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How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove
Wood stoves are a great method to reduce energy consumption and also heat a room. They do require some maintenance.
Many modern wood stoves comply with EPA emission guidelines. Look for an EPA sticker under or beside the grate to make sure your stove won't produce lots of harmful pollutants.
How to Start a Wood Fire
The smell and sound of a wood fire can be a wonderful feature in any house. It's crucial to learn the proper way to make a fire on your stove. Unintentional methods can lead to an unburned fire that doesn't burn well, and may produce smoke or creosote. These tips can help you start a fire that is safe and will heat up your home quickly and efficiently.
Make sure to check the condition of your coals and logs before you start an fire. If they're damp it will dampen your fire and hinder proper burning. You may want to open the chimney to get rid of any ash that has fallen into the stove.
Begin by putting a few small dry newspaper pieces in the stove. This will help to ignite the tinder. When the tinder and the kindling are beginning to ignite, you can add a layer of larger kindling pieces on the top. This should be done in a crosshatch fashion so that there is air between each piece of wood.
If you own a wood stove that has an automatic combustion control, it will automatically feed a controlled stream of air to your fire as it grows. This allows the fire to burn for a long time without you having to open the door of your stove constantly to tend to it.
Do not use too much tinder, as it can cause the fire to burn at an extremely fast rate and not utilize the fuel effectively. After small wood burning stove 've built a solid bed in your stove of sparks, tinder and kindling to start the main flame, you can do this by laying two large base logs on the grate. Then, on the top of these base woods lay a layer parallel to them. This "top-down" method of building the fireplace will create an effective and long-lasting fire that doesn't engulf larger logs from the base.
Close the damper after your fire has been established and kept it closed. The fire can 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 aren't just beautiful home décor pieces They can also help you save money by supplying efficient wood heat. They can be used on their own or in conjunction with central heating or a furnace system to provide the supplemental heat needed in large homes or houses with a lot of rooms. Many of the new stoves that burn cleanly available on the market use an advanced combustion principle which separates the burning volatile compounds from combustible gasses as well as tar. This is accomplished by supplying air at two distinct stages. The first stage allows the vaporization of the volatile compounds and the second stage provides fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves combustion and decreases smells.
The amount of heat you get from your stove will depend on the kind of wood used as well as the moisture content, as well as the size of the logs. The logs should be stacked in a well-ventilated area for several months before you try to burn them, to give the wood a chance to dry. If the logs are wet, they will produce plenty of steam that is in essence wasted energy.
When you are burning the fire, it is recommended to add more wood to the stack at intervals, but not all at one time. In addition, adding too much wood at once could cause the temperature to rise within the firebox, causing a vortex which draws smoke and volatile compounds that have not been burned back into flames. This can reduce the efficiency of your stove.
Avoid using other combustibles inside your stove, such as paper or cardboard, as they are not wood. They have different physical properties and cannot be burned without producing dangerously high temperatures. It is not recommended to burn compressed combustibles like wood briquettes as they are different in physical and chemical composition from firewood. They are also not type-approved to be burned in wood burning stoves.
It is important to have a professional install and test your wood burning stove. A certified WETT technician will test your stove to ensure it is safe and reliable. They will also check that your chimney works correctly. These professionals can also offer maintenance services to keep your stove and chimney in good condition. They can check for leaks in the areas that are accessible to your chimney and repair any issues they spot. They will also ensure that all residents of the house understand and follow the evacuation procedure in the event of an accident.
Adjusting the Damper
A damper regulates the amount of heat that is lost through the chimney when you aren't using your stove. In addition, it can help you control the fire. If the flue is opened but the damper is closed too much the fire won't be able to burn properly and it will billow out smoke into your living space. To ensure you have the most efficient fire, with the damper properly adjusted, you must play around with different settings and observe how each one affects the flames.
You should keep your damper open to let air enter and exit the flue when a fire is burning. This allows the fire to get going and also helps keep it burning so that you can enjoy it for hours. The right opening can stop the fire from becoming depleted of air and keep it from blowing smoke.
To be able to adjust your damper, you have to first ensure that the fireplace is preheated and the wood stove is warm. This will ensure the chimney is warm, and it also has an adequate draft. After these steps are completed, the damper on the wood stove can be adjusted.
After the fire has been burning for a while, you should shut the damper around three quarters of the way. This will stop the warm air from the room from going through the chimney, while allowing smoke to escape out of the wood stove.
This is the best method to ensure that your fire is lit and to prevent it from becoming too hot. The draft could be stopped if one closes the damper too far however a cold breeze can enter your home in the event that the damper is left open.
You can test how much the damper is opened by holding your hand near the top of the inside of the flue pipe. If you feel a slight breeze pushing against your hand, it's likely to be in the open position.
The damper settings may differ from one stove to another and even among different types of wood. Experimenting with the various settings will give you an idea of what to look for, but you might have to keep adjusting it until you have found the ideal setting for your stove.
Clean up
It is important to clean your flue and stove after a fire. This will reduce the risk of a chimney fire, which is the most common reason for wood stove-related fires in homes. Creosote, a sticky substance that forms on the inside of the stovepipe and is extremely dangerous. It is caused by the moisture and wood particles that are not burned that are unable to escape from the fire. It could also be caused by poorly lit fires.
A regular cleaning schedule can help prevent the buildup of creosote. The most effective method for doing this is to sweep the chimney each year. It is also recommended that you get your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and examined at least year.
Also, it's recommended to clean the ash tray and the grates regularly. It is best to only burn wood that has been seasoned since it will create less creosote. Avoid burning cardboard, paper and plastic. These can release chemicals that can be dangerous for the respiratory tract and the air, which could be released into your home.
The glass in the wood burning stove needs to be cleaned regularly as well. The majority of modern wood stoves have self-cleaning windows, so they do not require as much scrubbing. You can apply stove glass cleaners to the glass if you aren't able get the glass as clean as you would like on your wood stove.
Other ways to maintain your wood stove include lowering the vent when you're not using it and cracking windows or doors to improve airflow. This will help keep the fire burning hotter and more efficiently, as it won't need to be as active to circulate the air. It is advisable not to stack logs, or let them sit on the fire for an extended duration. This can cause splits and warping. Finally, it is best to not use compressed combustible logs in your wood stove, because the paraffin they contain can melt and flow down into the flue, which could cause damage to the stove.
