How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove
Wood stoves are a comfortable way to heat a room and conserve energy. However, wood burning fire need an amount of care.
Many modern wood stoves comply with EPA emission guidelines. You can look for an EPA sticker on the grate or beneath it to ensure that your stove doesn't emit harmful pollutants.
How to Start a Wood Fire
The smell and sound of a wood fire could be a welcome feature in any home. It is essential to understand how to build an effective fire on your stove. Improper techniques can result in a fire that doesn't burn efficiently and creates smoke or creosote. The following tips will help you begin a fire that is safe and will warm your home quickly and efficiently.
Make sure to check the condition of your logs and coals before you begin a fire. If they are too wet they could smother the flame and stop it from burning properly. You may 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 your stove. This will help to ignite the tinder. Once the tinder and kindling have started to ignite, you can add the 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 flame as it grows. This will allow the fire to burn at a consistent pace without having to open the stove door to tend it.
It is essential to avoid using too much tinder, as this could result in an unburned fire that burns at an extremely high rate and fails to make use of the fuel as efficiently as possible. When you have a good pile of tinder and some kindling in your stove, you can start the main fire by placing two large logs of the base across the grill. Then, add an additional layer of smaller logs parallel to these and on the top of the base logs. This "top-down" method of creating a fireplace will produce a long-lasting, efficient fire that doesn't consume larger base logs.
Once your fire is well established Close the damper and ensure it stays closed. The fire can be smothered if you open the damper before it is fully established. This can also affect the efficiency of the fire.
Adding Wood
Stoves can be used to efficiently heat your home and save you money. They can be used together with a central heating system or furnace to provide supplemental heating in large houses. A lot of the stoves that are clean-burning employ a superior combustion process that separates the burning of volatile compounds from combustible gasses and tar by supplying air in two different stages. The first stage permits the vaporization of the volatile compounds and the second stage provides fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves combustion and reduces odors.
The amount of heat that you get from your stove is contingent on the kind of wood used and the amount of moisture and the size of the logs. To let the wood dry, logs must be stored in a well ventilated space for a few months prior to burning. If the logs contain too much moisture, they will create steam, which is basically wasted power.
When you are burning the fire, you should add more wood to the pile at intervals, but not all at one time. Adding too much wood at one time can cause the temperature of the firebox to rise, and creates a vortex that draws smoke and volatile compounds that have not been burned back into the flame which can reduce the efficiency of your stove.
Avoid using other combustibles inside your stove such as paper or cardboard because they are not wood. They have different physical properties and can't be burned without producing dangerously high temperatures. You should also not use compressed combustibles like wood briquettes as they have a very different chemical and physical properties from real firewood and aren't type-approved for burning in wood-burning stoves.
It is essential that you have a professional install and test your wood burning stove. A certified WETT technician will test the installation to ensure safe operation and safety, as well as ensure that your chimney is functioning properly. They provide maintenance services for your stove and chimney to ensure they are in good shape. They will look for leaks in the areas accessible to your chimney, and fix any issues they discover. They will also make sure that the occupants of the house understand and adhere to the fire evacuation procedures in case of an accident.
Adjusting the Damper
A damper regulates how much heat is lost through the chimney when you're not cooking on your stove. In addition to this it can also help you manage the fire. If the flue is not open but the damper is not closed enough, the fire will not burn as efficiently and it will release smoke into your living space. You can adjust your damper to achieve the most effective flames by playing around with different locations.
It is important to keep your damper open to allow air to be able to enter and exit the flue while a fire is burning. This lets the fire start a fire and helps it stay burning so that you can enjoy it for hours. A proper opening will stop the fire from becoming starved of air, and also prevent it from blowing smoke.
To adjust your damper correctly, you must first ensure that the fireplace has been preheated and that the wood stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney is warm, and it also has a good draft. After this the damper on the wood stove can be adjusted.
Once the fire has burned a bit you should reduce the damper to around three-quarters of its original position. This will stop warm air from the room from escaping into the chimney, while still permitting smoke to escape.
This is the most effective way to keep the fire from getting too hot while keeping it lit. The draft might be stopped if you shut the damper too tightly, but a cold wind can enter your home if the damper is left open.
Placing your hand on the top of the flue pipe will inform you how much the damper has sunk. If you feel a breeze rubbing against your hand The damper is most likely in an open position.
The damper's setting can vary a little from one stove to the next and even between different kinds of wood. Experimenting with the various settings will give you an idea of what you should look for, but you might need to adjust it until you have found the ideal setting for your stove.
Clean up
It is essential to clean your chimney and stove after an incident. This can reduce the chance of an ensuing fire in the chimney which is the main cause of fires caused by wood stoves. Creosote, a sticky material which can build up within the stovepipe, can be extremely hazardous. Moisture and unburned particles of wood that are unable to escape the flame are the reason for this chemical. It could be caused by improperly lit fires.
Regular cleaning can help stop the buildup of creosote. This can be done by sweeping your chimney once every year. It is recommended that you have your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and inspected at least once per year, too.
It is also recommended to clean out the ash tray and grate regularly. It is recommended to burn only wood that is well-seasoned because it produces less creosote. It is also an excellent idea to avoid burning paper, cardboard plastic, and other waste items. These items could release dangerous chemicals to the air and flue which can be released into your home.
It is also essential to clean the glass of the wood stove regularly. The majority of newer wood stoves are made with self-cleaning glass, which means that they do not require any scrubbing. If you're not able to get the glass on your wood stove as clean as you'd like There are stove glass cleaners that can be used on the window.
Other tips to maintain your wood stove include turning down the vent when you're not using it, and slamming doors or windows to improve airflow. This will ensure that the fire is burning hotter, and more efficiently. The wood stove will not have to work as hard in order to circulate air. It is a good idea not to stack logs or let them sit on the fire for a long duration. This can cause splitting and warping. It is recommended to avoid using combustible wood that has been compressed in your wood stove because the paraffin in the wood can melt and then flow into the flue which could cause damage.