How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove

Wood stoves are a great way to save energy and warm the room. They require some care.

A majority of modern wood stoves comply with EPA emission guidelines. Look for an EPA sticker on the underside or next to the grate to make sure your stove doesn't generate many harmful pollutants.

How to Start a Wood Fire

The smell and sound of a wood fire could be a wonderful feature in any home. It is essential to know how to create an effective fire on your stove. Improper techniques can result in an unburned fire that doesn't burn effectively, and can produce creosote or smoke. The following tips can aid you in starting the fire that will warm your home with the least effort and ensure your safety.

Before you begin an fire, make sure you check the condition of your logs and coals. If they are wet they will choke the flame and stop it from burning properly. You might want to open the chimney to get rid of any ash that's fallen into the stove.

Begin by putting a few small wood burning stoves uk, dry pieces of newspaper in your stove. This will help to ignite the fire. Once the tinder and kindling have started to burn, you can add the larger kindling pieces on top. This should be done in a crosshatch fashion so that there will be air between each piece of wood.

If you have 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 will enable the fire to burn at a steady pace without having to open the stove's door to keep it in check.

It is important to not use too much tinder, as this could result in an unburned fire that burns at an excessive rate and doesn't utilize the fuel as efficiently as it could. Once you've made a solid base in your stove with tinder, kindling and embers begin the main flame by placing two large base logs on the grill. Then, add a layer of smaller logs that are perpendicular to them and on top of the base logs. This method of constructing an ember known as a "top-down" fire can result in a successful and long-lasting fire that does not completely consume the larger base logs.

Once your fire is well established Close the damper and keep it shut. The fire could be smothered if you open the damper prior to it being fully established. It will also reduce the efficiency of the fire.

Add Wood

Stoves can be used to efficiently heat your home and help you save money. They can be used by themselves or together with a furnace or central heating system to provide the supplemental heating required in large homes or homes with many rooms. A lot of the stoves that burn cleanly available use advanced combustion principles that is able to separate the burning volatile compounds from combustible gasses as well as tar. This is accomplished by providing air at two different stages. The first stage permits the burning of volatile compounds and the second stage offers fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves the process of combustion and helps reduce odors.

The amount of heat that you can get from your stove will depend on the kind of wood used and the amount of moisture in it, as well as the size of the logs. The logs should be stacked in a well-ventilated space for several months prior to when you attempt to burn them to give the wood time to dry. If the logs are soaked with too much moisture, they will produce steam that is in essence wasted energy.

It is best to add wood to the pile at intervals and not all at all at. In addition, adding too much wood at once can cause the temperature of the firebox to rise, and produces a vortex that sucks smoke and volatile compounds that have not been burned back into the flame which can decrease your stove's efficiency.

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 can't be burned safely without creating dangerously high temperatures and exorbitant emissions. You should also not use compressed combustibles, such as wood briquettes, as they have a distinct physical and chemical composition from real firewood and aren't approved for burning in wood burning stoves.

It is crucial that you have a professional install and test your wood burning stove. A certified WETT technician can test your installation to ensure that it is safe and efficient. They will also check that your chimney works correctly. These experts can also provide maintenance services to keep your stove and chimney in good condition. They will inspect the accessible areas of your chimney for leakage, and repair any problems found. They will also ensure that the occupants of the home understand and follow the fire evacuation procedure in the event of an accident.

Adjusting the Damper

A damper regulates how much heat is lost through the chimney when you're not using your stove. It can also be used to regulate the fire. If the flue opens, but the damper is too 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 achieve the most effective flames by playing around with different settings.

Typically, you'll want to keep the damper open enough to let air in and out of the flue when the fire is burning. This allows the fire to get a good fire going and keeps it lit so you can enjoy it for a long time. A proper opening will keep the fire from being starved of air, and also prevent it from blowing out smoke.

To be able to adjust your damper, you have to ensure that the fireplace is preheated and the wood stove is hot. This will ensure the chimney is warm and that it has a strong draft. Once this is accomplished the damper for the wood stove can be adjusted.

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

This is the best way to keep the fire from becoming too hot while keeping it lit. If you shut the damper too tightly, it may stop the draft from working, but if it is too open, a cold wind could enter your home.

Placing your hand on the top of the flue pipe will inform you how much the damper has opened. If you can feel a slight draft pressing against your hand, it is probably in the open position.

The damper settings can differ a little from one stove to the next and even between different kinds of wood. You can experiment with different settings to get a sense of the ideal setting for your stove.

Clean up

After the fire, it's essential to clean the flue and stove. This can reduce the chance of an explosion in the chimney, which is the primary cause of fires caused by wood stoves. Creosote is a sticky substance that builds up on the inside of the stovepipe and is extremely dangerous. Moisture and unburned particles of wood that cannot escape the fire are responsible for this substance. It could be caused by improperly lit fires.

A regular cleaning routine can help keep the buildup of creosote at bay. This can be done by cleaning your chimney once a year. It is recommended that you have your fireplace and stove professionally cleaned and inspected at least once per year as well.

Also, it's recommended to clean the ash tray and grates regularly. It is a good idea to use only seasoned wood for burning, as it will create less creosote and less ash. Avoid burning paper, cardboard and plastic. They can release chemicals that can be dangerous for respiratory illnesses and the air, and could be released into your home.

The glass that is used on the wood burning stove has to be cleaned frequently as well. Many modern wood burning stoves wood stoves come with self-cleaning windows so they do not require as much cleaning. If you are not able to make the glass on your wood stove as clean as you would like you can use stove glass cleaners can be used on the window.

Some other helpful tips for maintaining your wood stove are to turn the vent off when you are not using it and cracking windows or doors to increase the flow of air. This will keep the fire burning longer and more efficiently since it won't have to be as active to circulate air. It is a good idea not to stack logs or place them on the fire for an extended time. This can lead to splits and warping. Finally, it is best to not use compressed combustible logs in your wood stove, as the paraffin they contain could melt and modern wood burning stoves spill into the flue which could damage it.