How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove
Wood stoves are an excellent option to conserve energy and heat a room. However, they require some level of maintenance.
A majority of modern wood stoves comply with EPA emissions guidelines. You can check for an EPA sticker on the grate or underneath it to make sure your stove doesn't release harmful pollutants.
How to start a Wood Fire
The smell and the sound of a woodfire can be a welcome addition in any home. It's important to know how to create a fire in your stove. Unintentional methods can lead to an unburned fire that doesn't burn well, and may produce creosote or smoke. The following tips can aid you in starting an fire that can heat your home with the least effort and with the highest safety.
Before you start a fire, 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 also want to open the flue to let any ash that has been deposited into the stove.
Begin by putting some small newspaper pieces that are dry into your stove. This will help ignite the tinder and kindling. Once they start to ignite, add a layer of larger pieces of tinder to the top of the pile. 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 builds. This will allow the fire to burn for a long time without having to open the door of your stove constantly to tend to it.
It is important to not use too much tinder, as this could result in a fire that burns at a high rate and doesn't use the fuel as efficiently as possible. If you have a nice bed of tinder and kindling in your stove, start the main fire by laying two large logs of the base across the grate. Then, add an additional layer of smaller logs perpendicular to these and on top of the base logs. This method of building the fire is called a "top-down" fire can result in a successful and long-lasting fire that doesn't engulf the larger base logs.
Close the damper after the fire is established and keep it shut. The fire may be smothered if you open the damper before it is fully established. It will also reduce the effectiveness of the fire.
Adding Wood
Stoves can be used to efficiently heat your home and help you save money. They can be used on their own or in conjunction with a furnace or central heating system to provide the supplemental heat needed in large homes or houses with a lot of rooms. Many of the latest stoves that are clean burning available on the market use advanced combustion technology that separates the burning volatile compounds from combustible gasses as well as tar. This is done by providing air at two different stages. The first stage allows the combustion of volatile compounds and the second stage offers fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves the combustion process and helps reduce odors.
The amount of heat you will get from your stove is contingent on the kind of wood and the amount of moisture in it and the size of the logs. To let the wood dry, logs should be stored in a ventilated space for a few months prior to burning. If the logs are soaked with too much moisture, they will produce steam, which is basically wasted energy.
While you're burning the fire, add more wood to the pile at intervals, not all at once. Too much wood added at once can cause the temperature of the firebox to increase and creates a vortex, which draws smoke and unburnt volatile compounds back into the flame, which can decrease your stove's efficiency.
Avoid using other combustibles in your stove, like paper or cardboard, as 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 such as wood briquettes as they have a distinct chemical and physical properties from real firewood and aren't approved for use in wood burning stoves.
It is essential that a professional install and test your wood stove. A certified WETT technician will test your stove to ensure it is safe and functional. They will also ensure whether your chimney is working properly. They also provide maintenance services to keep your stove and chimney in tip-top shape. They can look for leaks in the areas accessible to your chimney and fix any issues they spot. They will also make sure that the occupants of the house are aware of and follow the evacuation procedure in case of an accident.
Adjusting the Damper
When you're not making use of your stove, a damper regulates the amount of heat that is lost through the chimney. It can also be used to manage the fire. If portable wood burning stove opens, but the damper is too closed the fire won't burn properly and smoke will pour into your home. To ensure you have the best fire with your damper adjusted properly you must play around with different locations and observe how each one affects the flames.
It is important to keep your damper open to let air enter and exit the flue while a fire is burning. This lets the fire start a fire and also helps keep it lit so you can enjoy it for long periods of time. The right opening will also stop the fire from becoming starved of air and will keep it from blowing smoke.
To be able to adjust your damper, you need to ensure that the fireplace is preheated and the wood stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney is warm, and it also has a strong draft. Once these are done the damper on the wood stove 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 warm air from the room from escaping into the chimney, while still allowing smoke to escape.
This is the most effective way to keep your fire burning and keep it from getting too hot. If you shut the damper too far it could stop the draft from working, however if it is too open a cold breeze could blow through your home.
You can test how much the damper is open by holding your hand near the top of the inside of the flue pipe. If you can feel a slight breeze pushing on 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. You can play around with different settings to get an idea of the best setting for your stove.
Clean up
It is important to clean your chimney and stove after the start of a fire. This can reduce the chance of an ensuing fire in the chimney which is the main cause of fires that are caused by wood stoves. Creosote is a sticky substance which can build up within the stovepipe, can be very dangerous. It is caused by moisture and unburned wood particles that are unable to escape the fire. It can be caused by improperly lit fires.
A regular cleaning schedule can help prevent the buildup of creosote. This can be done by sweeping your chimney once a year. It is also recommended to get your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and examined at least yearly.
It is also an excellent idea to clean the ash tray and grates regularly. It is a good idea to only use seasoned wood for burning, as this will result in less creosote and less ash. It is also recommended to avoid burning paper, cardboard or plastic items. 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 regularly cleaned as well. The majority of modern wood stoves have self-cleaning windows so they do not require as much cleaning. You can apply stove glass cleaners to the window if you're not capable of getting the glass as clean as you'd like on your wood stove.
Other helpful tips to maintain your wood stove are to turn the vent off when you are not using it, and opening 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 the air. It is advisable not to stack logs or let them sit on the fire for a long period of time. This can cause splitting and warping. It is best to avoid using combustible compressed wood in your wood stove as the paraffin contained within the logs can melt and leak into the flue, which could cause damage.
