How to Maintain a Woodburning Stove

A wood-burning stove is an an efficient and effective way to heat your home. It is crucial to maintain your woodburning appliance to ensure its maximum performance.

Tip: Choose seasoned wood with low moisture content. This will allow you to use the wood longer and produce more heat.

State environmental agencies are grappling with how to tackle the problem of particulate air pollution from older wood-burning stoves.

How They Work

As the name implies woodburning stoves burn wood to generate heat. They do this by containing the fire within a metal and glass body. This also helps to keep the temperature inside your home at a consistent level. It also serves as a barrier to smoke from entering the living room.

Stoves regulate combustion by regulating the amount of oxygen they let into the fire. This is accomplished by opening and closing one or more air vents.

Modern stoves typically employ non-catalytic or catalytic technology to control this. Catalytic stoves have a catalytic convertor that is designed to reburn the gases that are generated during primary combustion to ensure they do not escape from the room. Non-catalytic stoves on the contrary, don't contain a catalyst and rely solely on secondary combustion taking place inside the firebox to reduce emissions.

It is recommended to burn seasoned firewood in your fireplace that burns wood. It must have a moisture level below 20%, which allows the fire to burn effectively. This will help eliminate smoke and harmful pollution from the flue system and will make the glass inside your stove less prone to be blackened due to creosote which is a byproduct of burning wood that can accumulate over time.

In addition to reducing emissions well-seasoned wood can also save cash on heating bills, as it will produce more heat for a given amount of fuel. This is due to the fact that drier wood has a greater surface area and consequently produces more heat from a given volume of fuel.

However, it can be harmful for everyone, especially children and older adults who have vulnerable lungs. It can also cause irritation to those with lung conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD). If you live in a designated smoke-control zone, make sure that your multifuel stove is properly maintained. It must also be fitted with a chimney that is in compliance with the standards of the area.

Burning Wood

Wood-burning stoves are a safe and renewable source of heat. They can be used to keep your home warm during an power outage. They also reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels such as gas and oil, which are harmful to the environment.

Modern woodburning stoves are more efficient than previous models, and are designed to prevent the accumulation of creosote. However it is crucial to keep an eye on the combustion. Creosote, a dangerous byproduct of incomplete combustion can block the chimney and cause it to lose its efficiency. It can also pose an hazard to fire. Using seasoned wood will help to keep the levels of creosote at a minimum and save on the cost of logs as well as helping avoid the need for professional cleaning services.

You can also get stoves that burn coal and wood and give you a choice of carbon-neutral energy sources. It is important to remember that coal is not a green fuel and there are concerns about the way it is extracted.

It is recommended to choose a Defra approved stove, and ideally one that is Ecodesign ready, as they will be in compliance with the latest emission regulations. The UK building regulations specify the type of flue as well as the size of the hearth, and the distance between the stove and combustible material. It is always best to talk to our stove experts prior to purchasing an appliance.

Other combustibles like paper and garbage should not be used in wood-burning stoves because they can cause pollution, and at worst, an explosion in the chimney and, at best, cause them to function less efficiently. This is due to the fact that other combustibles have different density properties than firewood, which means they are able to burn at lower temperatures and produce more particles.

It is crucial to use only seasoned, split, and dried firewood. This will allow the wood to burn more efficiently. If you use damp or wet wood, it produces a lot of smoke, as well as producing more pollutant. It is recommended to also use a high-quality stove pipe to ensure that the temperature of the flue will be sufficient and that it is set up correctly.

Emissions

Wood-burning stoves produce a myriad of gases and particles. They mostly produce fine particulate matter (PM2.5) which is small enough to penetrate the lungs and penetrate into the bloodstream, potentially damaging the liver, heart and brain. They also produce carcinogenic compounds like polycyclic aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Based on the type of fuel they are burning, some release toxic metals, such as arsenic and mercury.

In the US, there are a variety of attempts to regulate how much pollution woodburning stoves can produce with different levels of success. In 1988, the Environmental Protection Agency set emissions guidelines that essentially restricted how much pollution new stoves could emit. Since the time, there have been two changes to the regulations. The latest one in 2015 mandates that all stoves, catalytic or non-catalytic, emit no more than 4 grams of pollution each hour.

Although these rules were strict, they did cause a significant shakeup in the industry, leading hundreds of smaller manufacturers to close up shop and create the creation of high-quality and efficient stoves that could last and capable of producing less emissions than conventional models. Stove designers analyzed and studied combustion air flows, baffles combustion chamber shapes, insulating materials and recirculation systems to improve their products. In time, they were successful.

The moisture content of the wood is a major element in determining the emission. The higher the level of moisture, the more harmful emissions the stove produces. Therefore, the best method to reduce emissions is to use well-seasoned firewood that has been properly dried over 6-8 months.

Several studies have shown that a single woodburning stove, if it's used regularly it can create as much particle pollution as 15 diesel cars, based on unscientific tests which compare emissions-related PM2.5 only. However these studies don't take into account that about half of car's particle pollution is caused by the engine, deal brakes and tyres, not its exhaust.

Ten blue states are pushing on the EPA to review their carbon emissions as well as air-quality guidelines for wood-burning appliances. Attorney generals from New York, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Alaska, Oregon and Vermont have announced plans to take on the EPA for allowing high-emitting stoves to be installed in homes across the nation.

Maintenance

Wood-burning stoves are efficient in heating homes, but they can be difficult to maintain. To ensure that your stove is clean and functioning efficiently, you'll need to clean it regularly. A dirty stove could have an impact on the health of occupants and also the amount of heat it generates. In addition to cleaning the stove, there are other maintenance tasks that must be performed to ensure it functions properly.

It is easy to clean the exterior and interior of a stove. Cleaning a stove is recommended on a weekly basis or every two weeks depending on the frequency at which it is used. It is also a good idea to empty the ash from the firebox each time the stove is being used. Spread old newspaper on the floor and put on gloves prior to scooping out the ashes. Use a metal container instead of a bucket to prevent rusting.

It is crucial to keep the flue and chimney clean. It is a good idea to hire an experienced chimney sweeper once or twice per year to thoroughly clean the chimney and stove. This will help keep creosote off the chimney and decrease the chance of chimney fires.

A chimney should also be inspected for cracks and creosote buildup as well as bird nests, and other debris. A professional chimney sweep can fix these issues and restore a safe and functioning chimney.

Over time, the glass from a wood-burning stove can be smudged and clouded with soot. Spray ammonia and water onto the glass and wipe it with a clean cloth. It is recommended to avoid scratching the glass as this could weaken it and break it when it is hot.

If the paint on a woodburning stove starts to chip it can be easily replaced with a high-quality heat resistant paint. These paints are available at most wood stove retailers and are available in a broad range of colors.