How to Maintain a Woodburning Stove

A woodburning stove can be a powerful and effective method of heating the home. It is important to maintain your woodburning stove in order to ensure its maximum performance.

Tip: Choose seasoned wood with low moisture content. This will give you a longer burn time and more heat output.

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

How They Work

cheap wood burning stoves-burning stoves, as their name suggests are made of wood that produces heat. The fire is contained in a metal-and-glass body which allows for a steady temperature inside the home. It also acts as an obstruction to smoke from entering the living room.

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

Modern stoves use either catalytical or non-catalytical technology to regulate this. Catalytic stoves feature catalytic converters that are designed to burn the gasses generated during primary combustion so that they don't escape into the room. Non-catalytic stoves, on the contrary, do not contain a catalyst and rely on secondary combustion to occur inside the firebox to reduce emissions.

It is recommended that you only burn firewood that is seasoned in your fireplace that burns wood. It should have a moisture level lower than 20%, which allows the fire to burn efficiently. This will lessen the amount of smoke and harmful pollutants that are released from the flue and will also stop the glass of your stove from becoming blackened by creosote. Creosote is a byproduct of burning wood and can accumulate over time.

The use of seasoned wood can reduce emissions and save you money in your heating bills. It produces more heat per unit of multi fuel stove. This is due to the surface area of dry wood is greater and produces more heat per volume.

However, it can be harmful for anyone, particularly children and older adults who have lungs that are vulnerable. It can also cause irritation to those suffering from lung diseases like asthma or chronic obstructive respiratory disorder (COPD). If you live in a designated smoke-control zone, ensure that your stove is properly seasoned. It should also be equipped with a chimney that is in compliance with the requirements of the local area.

Burning Wood

Woodburning stoves are a clean and renewable source of heat. They can be used to keep your home warm during a power outage. They also reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels like gas and oil that can be harmful to the environment.

Modern wood-burning stoves are more efficient than older models, and they are designed to avoid the accumulation of creosote. However it is essential to monitor the combustion. Creosote, a dangerous byproduct of combustion that is not properly slowed can block the chimney and cause it to become less efficient. It can also pose a fire hazard. The use of seasoned logs will keep creosote low and will save you money on logs. It also can help you avoid hiring a professional to clean your chimney.

There are stoves that burn wood and coal which gives you a choice between carbon-neutral energy sources. However, it's important to remember that burning coal is not a sustainable fuel, and there are concerns regarding the manner in which it is mined and transported.

It is recommended to use a Defra approved stove and ideally one that is also Ecodesign ready, since they are in line with the latest emission regulations. The UK building regulations have specific requirements regarding how the flue is fitted and the size of the hearth, and the distance that the stove must be from combustible substances It is therefore advisable to speak with one of our stove experts prior to purchasing a new stove.

Other combustibles like garbage and paper should not be used in woodburning stoves, as they could cause more pollution, and at worst, a chimney fire, and at best cause them to operate less effectively. Other combustibles are less dense than firewood, and thus burn at a lower heat and create more particles.

It is also essential to only use seasoned, split and dried firewood since this will burn more effectively. Wet or damp wood creates more smoke and pollution. It is recommended to also make use of a top-quality stove pipe in order to ensure that the flue temperatures will be sufficient and that it is set up correctly.

Emissions

Woodburning stoves emit a myriad of gases and particles. They mostly produce fine particulate matter (PM2.5) that is small enough to pass through the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing damage to the heart, liver and brain. However, they also produce carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and carcinogenic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, also known as PAHs. Some even spit out toxic metals like mercury and arsenic, depending on what they're burning.

There have been several attempts in the US to regulate how much wood-burning stoves pollute the environment, with varying degrees success. In 1988, the Environmental Protection Agency established emission guidelines that regulated the amount of pollution new stoves were allowed to release. Since then there have been two additional revisions to these regulations and the most recent one in 2015 requires that all catalytic units and non-catalytic release less than 4.5 grams of pollutants per hour.

Although these rules were strict, they caused a major change in the industry, leading to hundreds of smaller companies to shut down their operations, they also spurred on an effort to design and build high-quality and efficient stoves that were both durable and able to produce lower levels of emissions than traditional models. Stove designers analyzed and studied combustion air flows, baffles combustion chamber shapes, insulating materials and recirculation systems to make their products better. They eventually succeeded.

The emission levels are mostly influenced by the moisture content of the wood that's burned. The higher the moisture content, the more pollutants the stove will produce. For that reason, the best way to reduce emissions is to use well-seasoned firewood that has been properly dried over 6-8 months.

A number of studies have proven that a single woodburning stove when used regularly, can generate more particle pollution than 15 diesel cars based on non-scientific tests which compare exhaust-related PM2.5 only. However, these studies fail to take into consideration that approximately half of car's particle pollution comes from the brakes, engine, and tyres rather than its exhaust.

Ten blue states have been pressing on the EPA to review its carbon emissions and guidelines for air quality of wood-burning stoves. Attorneys general from New York, Washington and Illinois have declared that they will sue the EPA for continuing to allow high-emitting stoves to to be sold in homes across the nation.

Maintenance

Wood burning stoves are efficient at heating homes but can be difficult to maintain. A stove will need to be regularly cleaned to ensure that it looks and is functioning properly. A dirty stove could be detrimental to the health of those who live there and also the amount of heat it produces. Cleaning the stove is not the only maintenance task that should be done to keep it functioning properly.

It is easy to clean the interior and exterior of the stove. It is recommended to clean a stove on a weekly or biweekly basis depending on how often it is used. It is also recommended to clean the firebox of ash every time the stove is used. Spread an old newspaper over the floor before scooping ashes from the stove, and then wear gloves to protect your hands. Use a container made of metal instead of a bucket to avoid corrosion.

It is important to keep the chimney and flue clean. A chimney sweep professional should be employed at least once or twice per year to clean the stove and chimney thoroughly. This will prevent creosote from accumulating and reduce the risk of fires on chimneys.

A chimney should also be inspected for creosote buildup and cracks as well as bird nests and other debris. A professional chimney sweep is in a position to fix these issues and restore a safe, working chimney.

The clear glass on a wood burning stove may become smudged and cloudy due to the buildup of soot over time. A mixture of ammonia and water can be sprayed onto the glass and then cleaned with a cloth until clean. Be careful not to scratch the glass, because this could cause it to cause it to shatter and weaken when hot.

Paint that is heat-resistant can be used to re-paint wood burning fireplace in the event that the paint begins to chip. These paints are usually found at stores where stoves are sold and can be found in various colors.