How to Maintain a Woodburning Stove

A wood-burning stove can be an an efficient and effective way to warm your home. However, it's important to maintain your stove in order to ensure the best performance.

Tips: Choose wood that is seasoned that is low in the amount of moisture. This will result in more time to burn and will produce more heat.

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

How They Work

Wood-burning stoves, as the name suggests use wood to generate heat. They accomplish this by enclosing the fire within a metal and glass body, which also helps to keep the temperature in your home at an even level. It also serves as a barrier to prevent smoke from entering the living space.

Stoves control combustion by controlling the amount of oxygen they allow into the fire. This is done by opening and closing one or more air vents.

Modern stoves use either catalytical or non-catalytical technology to regulate this. Catalytic stoves come with catalytic converters which are designed to reburn the gasses produced during primary combustion so that they don't escape into the room. Non-catalytic stoves, on the contrary, do not have a catalyst, and rely on secondary combustion taking place within the firebox, thereby reducing emissions.

It is recommended to only burn wood that is seasoned in your woodburning stove. This means that it should have a moisture content less than 20, as this allows the fire to burn more efficiently. This will help to reduce the amount of smoke and harmful pollutant emissions from the flue system, and will make the glass inside your stove less likely to get blackened by creosote, which is a byproduct of burning wood that can build up over time.

The use of seasoned wood can lower emissions and help you save money in your heating bills. It produces more heat per unit of fuel. This is because drier wood has a greater surface area and therefore produces more heat from a certain volume of fuel.

Smoke from wood can be harmful to anyone, but it is especially dangerous to children and adults with vulnerable lung. It can also cause irritation to those with lung disorders such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). If you live in an area that has been designated as a smoke control zone, it is essential to ensure that your stove is properly seasoned and installed with a chimney that is in compliance with the requirements for the area.

Burning Wood

Woodburning stoves provide a clean energy source that is also a great option to keep the home warm in a power cut. They also aid in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, which are harmful to the environment from fossil fuels such as gas and oil.

Modern wood-burning stoves are more efficient than previous models, and are designed to avoid the accumulation of creosote. However, it is important to keep an eye on the combustion. Creosote, which is a risky byproduct of incomplete combustion can block the chimney and cause it to lose efficiency. It also poses a fire hazard. Using seasoned logs will keep creosote at a minimum and help you save money on logs. It also can help you avoid having to hire a professional to clean your chimney.

You can also select stoves that use wood and coal, giving you a choice between carbon-neutral energy sources. It is crucial to remember that coal is not a sustainable fuel and there are concerns regarding the method by which it is extracted.

It is recommended to pick a Defra-approved stove, preferably one that is Ecodesign ready. These stoves will comply with the most recent emission regulations. The UK building regulations have specific requirements for how the flue is fitted and the size of the hearth and how far the stove is from flammable materials and therefore it is always advisable to talk to one of our stove experts before purchasing a new stove.

Paper and other combustibles like trash and paper should not be used in wood-burning appliances. They could cause more pollution and, in the worst case, a chimney fire. At best, they will cause them to be less efficient. This is because other combustibles have different density characteristics than firewood, which means they burn at lower temperatures and produce more particles.

It is also essential to only use dry, seasoned, split, and dried firewood as this will be more efficient in burning. Wet or damp wood produces more smoke and pollution. It is also recommended to make use of a top quality stove pipe to ensure the flue temperatures are sufficient and that it has been installed correctly.

Emissions

Woodburning stoves emit a variety of gases and particles. They produce a lot of fine particulate (PM2.5) which could be absorbed into the lungs, enter the bloodstream and potentially damage the heart, liver, 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 can even release out toxic metals such as arsenic and mercury.

In the US, there are a variety of attempts to regulate the amount of pollution woodburning stoves can produce, with varying degrees of success. In 1988 the Environmental Protection Agency set emissions guidelines that essentially restricted the amount of pollution that new stoves could emit. Since then, there were two more changes to these guidelines and the most recent in 2015 stipulates that all catalytic units and non-catalytic release less than 4.5 grams of pollutants per hour.

These strict regulations caused a major shake-up within the industry, forcing hundreds of small wood burning stoves manufacturers out of business. However, they also sparked an effort to create efficient stoves which were durable and produced lower emissions than traditional models. Stove designers studied and analyzed combustion air flows, baffles combustion chamber shapes, insulating materials, and recirculation systems in order to make their products better. They eventually succeeded.

The emission levels are mostly influenced by the moisture content of the wood burned. The greater the moisture content, the greater emissions a stove can produce. Therefore, the best method to reduce emissions is to use well-seasoned firewood that has been properly dried over 6-8 months.

According to a variety of studies, comparing exhaust-related particle pollution only, a woodburning stove can create as much particle pollution as 15 diesel vehicles. These tests were not scientifically valid. These studies do not take into account that the majority of particle pollution that cars emit comes from its engine, brakes, and tyres, rather than its exhaust.

Ten blue states have been putting pressure on the EPA to review its carbon emissions and guidelines for air quality of wood burning stoves for sale-burning stoves. Attorney generals from 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 sold and installed in homes across the country.

Maintenance

While woodburning stoves are very efficient in heating homes however, they can be a challenge to maintain. To ensure that your stove is clean and working properly, you will need to clean it frequently. A dirty stove may affect the health of those who use it and how much heat it produces. Cleaning the stove is not the only maintenance task that should be completed to ensure it is working well.

Cleaning the exterior and interior of a stove is easy to do. It is recommended to clean a stove every week or on a fortnightly basis based on the frequency it is used. It is recommended to remove ash from the fire box every time after the stove has been used. Spread newspaper on the floor and wear gloves prior to scooping out the ashes. Use a metal container instead of a bucket to prevent the rusting.

Maintaining the chimney and flue clean is also essential. A chimney sweep professional should be hired every year or once to clean the chimney and stove thoroughly. This will help prevent the buildup of creosote and lower the risk of chimney fires.

A chimney should also be examined for creosote buildup and cracks, bird nests and other debris. A professional chimney sweep can fix these issues to create a safe and functioning chimney.

Over time, the glass of the wood-burning stove will be smudged and clouded with soot. A mixture of water and ammonia can be sprayed over the glass and then cleaned with a clean cloth until it is clear. Avoid scratching the glass since this can cause it to break and cause it to shatter when hot.

Paint that is heat-resistant can be used to re-paint a woodburning fireplace if the paint starts chipping. These paints are usually found at stores where stoves are sold and are available in various colors.