first ensure that the fireplace is preheated and that the wood stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney is warm and has good draft. After that, the wood stove damper can be adjusted.
Once the fire has smolder slightly, you need to close the damper to about three-quarters of its full position. This will stop the warm air from the room from getting into the chimney, while still permitting smoke to escape.
This is the best method to ensure that your fire is lit and to prevent it from becoming too hot. The draft might be stopped if you close the damper to far, but a cold wind can enter your home in the event that the damper is not closed.
You can determine how much the damper is opened by holding your hand near the top of the of the flue pipe. If you feel a slight draft pressing against your hand, it's probably in the open position.
The damper settings can vary from one stove to the next and even among different types of wood. You can play around with different settings to get a sense of the ideal setting for your stove.
Clean up
After a fire, it is essential to clean the stove and flue. This can lower the risk of a chimney fire, which is the main reason for wood stove-related fires in homes. Creosote is a sticky material that builds up on the stovepipe's interior and can be extremely hazardous. fireplaces wood burning stoves and the unburned parts of wood that cannot escape the fire are responsible for this chemical. It can also be caused by poorly lit fires.
Regular cleaning can help prevent creosote buildup. This can be accomplished by sweeping your chimney once every year. It is recommended that you have your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and inspected at least once a year, too.
It is also a good idea to clean out the ash tray and grate it regularly. It is recommended to use only seasoned wood to burn, since this will produce less creosote and less ash. Avoid burning cardboard, paper and plastic. These items can release dangerous chemicals into the air and flue which could be released in your home.
It is also important to clean the glass of the wood stove regularly. A lot of modern wood stoves are designed with self-cleaning glass, which means that they do not require much cleaning. If you're unable to clean the glass of your wood stove as clean as you'd like, there are stove glass cleaners available that you can use on the window.
Some other helpful suggestions for maintaining your wood stove are to turn the vent off when you are not using it and cracking windows or doors to increase air flow. This keeps the fire burning hotter, and more efficiently. The wood stove will not have to be as active to circulate air. It is also a good idea not stack logs or leave them in the fire for prolonged periods of time as this could cause splitting and warping. It is also best to not use compressed combustible logs in your wood stove because the paraffin they contain can melt and flow into the flue which could damage it.