How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove
Wood stoves can be a great method to reduce energy consumption and heat the room. However, they need an amount of care.
A majority of modern wood stoves comply with EPA emissions guidelines. You can look for an EPA sticker on the grate or under it to make sure your stove doesn't emit harmful pollutants.
How to Start a Wood Fire
The sound and smell of a wood fire can be a pleasant addition to any home. It's essential to understand how to build a fire in your stove. Incorrect techniques may lead to a fire which does not burn efficiently, and produces smoke or creosote. The tips below will aid you in starting an fire that can heat your home with minimum effort and with the highest safety.
Examine the condition of your coals and logs before you begin an fire. If they are wet it will dampen your fire and hinder proper burning. It is possible to open the chimney to get rid of any ash that's fallen into the stove.
Begin by placing a handful of small, dry pieces of newspaper in the stove. This will help ignite the tinder and ignite the kindling. When the tinder and the kindling have begun to ignite, you can add a layer of larger kindling pieces on top. This should be done with the crosshatch pattern to ensure that there is air between each piece.
If your wood stove has an automatic combustion control, it will automatically feed air to the fire as it grows. This will allow the fire to burn for a long time without having to open the stove's door often to keep it in check.
It is important to not use too much tinder, since it can cause a fire that burns at an excessive rate and doesn't make use of the fuel as efficiently as possible. Once you've made a solid base in your stove with sparks, tinder and kindling to start the main flame, you can do this by laying two large base logs on the grill. Then, on the top of these base woods put a layer of wood perpendicular to them. This method of constructing a fire called a "top-down" fire will result in an effective and long-lasting fire that doesn't overtake the larger base logs.
Close the damper when the fire is established and kept it closed. The fire can be smothered if the user opens the damper prior to it being fully established. It will also reduce the effectiveness of the fire.
Adding Wood
Stoves aren't only beautiful pieces of home decor - they can help you save money by supplying efficient wood heat. They can be used in conjunction with central heating systems or furnace to provide additional heating in large houses. A lot of the stoves that are clean burning available on the market use advanced combustion principles that separates the burning volatile compounds from combustible gases and tar. This is achieved by supplying air in two different stages. The first stage allows the combustion of volatile compounds, while the second step supplies fresh air that has been pre-heated. This enhances the combustion process and helps to reduce the smell.
The amount of heat that you can get from a stove will depend on the type and amount of moisture of the wood used as well as the size of the logs. The logs must be stored in a well-ventilated area for several months before you attempt to burn them, to give the wood a chance to dry out. If the logs are wet, they will produce lots of steam, which is basically wasted energy.
During the burning of the fire, you should add more wood to the stack at intervals, but not all at one time. Adding too much wood at one time causes the temperature inside 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 the efficiency of your stove.
It is recommended to stay clear of any other combustibles, such as paper or cardboard in your stove, because they are not wood and have different physical properties that cannot be burned without causing dangerously high temperatures and exorbitant emissions. It is not recommended to burn compressed combustibles such as wood briquettes because they differ in chemical and physical composition from firewood. They are also not type-approved to be burned in wood burning stoves.
If you are installing a wood burning stove in your home, it's essential to have it installed and tested by a professional. A certified WETT technician can test your installation to ensure it is safe and reliable. They can also make sure whether your chimney is working properly. These professionals offer maintenance services for your chimney and stove to keep them in top shape. They will look for leaks in the areas that are accessible to your chimney and repair any problems they find. They will also ensure that the occupants of the home understand and adhere to the fire evacuation procedures in the event of an accident.
Adjusting the Damper
If you're not using your stove, a damper can control how much heat is lost through the chimney. In addition to this it can help you to control the flame. If the flue opens, but the damper is too closed the fire will not burn properly and smoke will pour into your home. To ensure you have the best fire with your damper adjusted properly you should test different settings and observe how each one affects the flames.
You should keep your damper open to allow air to be able to enter and exit the flue when a flame is burning. This will allow the fire to start and stay lit for several hours. The proper opening will stop the fire from being deprived of air and prevent it from blowing smoke.
To properly adjust your damper you need to first make sure the fireplace is preheated and the stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney is warm and that it has an adequate draft. After cheap wood burning stoves for the wood stove may be adjusted.
Once the fire has smolder a bit you should reduce the damper to around three-quarters of its full position. This will prevent the warm air from the room from going up the chimney while still allowing smoke to escape out of the wood stove.
This is the most effective way to keep your fire lit and prevent it from getting too hot. If you close the damper too far it may stop the draft from working, but when it's too wide, a cold breeze could blow into your home.
By placing your hands on the top of the flue pipe will inform you how much the damper has sunk. If you feel a breeze pushing against your palm the damper is probably to be open.
The damper's setting can vary slightly from one stove to the next and even between different kinds of wood. You can experiment with different settings to get an idea of the most suitable setting for your stove.
Clean up
After the fire, it's crucial to clean the flue and stove. 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 dangerous. It is caused by moisture and unburned wood particles that are unable to escape from the fire. This can also be caused when fires aren't lit properly.
Regular cleaning helps to stop the buildup of creosote. The best method to do this is to sweep the chimney at least once a year. It is recommended to have your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and inspected at least once a year.
Also, it's a good idea for you to clean the ash tray and the grates regularly. It is recommended to burn only wood that is well-seasoned since it will create less creosote. Avoid burning cardboard, paper and plastic. They could release chemicals that are dangerous for the flue and air, which could be released into your home.
The glass in the wood burning stove needs to be cleaned regularly too. Most newer wood stoves have self-cleaning windows, which means they do not require as much scrubbing. If you're unable to clean the glass of your wood stove as clean as you would like you can use stove glass c
