How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove
Wood stoves can be a great way to save energy and also heat a room. However, they require a certain amount of maintenance.
A majority of modern wood stoves comply with EPA emission guidelines. Look for an EPA sticker either under or on the grate to make sure your stove won't produce a lot of harmful pollutants.
How to Start a Wood Fire
The smell and sound of a fire made from wood can be a wonderful addition to any house. However, it is important to know how to properly create a fire on your stove. Improper techniques can result in a fire that doesn't burn effectively and can cause creosote or smoke. The following tips can assist you in starting a fire that will heat your home with the least effort and with the highest safety.
Before you start an fire, make sure you check the condition of your coals and logs. If they're damp, it will smother your fire and hinder proper burning. You might want to open the chimney to eliminate any ash that's fallen into the stove.
Begin by putting a handful of small dry pieces of newspaper in the stove. This will help to ignite the fire. Once the tinder and kindling have begun to burn, you can add a layer of larger kindling pieces on the top. This should be done using a crosshatch design so that there is air between each piece.
If your wood stove is equipped with an automatic combustion control it will automatically supply air to the fire as it expands. This allows the fire to burn continuously without having to open the door of your stove constantly to tend to it.
It's important to avoid using too much tinder, since it can cause the fire burning at an extremely high rate and fails to utilize the fuel as efficiently as it could. When you have a good bed of tinder and kindling in your stove, begin the main fire by laying two large base logs on the grate. On the top of these base woods lay a layer parallel to them. This method of creating a fire called a "top-down" fire will result in an effective and long-lasting fire that will not overtake the larger base logs.
Once the fire is established Close the damper and keep it closed. Doing this too soon could cause the fire to get smothered and not allow for proper air flow, which will reduce its efficiency.
Adding Wood
Stoves are not just beautiful home decor pieces They can also help you save money by providing efficient wood heat. They can be used on their own or in conjunction with central heating or furnace system to provide the supplemental heat required in large houses or houses with a lot of rooms. Many of the new stoves that burn clean employ a superior combustion process that differentiates the burning of volatile compounds from the combustion of combustible gases and tar by providing air in two distinct stages. The first stage allows for the combustion of volatile compounds and the second stage offers fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves combustion and decreases the odors.
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 logs. To let the wood dry, logs should be stored in a ventilated space for a couple of months prior to burning. If the logs contain too much moisture, they will produce steam which is essentially wasted energy.
When you are burning the fire, you should add more wood to the stack at intervals, and not all at all at. The addition of too much wood all at once could cause the temperature to rise in the firebox, causing an air vortex that pulls smoke and volatile compounds that have not been burned back into the flames. This can reduce the effectiveness of your stove.
You should avoid the use of any other combustibles, such as paper or cardboard in your stove, since they are not wood and have different physical properties that cannot be burned without causing dangerously high temperatures and exorbitant emissions. You should also not use compressed combustibles such as wood briquettes, as they have a completely different chemical and physical properties from real firewood and aren't type-approved for burning in wood burning stoves.
If you are installing a wood burning stove in your home, it's important to have it properly installed and tested by a professional. A certified WETT technician will test the stove for safe operation and safety, as well as make sure that your chimney is operating properly. These professionals can also offer maintenance services to keep your stove and chimney in good condition. They can inspect the areas that are accessible to your chimney to determine if there is leakage and repair any problems found. They will also make sure that the residents of the house understand and comply with the fire evacuation procedures in case of an emergency.
Adjusting the Damper
A damper controls the amount of heat that is lost to the chimney when you aren't using your stove. In addition, it can help you manage the fire. If the flue opens, but the damper is closed the fire will not burn properly and smoke will billow into your home. To get the best fire with your damper adjusted properly you should test different locations and observe how each affects the flames.
You want to keep your damper open to let air enter and exit the flue while a fire is burning. This will allow the fire to begin and stay lit for many hours. The proper opening will stop the fire from becoming starved of air and will keep it from blowing out smoke.
In order to properly adjust your damper, you have to ensure that the fireplace is heated and the wood stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney is warm and that it has a strong draft. After these steps are completed, the damper for wood stoves can be adjusted.
Once the fire has smolder a bit you should close the damper to about three-quarters of its full position. This will stop warm air from the room from getting into the chimney, but still allowing smoke to escape.
This is the most effective way to prevent the fire from getting too hot while keeping it lit. The draft might be stopped if you close the damper to far but a cold wind could be able to enter your home in the event that the damper is not closed.
By placing your hands on the top of the flue pipe will tell you how much the damper has opened. If you feel a small draft pushing against your hand, it's likely to be in the open position.
The damper settings can vary between stoves and even among different types of wood. The process of experimenting with the various settings will give you an idea of what you should look for, but you will need to adjust until you get the ideal setting for your stove.
Clean Up
It is important to clean your flue and stove after an incident. This can reduce the risk of a chimney fire, which is the primary cause of wood stove related fires in homes. Creosote, a sticky substance that accumulates on the inside of the stovepipe and can be very dangerous. our website is caused by moisture and unburned wood particles that are unable to escape from the fire. It could also be caused by poorly lit fires.
A regular cleaning routine can help keep the buildup of creosote at bay. The best method to do this is by sweeping the chimney at least once a year. It is also recommended to have your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and inspected at least once a yearly.
Also, it's recommended to clean the ash tray and the grates regularly. It is best to only burn wood that has been seasoned because it produces less creosote. Avoid burning cardboard, paper and plastic. These items can release dangerous chemicals to the air and flue, that could end up in your home.
The glass in the wood burning stove has to be cleaned frequently too. A lot of modern wood stoves are made with self-cleaning glass, meaning that they do not require much scrubbing. You can apply stove glass cleaners to the window if you're not getting the glass as clean as you would like on your wood stove.
Other suggestions to maintain your wood stove include lowering the vent when you're not using it, and cracking windows or doors to allow more airflow. This will help keep the fire burning hotter and more efficiently since it will not need to exert as much effort to circulate the air. It is also a good idea not stack logs or leave them in the flame for long periods of time, as this could lead to warping and splitting. It is best to avoid using compressed combustible wood in your wood stove as the paraffin in the logs can melt and leak into the flue, which could cause damage.