7 Essential Tips For Making The Most Of Your Woodburning Stove
How to Properly Operate a Woodburning Stove
Wood stoves are an excellent way to heat your home. They're also cheap. Smoke from wood stoves can be dangerous to your health. It is essential to know how these appliances function and how they operate.
Many modern stoves rely upon secondary or catalytic combustion to limit their emissions. Older stoves and open flames release large amounts of particulates.
The firebox
The firebox is the heart of any fireplace system. It's where you create a fire to heat your home and provide ambiance. It's a simple concept, but there are many important details that must be accounted for to keep your wood burning stove safe and efficient.
The firebox is considered a combustion chamber with walls and a lid. Most fireplaces come with prefabricated metal fireboxes or a masonry firebox. The kind of firebox you select will depend on your personal preferences as well as the kind of fireplace you have.
The majority of wood-burning stoves utilize a constant flow of air to generate the fire and burn the fuel. Fresh air is drawn through adjustable dampers located in the stove's doors. This lets the fuels burn correctly, and also reduces the toxic gasses that result from burning that is not complete or properly burned. The exhaust gases are then transported through the chimney, and safely out of your home.
Modern stoves with catalytic second combustion use a special catalyst that reburns the unburned gasses to produce additional heat. This results in a more clean and less polluting exhaust than traditional wood stoves with no secondary combustion. Modern non-catalytic wood stoves are available, but these are typically less efficient than those that have catalytic second combustion.
Certain wood-burning stoves come with backboilers that are used to heat water as well as for space heating. They are also known as "combination" or "hybrid" stoves and have been in use since the beginning of the 20th century.
Wood burning stoves must be made use of well-seasoned wood. Freshly cut (green) wood has an extremely high moisture content that can lead to low flue temperatures as well as excessive creosote buildup in the chimney. This could lead to chimney fires that can cause damage to your stove and could be harmful to the health of your family.
If you're looking for a professional to inspect your wood-burning stove or to make any repairs to your firebox ensure that the chimney professional you choose is CSIA certified and provides testimonials from customers on their website. You can inquire about their prices, and what type of work they do.
The ventilation pipe
Wood stoves require ventilation to eliminate emissions from the combustion process and keep the home warm and healthy. Venting carries away carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and excess moisture from the combustion process. It also reduces the impact of heat loss and air pollution outside. Gas, wood and pellet stoves have different venting requirements to adapt to the way they function. It is essential to maintain the stove's venting system on an every year to ensure safety and efficiency.
The ventilation system is made up of the firebox and the vent pipe. The chimney and the ventilation pipe work together to create draft, which draws smoke from the stove through the fireplace to outside air. Draft is caused through the difference in density and temperature between hot wood smoke and cold air outside. The higher the temperature, the more smoke rises through the pipe of ventilation and chimney.
The majority of modern wood stoves are EPA-certified as low-emission units. They produce far less pollutants than older models, which contribute to global warming and other environmental problems. The majority of modern stoves come with pollution control systems to limit the amount of emissions, while making sure that they burn efficiently.
Older stoves that have open flues create a lot more carbon dioxide, an extremely poisonous gas and should not be allowed to escape into the home. This could happen if the chimney is not properly maintained or if there is not enough ventilation. It is important to install carbon monoxide detectors within your home.
Before installing a brand new or used wood stove measure the distance from the place where the stove is placed on the floor to the chimney opening in the wall or ceiling. Multiply this number by two to determine the minimum length of stovepipe you need. You can choose a single-wall or double-wall stovepipes, but you must allow for the proper clearance from the combustibles.
When the stove is first lit, adjust the air vent until a proper flame has been established and the combustion process is stable. It is recommended to avoid using wood based logs in the stove because they could contain volatile chemicals that can cause the air vents to fail.
The chimney
The chimney might not be something that people pay a lot of attention to, but it's an intricate system that requires careful attention. From top to bottom the chimney is comprised of several important components, all of which are crucial to ensuring that your stove operates efficiently and safely.
The firebox, the ventilation pipe and chimney work together to vent the combustion gases generated by your woodburning stove to the outside. This is crucial to reduce carbon dioxide levels and prevent harmful emissions. To accomplish wood burner stoves and flue need to be sufficiently hot to carry the gases out of the fireplace, without cooling. This is achieved by using a woodburning stove that has an extremely high heat output, and by regularly adding new logs to the fire.
Modern woodburning stoves are taller chimney than older systems to improve the drafting effect. However, this could be a disadvantage if the size of your chimney is greater than the maximum allowed for your particular location. In this scenario the chimney may compete with the house's stack for airflow, causing the gases to cool down before leaving. This can result in a decrease in the flow of gas, and the formation of creosote.
The most common mistake homeowners make is to open the fireplace door and close it often. This can cause problems with the combustion. It is essential to keep the door of your fireplace as shut as you can and only open it when you need to add firewood or ash. The door should not be left open for too long. This lets hot air from the stove to escape, making the wood cooler and harder to light.
Another common error that people make is using other types of combustibles in their woodburning stoves. This can result in more emissions or even a chimney fire. The truth is that woodburning stoves are built and optimized to burn wood and not other kinds of combustibles.
The flue
To ensure proper air flow, woodburning stoves require a flue that is the right size. Typically, the dimensions of the flue has to be at least 25 percent larger than the stove pipe (which connects the stove to the chimney) to ensure adequate room for smoke circulation. A wood stove must be set on a non-combustible hearth with a clear area in front of fireplace opening.
Modern stoves come with an element called catalytic combustor which can reduce the amount of harmful by-products which are released into the chimney. This feature can also assist to improve the efficiency of a wood stove by burning a fire that produces more heat and less polluting. However, using other kinds of combustibles, like coal, could cause problems, including lower efficiency and greater emissions.
When you are burning wood in a stove or fireplace it is crucial to use dried or seasoned wood. If your wood is not seasoned or dry it will release high levels of creosote and water vapour into the chimney. This can result in low flue temperatures, and possibly a chimney fire.
A professional can also assist you in avoiding an explosion in your chimney by regularly checking and cleaning the flue system. This should include the stovepipe, chimney and the chimney itself, to ensure that they are all in good condition.
A dirty stove and flue system could result in an unclean chimney draft that can produce carbon monoxide in your home. This could be hazardous for your family members and should not be allowed to happen.
It is a good idea to have your stove and chimney cleaned by a professional once a year. This will help keep your stove and chimney in good order.