How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove

Wood stoves are an ideal option to conserve energy and heat the room. They will require some maintenance.

Many modern wood stoves meet EPA emissions guidelines. Look for an EPA sticker either under or on the grate to make sure your stove won't produce many harmful pollutants.

How to start a Wood Fire

The scent and sound of a wood fire can be a welcome feature in any home. It is essential to know how to build a fire on your stove. Unintentional methods can lead to an unburned fire that doesn't burn well, and may produce creosote or smoke. The tips below can help you start an efficient fire that will heat up your home quickly and efficiently.

Examine the condition of your logs and coals before you begin a fire. If they are wet, it will smother your fire and hinder proper burning. It is also possible to open the flue to let any ash that has fallen into the stove.

Begin by putting some small newspaper pieces that are dry in the stove. This will help to ignite the tinder and ignite the kindling. When the tinder and the kindling have begun to burn, you can add the larger kindling pieces on the top. This should be done using the crosshatch pattern to ensure that there is air between each piece.

If you own a wood stove with an automatic control for combustion it will automatically supply an air stream that is controlled to the fire as it grows. This allows the fire to burn steadily without the need to open the door of your stove constantly to tend to it.

It is essential to avoid using excessive tinder as this can lead to a fire that burns at an extremely high rate and fails to make use of the fuel as efficiently as possible. If you have a nice fire and a bed of tinder in your stove, begin the main fire by placing two large logs of the base across the grill. Then, on the top of these base logs lay a layer parallel to them. This "top-down" method of building the fireplace will create a long-lasting, efficient fire that doesn't consume larger logs from the base.

Close the damper once the fire is established 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 save you money. They can be used in conjunction with central heating systems or furnace to provide supplemental heating in large homes. Many of the new stoves that are clean-burning use a superior combustion principle that separates the burning of volatile compounds from the combustion of combustible gases and tar by providing air in two distinct stages. The first stage is for the vaporization process, and the second stage is to provide fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves combustion and reduces the odors.

The amount of heat you get from a stove is contingent upon the species and moisture content of the wood burning stoves outdoor (www.fireplacesandstove.com says) you use as well as the size of the logs. To allow the wood to dry, logs should be stored in a well ventilated location for a few months before burning. If the logs are not dry enough, they will produce lots of steam, which is in essence wasted energy.

When you are burning the fire, add more wood to the stack in intervals, but not all at one time. Addition of too much wood at once could cause the temperature to rise in the firebox, creating an air vortex that pulls smoke and volatile compounds that are not burned back into the flames. This could reduce the efficiency of your stove.

Avoid burning other combustibles in your stove, like paper or cardboard, as they are not wood. They have different physical properties and cannot be burned without causing dangerously high temperatures. It is not recommended to burn combustibles that are compressed, such as wood briquettes because they are different in chemical and physical composition from firewood. They are also not approved to be used in Portable Wood-Burning Stove with Oven: Camping & Hunting stoves.

It is crucial that you have a professional install and test your wood stove. A certified WETT technician will test the installation to ensure proper operation and safety as well as make sure that your chimney is operating correctly. They offer maintenance services for your stove and chimney to ensure they are in good condition. They can check for leaks in the areas accessible to your chimney and repair any issues they spot. They will also ensure that the occupants of the house are aware of and follow the evacuation procedure in the event of an accident.

Adjusting the Damper

A damper controls how much heat is lost to the chimney when you're not using your stove. It can also be used to manage the flame. If the flue is not open but the damper is closed too much the fire won't burn properly and it will release smoke into your living area. To ensure that you get the best fire with the damper properly adjusted, you must experiment with different positions and observe how each affects the flames.

Typically, you want to keep the damper open enough to let air flow in and out of the flue when a fire is burning. This lets the fire start a fire and keeps it in good shape so that you can enjoy it for hours. The right opening will also stop the fire from becoming starved of air, and also prevent it from blowing smoke.

To properly adjust your damper it is important to first make sure that the fireplace is preheated and that the wood stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney is warm and has a good draft. After that, the wood stove damper can be adjusted.

After the fire has smolder for a while, you can close the damper to about three-quarters of its maximum. This will prevent the warm room air from escaping up the chimney while still allowing the smoke to escape out of the wood stove.

This is the most effective way to keep your fire lit and keep it from getting too hot. If you shut the damper too much, it could stop the draft from working, however if it is too open a cold breeze could blow into your home.

You can determine how much the damper is open by placing your hand on the top of the inside of the flue pipe. If you feel a small breeze rubbing against your hand the damper is probably in the open position.

The damper settings may differ 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 best setting for your stove.

Clean Up

After a fire, it is essential to clean the stove and flue. This will reduce the risk of an explosion in the chimney which is the main cause of fires that are caused by wood stoves. Creosote is a sticky material that builds up on the stovepipe's interior and is extremely dangerous. Unburned and moist particles of wood that are unable to escape the fire are responsible for this chemical. This can also be caused when fires aren't lit properly.

A regular cleaning routine helps prevent the buildup of creosote. This can be accomplished by cleaning your chimney once every year. It is recommended to have your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and inspected at least once a year.

It is also a good idea for you to clean the ash tray and grates regularly. It is recommended to use only wood that is seasoned for burning, as this will result in less creosote and less ash. It is also an excellent idea to avoid burning paper, cardboard, plastic and other trash items. These items could release dangerous chemicals to the flue and air, which can be released into your home.

It is also important to clean the glass of the wood burning stove regularly. The majority of modern wood stoves have self-cleaning windows so they do not require as much scrubbing. If you're not able to make 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.

Some other helpful suggestions for maintaining your wood stove are to turn the vent down when you are not using it and slamming the door or window to allow more air flow. This will keep the fire burning more hot and efficient. The wood stove won't have to work as hard in order to circulate air. It is advisable not to stack logs, or place them on the fire for an extended duration. This can cause splits and warping. In addition, it is best to not use compressed combustible logs in your wood woodburning stove, because the paraffin they contain can melt and then flow down the flue which could damage it.