How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove

Wood stoves are a warm way to heat a space and save energy. They will require some maintenance.

A majority of modern wood stoves comply with EPA emission guidelines. Look for an EPA sticker either under or on the grate, to ensure that your stove doesn't create many harmful pollutants.

How to start a Wood Fire

The smell and sound of a woodfire is a welcome addition in any house. But it's important to learn the proper way to create a fire on your stove. Improper techniques can result in an unburned fire that doesn't burn effectively and produces smoke or creosote. The tips below will help you start a fire that will heat your home with minimum effort and maximum safety.

Before you begin a fire, you should check the condition of your coals and logs. If they're too damp they will choke the fire and prevent it from burning efficiently. You may want to open the chimney to remove any ash that's fallen into the stove.

Begin by putting a few Small Wood burning stoves For shed dry newspaper pieces into your stove. This will help to ignite the fire. Once the tinder and kindling have begun to ignite, you can add an additional layer of larger pieces on top. This should be done with an arc pattern so that there is air between each piece.

If you have wood stoves that have an automatic control for combustion, it will automatically feed an air stream controlled to the fire as it grows. This will allow the fire to burn for a long time without the need to open the stove door constantly to tend to it.

It is essential to avoid using too much tinder, since this could result in a fire that burns at an extremely high rate and fails to utilize the fuel as efficiently as possible. Once you've got a good foundation in your stove that is made of sparks, tinder and kindling begin the main flame by laying two large base logs on the grate. Then, you can lay a layer of smaller logs parallel to these and on top of the base logs. This "top-down" method of building the fireplace will create a long-lasting and effective fire that doesn't consume larger logs from the base.

Close the damper once the fire is established and keep it closed. Doing this too soon can cause the fire to smother and will not allow for proper airflow, which will decrease the efficiency of the fire.

Add Wood

Stoves are not just beautiful home décor pieces they can also help you save money by supplying efficient wood heat. They can be used by themselves or in conjunction with central heating or a furnace system to provide the extra heating required in large homes or houses with a lot of rooms. A lot of the stoves that burn clean utilize a superior combustion method that differentiates the burning of volatile compounds from combustible gases and tar by supplying air in two distinct stages. The first stage allows the combustion of volatile compounds and the second offers fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves the process of combustion and helps reduce the smell.

The amount of heat that you can get from a stove is contingent upon the species and moisture content of the wood used as well as the size of the logs. To allow the wood to dry, logs must be stored in a well ventilated location for a few months before burning. If the logs have excessive moisture, they'll produce steam, which is basically wasted energy.

You should add wood to the pile at intervals, not all at once. In addition, adding too much wood at once causes the temperature in the firebox to increase and produces a vortex that sucks smoke and unburnt volatile compounds back into the flame which could reduce the efficiency of your stove.

Avoid the use of any other combustibles, such as paper or cardboard in your stove, because they are not wood and have very different physical properties that cannot be burned without causing dangerously high temperatures and excessive emissions. Also, avoid using compressed combustibles such as wood briquettes, as they have a completely different physical and chemical composition from real firewood, and Wood burning stoves Outdoor are not approved for burning in wood-burning stoves.

It is essential that you have a professional install and test your small wall mounted wood burning stove burning stove. A certified WETT technician will test the installation for proper operation and safety as well as make sure that your chimney is working correctly. They also provide maintenance services to keep your chimney and stove in tip-top shape. They can check the accessible areas of your chimney to determine if there is leakage and fix any issues found. They will also ensure that all occupants of the home understand and follow the evacuation procedure in case of an accident.

Adjusting the Damper

When you're not making use of your stove, a damper can control the amount of heat that is lost through the chimney. In addition to this it can also help you to control 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 space. To ensure that you get the most efficient fire, with your damper set correctly, you must play around with different locations and observe how each affects the flames.

Typically, you want to keep the damper open enough to let air enter and out of the flue while the fire is burning. This will allow the fire to start and stay lit for several hours. The proper opening will prevent the fire from starving of air and prevent it from blowing smoke.

To be able to adjust your damper, you need to first make sure the fireplace is heated and the wood stove is warm. This will ensure that the chimney stays warm and has a good draft. After that, the damper for wood stoves can be adjusted.

After the fire has burned for a while, you should close the damper approximately three quarters of the way. This will stop the warm air in the room from escaping into the chimney, but still permitting smoke to escape.

This is the best method to keep your fire burning and to prevent it from becoming too hot. If you shut the damper too tightly, it may stop the draft from working, but if it is too open, a cold wind could blow through your home.

You can check to see how much the damper is open by placing your hands near the top of the of the flue pipe. If you can feel a slight breeze pushing on your hand it is probably in the open position.

The damper settings can differ slightly from one stove to another and even between different types of wood. Playing around with different settings will give you an idea of what to look for, but you might need to adjust until you get the ideal setting for your stove.

Clean Up

After the fire, it's essential to clean the stove and flue. This will help lower the risk of a chimney fire which is the primary reason for wood stove fires in homes. Creosote, a sticky material that can accumulate in the stovepipe, is extremely hazardous. It is caused by moisture and unburned wood particles that cannot escape the fire. It can also happen when fires aren't properly lit.

Regular cleaning helps stop the buildup of creosote. This can be accomplished by sweeping your chimney once every year. It is also recommended that you have your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and examined at least yearly.

It is also a good idea for you to clean the ash tray and the grates regularly. It is recommended to only burn wood that has been seasoned since it will create less creosote. Avoid burning paper, cardboard and plastic. They could release chemicals that are dangerous for the flue and air, which could be released into your home.

The glass on the wood stove has to be cleaned frequently as well. Most newer wood stoves have self-cleaning windows, so they don't require as much cleaning. You can make use of stove glass cleaners on the glass if you aren't capable of getting the glass as clean as you want on your wood stove.

Other tips for maintaining your wood stove are to turn the vent down when you're not using it and cracking the door or window to allow more air flow. This will help keep the fire burning more hot and more efficiently, since it won't have to work as hard to circulate air. It is advisable not to stack logs, or let them sit on the fire for a long time. This can cause splitting and warping. It is also best wood burning stove to not use compressed combustible logs in your wood stove because the paraffin in them can melt and flow down the flue which could cause damage.