Check Out: How Stove Wood Burning Is Taking Over And What We Can Do About It
How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove
Wood stoves are a warm way to heat a space and conserve energy. They will require some maintenance.
A majority of modern wood stoves comply with EPA emission guidelines. You can look for an EPA sticker on the grate or under it to ensure your stove isn't releasing harmful pollutants.
How to start a Wood Fire
The sound and smell of a wood fire could be a welcome addition to any house. However, it is important to know how to properly make a fire on your stove. Improper techniques can result in the fire not to burn efficiently, and produces creosote or smoke. The following tips can assist you in starting an fire that can heat your home with minimal effort and with the highest safety.
Check the condition of your coals and logs before you start a fire. If they're wet, it will smother your fire and prevent the proper burning. You may want to open the chimney to get rid of any ash that has fallen into the stove.
Begin by putting some small newspaper pieces that are dry and clean in the stove. This will help to spark the tinder and ignite your kindling. Once the tinder and kindling have started to burn, you can put the larger kindling pieces on the top. This should be done with an arc pattern so that there is air between each piece.
If you have wood stoves that have an automatic control for combustion that will automatically deliver an air stream that is controlled to the fire as it builds. This will allow the fire to burn at a steady pace without having to open the stove's doors to maintain it.
It is essential to avoid using too much tinder, as this could result in an unburned fire that burns at an excessive rate and doesn't use the fuel as efficiently as possible. When you have a good bed of tinder and kindling in your stove, start the main fire by laying two large logs of the base across the grill. On top of these base logs lay a layer parallel to them. This "top-down" method of building the fireplace will create an effective and long-lasting fire that doesn't consume larger logs from the base.
Close the damper when the fire is established and kept it closed. Doing this too soon could cause the fire to be smothered, and it will not allow for proper airflow, which will decrease the efficiency of the fire.
Adding Wood
Stoves can be used to heat your home efficiently and save you money. They can be used in conjunction with central heating systems or furnace to provide supplemental heat in large houses. Many of the latest stoves that burn cleanly available today utilize advanced combustion principles that separates the burning volatile compounds from combustible gasses as well as tar. This is achieved by supplying air at two distinct stages. The first stage permits the combustion of volatile compounds and the second supplies fresh air that has been pre-heated. This improves combustion and decreases the odors.
The amount of heat that you get from your stove depends on both the species of wood and the moisture content and the size of the logs. The logs must be stored in a well-ventilated area for several months before you try to burn them to give the wood time to dry. If the logs have too much moisture, they will create steam, which is basically wasted power.
When you are burning the fire, it is recommended to add more wood to the stack at intervals, not all at once. Addition of too much wood all at once could cause the temperature to rise in the firebox, causing the formation of a vortex that draws smoke and volatile compounds that are not burned back into the flames. This can reduce the efficiency of your stove.
Avoid burning other combustibles in your stove such as paper or cardboard because they are not wood. They have different physical properties and can't be burned without creating dangerously high temperatures. It is not recommended to burn compressed combustibles such as wood briquettes since they are different in chemical and physical composition from firewood. They are also not type-approved to be burned in wood-burning stoves.
If you are installing wood-burning stoves in your home, it is essential to have it installed and tested by a professional. A certified WETT technician can test your stove to ensure it is safe and functional. They will also check that your chimney is functioning properly. They also provide maintenance services to keep your chimney and stove in tip-top shape. They can check the areas accessible to your chimney to determine if there is leakage and fix any issues that are discovered. They will also make sure that the occupants of the house understand and adhere to the fire evacuation procedures in the event of an accident.
Adjusting the Damper
A damper controls how much heat is lost through the chimney when you aren't using your stove. In addition, it can also help to control the flame. If the flue opens, but the damper is too closed the fire will not burn properly and smoke will erupt into your home. To get the best fire with the damper properly adjusted, you must play around with different locations and observe how each affects the flames.
You should keep your damper open to let air be able to enter and exit the flue when a fire is burning. This will allow the fire to begin and stay lit for several hours. A proper opening will prevent the fire from starving of air and prevent it from blowing out smoke.
To adjust your damper correctly first, make sure that the fireplace is preheated and that the wood stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney stays warm and has good draft. After this the damper on the wood stove can be adjusted.
After the fire has been burning for an extended period, close the damper approximately three quarters of the way. This will stop the warm air in the room from venting into the chimney, while allowing smoke to escape from the wood stove.
This is the best way to prevent the fire from becoming too hot, while also keeping it burning. If you shut the damper too tightly, it could stop the draft from working, but if it is too wide, a cold breeze could enter your home.
Placing your hand on the top of the flue pipe will inform you how much the damper has opened. If you can feel a slight breeze pressing against your hand, it's probably in the open position.
The damper settings can vary from one stove to the next and even between different kinds of wood. You can play around with different settings to get a sense of the ideal setting for your stove.
Clean Up
It is important to clean your chimney and stove after the start of a fire. This can lower the risk of a chimney fire, which is the primary reason for wood stove-related fires in homes. Creosote is a sticky substance that can build up in the stovepipe, is extremely hazardous. Moisture and unburned particles of wood that are unable to escape the fire are the cause for this chemical. It could also be caused by poorly lit fires.
Regular cleaning can help keep away the buildup of creosote. The best method to do this is to sweep the chimney at least once a year. It is also recommended to have your fireplace and stove professionally cleaned and checked at least year.
Also, it is a good idea for you to clean the ash tray and grates regularly. It is a good idea to use only wood that is seasoned to burn, since this will produce less creosote and ash. Avoid burning paper, cardboard and plastic. These materials can release harmful chemicals into the flue and air, which could be released in your home.
It is also important to wash the glass of the wood burning stove on a regular basis. wood burning stoves near me are made with self-cleaning glass, which means that they do not require much cleaning. If you are not able to get the glass on your wood stove as clean as you would like you can use stove glass cleaners available that can be used on the window.
Other suggestions for maintaining your wood stove include turning the vent down when you are not using it and slamming windows or doors to allow more air flow. This keeps the fire burning more hot and efficiently. The wood stove will not need to be as active to circulate air. It is also a good idea to not stack logs or keep them in the fire for prolonged durations of time, since this could lead to warping and splitting. It is also a good idea to not use compressed combustible logs in your wood stove, because the paraffin they contain can melt and then flow down the flue which could damage it.