How to Maintain a Woodburning Stove

A electric wood stove-burning stove is a reliable and effective method of heating the home. It is important to maintain your woodburning stove in order to ensure it is operating at its best.

Tips: Choose wood that is seasoned with low moisture content. This will let you use the wood longer and generate more heat.

The state environmental agencies are battling to find a solution for the issue of particulate pollution caused by old wood-burning stoves.

How They Work

As the name suggests, wood-burning 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 acts as a barrier to stop smoke from entering the living space.

The main way that stoves regulate the process of combustion is by controlling the amount of air they let into the fire. This is done by opening and closing one or more air vents.

Modern stoves employ non-catalytical or catalytical technologies to control this. Catalytic stoves feature catalytic converters that are designed to reburn the gases generated during primary combustion to ensure that they do not escape into the room. Non-catalytic stoves on the contrary, don't have a catalyst and rely solely on secondary combustion to take place within the firebox to minimize emissions.

It is recommended to only burn seasoned wood in your woodburning stove. It should have a moisture content less than 20%, which allows the fire to burn effectively. This will help reduce smoke and harmful pollutant emissions from the flue system and also make the glass in your stove less likely to become blackened by creosote, which is a byproduct of burning wood that can develop over time.

The use of contemporary wood burning stoves that is seasoned will reduce emissions and save you the cost of heating. It produces more heat per unit of fuel. This is because drier wood has a larger surface area and therefore produces more heat from a given amount of fuel.

However, it can be harmful for anyone, particularly older adults and children who have lungs that are vulnerable. 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, ensure that your stove is properly and properly seasoned. It should also be installed with a chimney which meets the requirements of the local area.

Burning Wood

Wood-burning stoves are a safe, renewable heat that is also a great choice to keep your home warm during power cuts. They also help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which can be detrimental to the environment, from fossil fuels like oil and gas.

Modern woodburning stoves operate more efficiently than older models and are engineered to stop the build-up of creosote, but it is still important to keep track of the combustion process. Creosote, which is a risky byproduct of incomplete combustion can block the chimney and cause it to lose its efficiency. It also creates the risk of fire. The use of seasoned logs will keep creosote at a minimum and help you save money on logs. It also helps you avoid having to hire an expert to clean your chimney.

You can also select stoves that use wood and coal offering you the option of choosing between carbon-neutral sources of energy. However, it is important to keep in mind that coal is not a climate-friendly fuel, and there are concerns regarding the manner in which it is mined and transported.

It is best to use a Defra approved stove and ideally one that is Ecodesign ready, as these will comply with the latest emission regulations. The UK building regulations dictate the kind of flue used as well as the size of the hearth and the distance between the stove and combustible material. It is recommended to consult our stove experts before buying a stove.

Paper and other combustibles such as rubbish and paper should not be placed in wood-burning appliances. They can cause more pollution and, at worst an explosion in the chimney. At most, they can cause them to be less efficient. Other combustibles are less dense than firewood, which means they will burn at lower temperatures and produce more particles.

It is also essential to use only seasoned, split and dried firewood as it will burn more efficiently. Using wet or damp wood produces lots of smoke and also create more pollutant. It is recommended to make use of a top-quality stove pipe to ensure that the flue temperatures are sufficient and that it is installed correctly.

Emissions

Woodburning stoves emit a variety of gases and particles. Mostly they produce fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which is small enough to pass through the lungs and penetrate into the bloodstream, which could harm the liver, heart and brain. However they also produce carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and carcinogenic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Depending on what they are burning, some even spew toxic metals, such as mercury and arsenic.

In the US There have been a number of attempts to regulate how much pollution woodburning stoves produce with varying levels of success. In 1988 the Environmental Protection Agency established emission guidelines that regulated the amount of pollution new stoves were permitted to release. Since then there have been two more revisions to the regulations and the most recent one in 2015 requires that all units both catalytic and non-catalytic release no more than 4.5 grams of pollutants per hour.

These strict rules caused a major shake-up in the industry, and forced hundreds of smaller companies out of business. However they also spurred an effort to create efficient stoves that could last and produced lower emissions than conventional models. Stove designers analyzed and studied combustion air flows, baffles combustion chamber shapes, insulating materials and recirculation systems in order to make their products better. In time, they were successful.

The emission levels are mostly influenced by the moisture content of the wood burned. The higher the moisture content, the greater the pollutants that a stove produces. This is why the best way to reduce emissions is to use firewood that has been seasoned that has been properly dried for 6-8 months.

According to several studies that compare pollution from exhaust only, a woodburning stove can cause as much particle pollution as 15 diesel vehicles. These tests were not scientifically based. However these studies fail to take into consideration that approximately half of the car's particle pollution is caused by the brakes, engine and tyres, not its exhaust.

Ten blue states have been putting pressure on the EPA to review its carbon emissions and air quality guidelines for wood-burning stoves. The attorney generals of New York, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Alaska, Oregon and Vermont have announced plans to sue the EPA for continuing to allow high-emitting stoves to be installed in homes across the nation.

Maintenance

Although wood-burning stoves are extremely efficient in heating homes but they can be difficult to maintain. The stove must be cleaned regularly to keep it looking and operating correctly. A dirty stove can be detrimental to the health of occupants and the amount of heat it generates. In addition to cleaning the stove, there are also maintenance tasks that must be completed to ensure that it functions properly.

Cleaning the exterior and interior of a stove is easy to do. It is recommended to clean the stove every week or on a fortnightly basis based on the frequency it is used. It is also recommended to clean the ash from the firebox every time the stove is used. Spread old newspaper on the floor, and wear gloves before taking out the ashes. It's also a good idea to use a metal ash container instead of a bucket as this will prevent rusting.

Keeping the flue and chimney clean is also important. A chimney sweep professional should be hired at least once or twice per year to clean the stove and chimney thoroughly. This will prevent creosote buildup and reduce the risk for chimney fires.

A chimney should also be checked for cracks and creosote buildup along with bird nests and other debris. A professional chimney sweep is able to repair these problems to restore a safe and functioning chimney.

Finally, the glass on a wood burning stove can become smudged or cloudy with soot build up over time. Spray a mixture of ammonia and water on the glass, and wipe it off with a clean cloth. It is advised to avoid scratching the glass as this can weaken it and cause it to shatter when it gets hot.

Paint that is heat-resistant can be used to paint a woodburning fireplace if the paint starts to chip. These paints can be purchased at the majority of retailers for wood stoves and are available in a broad variety of colors.