How to Maintain a Woodburning Stove

A wood-burning stove is an effective and efficient to warm your home. It is important to keep your stove in good condition to ensure the best performance.

Tip: Select seasoned wood fire stove with low moisture content. This will allow you to burn the wood for a longer period and produce more heat.

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

How They Work

As the name implies wood-burning stoves burn wood to generate heat. They do this by enclosing the flame within a metal and glass body. This also helps keep the temperature in your home at an even level. It also acts as a barrier to smoke from entering your living space.

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

Modern stoves utilize non-catalytical or catalytical technology to regulate this. Catalytic stoves are equipped with a catalytic convertor that is designed to reburn the gases that are produced during primary combustion, so they don't escape the room. Non-catalytical stoves are not equipped with a catalyser and rely on secondary combustion within the firebox in order to reduce emissions.

It is recommended that you only use seasoned wood in your woodburning stove. It must have a moisture level lower than 20%, which allows the fire to burn efficiently. This will help to reduce smoke and harmful pollution from the flue system and also make the glass inside your stove less prone to become blackened by creosote, which is a byproduct of burning wood that can build up over time.

In addition to reducing emissions the right kind of wood can save cash on heating bills by producing more heat for a given amount of fuel. This is due to the fact that drier wood has a larger surface area, and thus produces more heat from a given quantity of fuel.

Smoke from wood can be harmful to anyone, however it is especially harmful to children and adults with weakened lung. It can also affect people with lung conditions like asthma or chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD). If you reside 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 an appropriate chimney that meets 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 during power outages. They also help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which are harmful for the environment, from fossil fuels like oil and gas.

Modern wood burning stoves are more efficient than earlier models, and they are designed to avoid the accumulation of creosote. However, it is important to monitor combustion. Creosote is a risky by-product of incomplete combustion. It can block the chimney if it is allowed to build up, leading to less efficiency and creating a fire risk. Using wood that is seasoned will help keep the levels of creosote low and reduce the cost of logs, and also help avoid the need for professional cleaning services.

You can also choose stoves that use wood and coal which gives you a choice between carbon-neutral sources of energy. It is crucial to keep in mind that coal is not a sustainable fuel, and there are some concerns about how it is extracted.

It is recommended to select an approved stove by Defra, and preferably one that is Ecodesign ready. These will meet the most recent emission regulations. The UK building regulations have specific rules for how the flue is fitted as well as the size of the hearth, and the distance that the stove is from combustible substances, so it's always wise to consult one of our stove experts prior to purchasing a new stove.

Paper and other combustibles like trash and paper should not be put in woodburning devices. They can contribute to pollution, and at worst, a chimney fire. At the very least, they reduce the efficiency of the appliance. Other combustibles have less density than firewood, and thus burn at a lower heat and create more particles.

It is also important to only use dried, seasoned, split and dried firewood as this will be more efficient in burning. If you use damp or wet wood, it can produce a lot of smoke, as well as producing more pollutant. It is also recommended to use a good quality stove pipe to ensure the flue temperatures are sufficient and that it has been installed correctly.

Emissions

Woodburning stoves release a range of gases and particles. Mostly they produce fine particulate matter (PM2.5) which is small enough to pass through the lungs and enter 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, also known as PAHs. Some even spit out toxic metals like arsenic and mercury, depending on the fuel they're burning.

There have been numerous attempts in the US to regulate the amount wood-burning stoves emit pollution, with varying degrees success. In 1988 the Environmental Protection Agency set emissions guidelines that essentially restricted the amount of pollution that new stoves could release. Since then, there have been two additional revisions to these guidelines and the most recent in 2015 requires that all units both catalytic and non-catalytic emit no more than 4.5 grams of pollutants per hour.

These strict regulations caused a major shake-up within the industry, and forced hundreds of smaller companies out of business. However they also sparked a race to design efficient stoves that could last and could produce lower emissions than traditional models. To improve their products, stove makers examined and analyzed the flow of combustion baffles, combustion chamber shapes. They also analyzed insulating materials and Recirculation systems. In time, they were successful.

Emissions are mostly dependent on the moisture content of the wood that's burned. The greater the moisture content, the greater pollutants a stove will produce. The most effective way to reduce the amount of emissions is by using seasoned firewood which has been properly dried over a time of 6-8 months.

According to numerous studies which compare the impact of exhaust-related particles only wood burning stoves could produce as much particle contamination as 15 diesel vehicles. These tests were not scientifically valid. However these studies don't take into consideration that approximately half of a car's particle pollution comes from the brakes, engine and tyres instead of its exhaust.

Ten blue states are putting pressure on the EPA to review their carbon emissions and air-quality guidelines for wood-burning appliances. Attorneys general from New York, Washington and Illinois have declared that they will sue the EPA for continuing to allow high-emitting wood-burning stoves to to be sold in homes across the country.

Maintenance

Wood-burning stoves are efficient in heating homes, but they aren't easy to maintain. To ensure that your stove is clean and functioning correctly, you'll need to clean it regularly. A dirty stove may affect the health of those who use it and the amount of heat it produces. In addition to cleaning the stove, there are other maintenance tasks that must be carried out to ensure that it is working properly.

Cleaning the interior and exterior of a stove is simple to do. It is recommended to clean a stove every week or on a fortnightly basis, depending on how frequently it is used. It is also recommended to clean the ash from the firebox every time the stove is being used. Spread newspaper on the floor prior to scooping the ashes out of the stove, and wear gloves to protect your hands. It is also a good idea to make use of a metal ash container rather than a bucket, as this will prevent rusting.

It is important to keep the chimney and flue in good condition. A professional chimney sweep is required once or twice a year to clean the chimney and stove thoroughly. This will help prevent the buildup of creosote and reduce the risk for chimney fires.

A chimney should also be checked for creosote and cracks along with bird nests and other detritus. A professional chimney sweep can repair these problems to restore a safe and working chimney.

Over time, the glass from a wood-burning stove can be clouded and stained with soot. A mixture of ammonia and water can be sprayed onto the glass and then wiped with a clean cloth until it is clear. It is best 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 re-paint woodburning fireplace if the paint starts to chip. These paints are typically found at stores where wood stoves are sold and can be found in various colors.