How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove

Wood stoves are a warm way to heat a room and save energy. However, they require a certain amount of maintenance.

Many modern wood stoves meet EPA emission guidelines. You can look for an EPA sticker on the grate or underneath it to ensure that your stove doesn't emit harmful pollutants.

How to start a Wood Fire

The sound and smell of a wood fire could be a pleasant feature in any home. It's essential to know how to build an effective fire on your stove. Unintentional methods can lead to the fire not to burn well, and may produce creosote or smoke. The tips below can help you start an efficient fire that can heat your home quickly and efficiently.

Before you begin a fire, check the condition of your coals and logs. If they are too wet they will choke the fire and prevent it from burning efficiently. You might also want to open the flue to let any ash out that has fallen into the stove.

Begin by placing a handful of small, dry pieces of newspaper in your stove. This will help to ignite the fire. When the tinder and the kindling have begun to burn, you can put the 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 pump air into the fire as it expands. This will help the fire to burn at a steady rate without having to open the stove's door to maintain it.

It is important to not use too much tinder, since this could result in the fire burning at an extremely high rate and fails to utilize the fuel as efficiently as it can. If you have a nice pile of tinder and some kindling in your stove, you can start the main fire by laying two large base logs on the grate. Then, on the top of these base logs lay a layer parallel to them. This method of constructing a fire called a "top-down" fire will result in an effective and long-lasting fire that does not engulf the larger base logs.

Once your fire is well established shut off the damper and ensure it stays closed. Opening the damper too soon could cause the fire to be smothered, and it will not allow for the proper air flow, which will reduce its efficiency.

Adding Wood

Stoves aren't just beautiful home décor pieces they can also help you save money by providing efficient wood heating. They can be used alone or together with central heating or a furnace system to provide the supplemental heat needed in large homes or houses with a lot of rooms. The latest stoves that are clean-burning employ a superior combustion process that separates the burning of volatile compounds from combustible gasses and tar by providing air in two distinct stages. The first stage is to aid in the vaporization process, and the second stage is to supply fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves the combustion process and helps to reduce the odors.

The amount of heat you get from a stove is contingent upon the species and moisture content help you control the fire. If the flue is open but the damper is too closed the fire will not ignite properly and smoke will pour into your home. You can adjust your damper to get the best flames by playing around with different settings.

It is important to keep your damper open to let air enter and exit the flue while a fire is burning. This will let the fire start and stay lit for several hours. The right opening will also keep the fire from being starved of air, and also prevent it from blowing smoke.

In order to properly adjust your damper, you need to first ensure that the fireplace is heated and the wood stove is warm. This will ensure that the chimney stays warm and has a good draft. Once this is accomplished, the wood stove damper can be adjusted.

Once the fire has smolder slightly, you need to shut the damper down to about three-quarters of its original position. This will stop the warm air in the room from venting up the chimney while still allowing the smoke to escape out of the wood stove.

This is the best way to ensure that your fire is lit and to prevent it from becoming too hot. If you close the damper too far it could stop the draft from working, but when it's too open a cold breeze could blow into your home.

You can check to see how much the damper is opened by placing your hands near the top of the inside of the flue pipe. If you feel a slight draft pushing against your hand, it's probably in the open position.

The damper settings can differ slightly from one stove to the next and even between different kinds of wood. You can play around with different settings to get an idea of the ideal setting for your stove.

Clean up

After an incident, it is crucial to clean the stove and flue. This will reduce the risk of a chimney fire which is the most common reason for wood stove fires in homes. Creosote is a sticky substance that can accumulate inside the stovepipe, is extremely hazardous. The moisture and the unburned parts of wood that cannot escape the fire are responsible for this substance. It could be caused by improperly lit fires.

A regular cleaning routine can help keep the buildup of creosote at bay. The best method to do this is to sweep the chimney at least once a year. It is also recommended that you get your stove and fireplace professionally cleaned and examined at least every year.

Also, it is recommended to clean the ash tray and grates regularly. It is best to burn only seasoned wood since it will create less creosote. Avoid burning cardboard, paper and plastic. These items could release dangerous chemicals into the air and flue which can be released into your home.

It is also necessary to wash the glass of the corner wood burning stove stove regularly. Most newer wood stoves have self-cleaning windows, so they do not require as much scrubbing. If you're not able to clean the glass of your wood stove as clean as you'd like, there are stove glass cleaners that can be used on the window.

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 ensure that the fire is burning hotter, and more efficient. The wood stove will not need to be as active to circulate air. It is recommended to not stack logs or keep them in the flame for long periods of time as this could lead to splitting and warping. It is also a good idea to avoid using compressed combustible logs in your wood stove because the paraffin in them could melt and spill down into the flue, which could cause damage to the stove.