How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove Wood stoves are an ideal method to reduce energy consumption and heat the room. However, they require an amount of care. Many modern wood stoves are compliant with EPA emission guidelines. Look for an EPA sticker under or beside the grate to ensure your stove doesn't create lots of harmful pollutants. How to start a Wood Fire The smell and sound of a woodfire is an enjoyable addition to any house. It's important to know how to build an effective fire on your stove. Incorrect techniques may lead to a fire which does not burn well, and may produce creosote or smoke. The following tips will help you begin an efficient fire that will heat up your home quickly and efficiently. Before you begin a fire, you should check the condition of your logs and coals. If they are wet, it will smother your fire and hinder proper burning. 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 and clean into your stove. This will help ignite the sparks. Once the tinder and kindling have started to burn, you can put an additional layer of larger pieces on top. This should be done with the crosshatch pattern to ensure that there is air between each piece. If your wood stove comes with an automatic combustion control, it will automatically pump air into the flame as it grows. This will allow the fire to burn at a consistent pace without the need to open the stove's doors to maintain it. It is essential to avoid using too much tinder, since this can lead to a fire that burns at a high rate and doesn't make use of the fuel as efficiently as it can. Once you've made a solid base in your stove with sparks, tinder and kindling, start the main flame by placing two large base logs on the grill. Then, you can lay small logs perpendicular to these and on top of the base logs. 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 shut. The fire may be smothered if the user opens the damper prior to it being fully established. This can also affect the effectiveness of the fire. Adding Wood Stoves aren't only beautiful pieces of home decor They can also help you save money by providing efficient wood heating. They can be used on their own or in conjunction with central heating or furnace system to provide the supplemental heating required in large homes or homes with multiple rooms. Many of the latest stoves that burn cleanly available on the market use advanced combustion principles that can separate the burning volatile substances from combustible gases and tar. This is achieved by providing air at two distinct stages. The first stage allows for the burning of volatile compounds and the second provides fresh air that is pre-heated. This enhances the combustion process and helps reduce the smell. The amount of heat that you can get from a stove depends on the type and amount of moisture of the wood you use as well as the size of the logs. To allow the wood to dry, logs should be kept in a ventilated location for a couple of months prior to burning. If the logs are too wet, they will produce a lot of steam that is in essence wasted energy. During the burning of the fire, you should add more wood to the stack in intervals, and not all at all at. In addition, adding too much wood at one time causes the temperature in the firebox to increase and produces a vortex that sucks smoke and volatile compounds that have not been burned back into the flame which could reduce your stove's efficiency. Avoid using other combustibles inside your stove, such as cardboard or paper, because 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 such as wood briquettes as they differ in chemical and physical composition from firewood. They are also not approved to be used in wood-burning stoves. It is important that you have a professional install and test your wood burning stove. A certified WETT technician will test the installation to ensure proper operation and safety as well as make sure that your chimney is functioning correctly. They provide maintenance services for your chimney and stove to keep them in top condition. They can inspect the accessible areas of your chimney for leakage, and fix any issues found. They will also make sure that all residents of the home understand and adhere to the fire evacuation procedures in the event of an accident. Adjusting the Damper A damper regulates how much heat is lost up the chimney when you aren't cooking on your stove. It can also be used to manage the fire. If the flue opens, but the damper is closed, the fire will not burn properly and smoke will pour into your home. You can adjust the damper to achieve the most effective flames by experimenting with different settings. It is important to keep your damper open to let air be able to enter and exit the flue when a fire is burning. This will let the fire start and stay lit for many hours. The right opening will also keep the fire from being starved of air, and also prevent it from blowing out smoke. To properly adjust your damper it is important to first make sure that the fireplace is preheated and that the wood stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney is warm, and also that it has a good draft. After that, the damper for wood stoves can be adjusted. Once the fire has burned a bit you should shut the damper down to about three-quarters of its original position. This will prevent the warm air in the room from venting into the chimney, while allowing the smoke to escape from the wood stove. This is the most effective way to keep the fire from getting too hot while keeping it lit. The draft might be stopped if one closes the damper too tightly however a cold breeze could enter your home in the event that the damper is left open. You can test how much the damper is open by holding your hand near the top of the of the flue pipe. If you feel a breeze pushing against your hand the damper is probably to be open. The damper settings may differ from one stove to the next and even between different kinds of wood. The process of experimenting with the various settings will give you an idea of what to look for, but you will need to tweak it until you have found the ideal setting for your stove. Clean up It is essential to clean your flue and stove after an incident. This will reduce the risk of an ensuing fire in the chimney, which is the primary reason for fires caused by wood stoves. Creosote, a sticky substance which can build up within the stovepipe, can be extremely hazardous. It is caused by the moisture and wood particles that are not burned that cannot escape the fire. It can also be caused by improperly lit fires. Regular cleaning helps to stop the buildup of creosote. The best way to do this is by sweeping the chimney at least once a year. It is also recommended that you have your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and checked at least every year. Also, it is recommended to clean the ash tray and grates regularly. It is recommended to only burn wood that has been seasoned because it produces less creosote. It is also an excellent idea to avoid burning cardboard, paper plastic, and other waste items. These items could release dangerous chemicals into the air and flue that could end up in your home. It is also necessary to clean the glass of the wood burning stove on a regular basis. wood burning stove sale come with self-cleaning windows so they do not require as much cleaning. You can use stove glass cleaners on the window if you're capable of getting the glass as clean as you'd like on your wood stove. Other tips to keep your wood stove in good condition include lowering the vent when you're not using it and opening doors or windows to allow more airflow. This will keep the fire burning more hot and efficiently. The wood stove won't have to perform as hard to circulate air. It is advisable not to stack logs or leave them on the fire for a long time. This could cause splits and warping. In addition, it is best to not use compressed combustible logs in your wood stove, because the paraffin in them could melt and spill into the flue which could cause damage.
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