How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove

Wood stoves can be an excellent option to conserve energy and heat rooms. However, they require some level of maintenance.

Many modern wood stoves are compliant 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 scent and sound of a woodfire is an excellent addition to any home. It's essential to understand how to build a fire on your stove. Incorrect methods can result in the fire not burning effectively and can cause smoke or creosote. The tips below will help you begin an efficient fire that will warm your home quickly and effectively.

Make sure to check the condition of your logs and coals before you start an fire. If they are too wet they could smother the flame and stop it from burning efficiently. It is also possible to open the flue to let any ash out that has fallen into the stove.

Start by placing some small newspaper pieces that are dry in your Stove wood Burning. This will help to ignite the tinder and kindling. Once the tinder and kindling are beginning to burn, you can put the larger kindling pieces on the top. This should be done using a crosshatch design so that there is air between each piece.

If your wood stove is equipped with an automatic combustion control it will automatically supply air to the fire as it grows. This will allow the fire to burn for a long time without having to open the door of your stove constantly to tend to it.

It is important to not use excessive tinder as this can lead to an unburned fire that burns at an extremely high rate and fails to make use of the fuel as efficiently as it could. Once you've made a solid base in your stove with igniters, tinder, and embers to start the main flame, you can do this by laying down two large base logs on the grate. Then, you can lay an additional layer of smaller logs perpendicular to these and on the top of the base logs. This method of constructing a fire called a "top-down" fire will result in a powerful and long-lasting fire that will not overtake the larger base logs.

Once your fire is well established Close the damper and keep it closed. The fire may be smothered if you open the damper before it has fully established. It can also decrease the effectiveness of the fire.

Adding Wood

Stoves can be used to heat your home efficiently and help you save money. They can be used on their own or together with a furnace or central heating system to provide the supplemental heating required in large homes or homes with multiple rooms. Many of the latest clean burning stoves that are available use advanced combustion principles that can separate the burning volatile substances from combustible gasses as well as tar. This is done by supplying air at two distinct stages. The first stage allows the vaporization of the volatile compounds, while the second step provides fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves combustion and decreases smells.

The amount of heat you will get from your stove depends on the kind of wood and the amount of moisture as well as the size of the logs. To allow the wood to dry, Stove Wood Burning the logs should be stored in a ventilated location for a few months before burning. If the logs have too much moisture, they will produce steam which is essentially wasted power.

While you're burning the fire, you should add more wood to the stack in intervals, but not all at one time. Too much wood added at one time causes the temperature inside the firebox to increase and produces a vortex that sucks smoke and unburnt volatile compounds back into the flame, which can decrease the efficiency of your stove.

It is recommended to stay clear of any other combustibles, such as paper or cardboard in your stove, because they are not wood and have very different physical properties that cannot be burned safely without creating dangerously high temperatures and a lot of emissions. It is not recommended to burn compressed combustibles such as double sided wood burner briquettes since they differ in chemical and physical composition from firewood. They are also not approved to be used in wood-burning stoves.

If you're installing a wood burning stove in your home, it is important to have it properly installed and tested by a qualified. A certified WETT technician will test the stove for proper operation and safety and also ensure that your chimney is working properly. They provide maintenance services for your chimney and stove to keep them in top shape. They will look for leaks in the areas that are accessible to your chimney and fix any problems they find. They will also ensure that all house occupants are aware of and adhere to the fire evacuation guidelines in the event of an emergency.

Adjusting the Damper

A damper controls how much heat is lost up the chimney when you aren't cooking on your stove. In addition, it can also help manage the fire. If the flue opens but the damper is not closed, the fire will not be able to burn as it should and smoke will erupt into your home. You can adjust the damper to ensure the best flames by experimenting with different settings.

Typically, you should keep the damper open enough to let air in and Stove Wood Burning out of the flue while the fire is burning. This lets the fire start a fire and keeps it lit so you can enjoy it for long periods of time. A proper opening will stop the fire from becoming starved of air, and also prevent it from blowing smoke.

To be able to adjust your damper you need to ensure that the fireplace is preheated and the wood stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney stays warm and has good draft. After these steps are completed, the wood stove damper can be adjusted.

Once the fire has smolder for a while, you can close the damper to about three-quarters of its original position. This will stop the warm air from the room from going into the chimney, while allowing the smoke to escape from the wood stove.

This is the best way to stop the fire from getting too hot, while also keeping it burning. The draft may be stopped if one closes the damper too far but a cold wind could be able to enter your home when the damper is not closed.

Holding your hand at the top of the flue pipe will show you how much the damper has sunk. If you feel a slight breeze pushing against your hand, the damper is likely in an open position.

The damper's setting can vary slightly from one stove to another and even between different types 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 cause of wood stove related fires in homes. Creosote is a sticky substance that accumulates on the stovepipe's interior and can be very dangerous. Unburned and moist particles of wood that cannot escape the fire are responsible for this chemical. This can also be caused by fires that are not lit properly.

Regular cleaning helps prevent creosote buildup. The best method to do this is by sweeping the chimney at least once a year. It is also recommended that you have your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and examined at least year.

Also, it is an excellent idea to clean the ash tray and the grates regularly. It is recommended to only use seasoned wood for burning, as this will result in less creosote as well as ash. Avoid burning cardboard, paper and plastic. These items could release dangerous chemicals into the air and flue, which can be released into your home.

It is also necessary to wash the glass of the wood burning stove on a regular basis. A lot of modern wood stoves are made with self-cleaning glass, meaning that they do not require any scrubbing. If you're unable to clean the glass of your wood stove as clean as you would like you can use stove glass cleaners available that you can use on the window.

Other tips to maintain your wood burning stove modern stove include lowering the vent when you're not using it, and cracking windows or doors to allow more airflow. This keeps the fire burning more hot and efficient. The wood stove will not need to perform as hard to circulate air. It is a good idea not to stack logs or place them on the fire for an extended duration. This could cause splits and warping. Finally, it is a good idea to not use compressed combustible logs in your wood stove because the paraffin they contain could melt and spill down into the flue, which could cause damage to the stove.