7 Tricks To Help Make The Most Out Of Your Woodburning Stove
How to Properly Operate a Woodburning Stove
Wood stoves are a fantastic way to heat your home. They're also inexpensive. Smoke from wood stoves can be harmful to your health. It is essential to know how these appliances function and to operate them properly.
Modern stoves employ catalytic or secondary combustion to control emissions. Older stoves and open flames release high levels 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 most straightforward way to think about the firebox is that it's an enclosed combustion chamber that has walls and doors. Most fireplaces come with prefabricated metal fireboxes or a masonry firebox. The type of firebox you choose will depend on your preference as well as the kind of fireplace you have.
Most fireplaces with wood burning use a constant air flow to create the fire and burn fuel. Fresh air is pumped into the stove through dampers that can be adjusted inside the doors. This lets the fuel burn properly and helps to reduce toxic gases that are produced by incomplete or unburnt combustion. The exhaust gases are then transported through the chimney, and safely out of your home.
Modern stoves with catalytic second combustion employ a special catalyst that allows unburned gases to be reburned to produce additional warmth. This results in a more clean and less polluting exhaust than traditional wood stoves that have no secondary combustion. Modern non-catalytic stoves are available, but they're usually less efficient than stoves that have secondary combustion catalytically.
Some wood-burning stoves include backboilers that are used to heat water as well as for space heating. These stoves are known as "hybrids" or "combination". They are in use since the beginning of the 20th century.
Wood burning stoves must be used with seasoned wood. Freshly cut wood (green) has high levels of water. This can result in low flue temperatures, as well as excessive creosote accumulation within the chimney. This can lead to chimney fires that damage the stove, and they can even be dangerous to your family's health.
If you are looking for a professional who can inspect your wood-burning stove, or make repairs to your firebox, be sure the chimney technician you choose is certified by CSIA certification and also has reviews from customers on their website. Ask about their pricing and the kind of work they perform.
The ventilation pipe
Wood stoves require ventilation to remove the smoke from the combustion process and keep the home warm and healthy. Ventilation is necessary to remove carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide from the combustion process. It also reduces the amount of air pollution and heat loss to the outdoors. Wood, gas and pellet stoves have different venting requirements. It is essential to maintain the stove's venting systems on an every year to ensure safety and efficiency.
The ventilation system is comprised of the firebox, the vent pipe, and the chimney. The ventilation pipe and chimney work together to create draft, bringing smoke from the stove through the fireplace to outside air. Draft is created through the difference in density and temperature between hot wood smoke and cold outside air. The higher the temperature of the smoke, the more it is able to rise up the chimney and through the ventilation pipe.
Modern wood stoves have been rated as low-emission models by the EPA. They emit less pollution than older models that contribute to global heating and other environmental issues. Most newer stoves also come with pollution controls built-in to limit how much they emit while ensuring that the emissions are disposed of in an efficient manner.
Older stoves with open flues produce lots of carbon dioxide, which is an extremely poisonous gas and should not be allowed to escape into the home. This can happen if the chimney isn't clean or there is inadequate ventilation, which is why it is essential to install carbon monoxide detectors within your home.
Before installing a new or used wood stove take note of the distance from where the stove sits on the floor to the chimney opening on the wall or ceiling. By multiplying small wood burning stove by 2 will provide you with the minimum length of stovepipe you need. You can use either single-wall or double-wall stovepipes however, you must ensure adequate clearance from burning combustibles.
When the stove first starts to burn then adjust the air vent until a stable flame has been created and the combustion process is stable. It is recommended to avoid using wood briquettes in the stove, since they aren't logs and could contain volatile chemicals that could cause the air vent to malfunction and lead to a risky situation.
The chimney
The chimney is a complicated system that requires attention and care. The chimney is composed of many important components that are essential to the safety and efficiency of your stove.
The wood-burning stove's combustion gases are vented outwards through the firebox, the ventilation pipe, and the chimney. This is essential to lower carbon dioxide levels as well as prevent harmful emissions. To accomplish this, the chimney and flue have to be hot enough to carry the gasses out of the fireplace without them cooling. This can be accomplished by using a wood-burning stove that has a high heat output and by adding fresh logs regularly to the fire.
Modern woodburning stoves have a taller chimney than older systems to increase the effect of drafting. This could be a problem when the chimney's height is higher than the maximum allowed for your area. If this occurs the chimney could compete with the house stack for draft, which can cause the gases to cool prior to exiting. This can result in a decrease in the flow of gas, and the formation of creosote.
One of the most common errors that homeowners make is to open and shut the door to the fireplace too often which can adversely affect the combustion. It is essential to keep the door shut whenever possible, and only open it when you're required to add more firewood or ash. If you leave the door open for too long can allow the hot air to escape from the stove, which causes the logs to get cooler and more difficult to light. It also releases unburned volatile compounds into the room.
Other kinds of combustibles may create higher emissions, or even an explosion in a chimney. The fact is that woodburning stoves are built and optimised to burn firewood and not other types of combustibles.
The flue
A woodburning stove requires a properly large flue that allows for proper draft and air flow. Typically, the dimensions of the flue has to be at 25 percent greater than the stove pipe (which connects the stove to the chimney) to provide enough space for smoke circulation. Additionally the stove must be placed on a hearth that is made of a non-combustible material and is clear and unobstructed space in front of the fireplace opening.
Modern stoves are equipped with an engineered combustion system that reduces the amount of harmful byproducts released into the chimney. This feature can help increase the efficiency of wood stoves by burning a wood which produces more heat while emitting less pollutants. Utilizing other kinds of combustibles, other than firewood however, could cause issues with lower efficiency and higher levels of emissions.
It is important to use seasoned or dry wood when burning wood in your fireplace or stove. If your wood is not dry or seasoned, it will emit high levels of creosote and water vapour into the chimney. This can result in low flue temperatures, and even a fire in the chimney.
A professional can also help you avoid the possibility of a chimney fire by regularly checking and cleaning the flue system. This includes the stovepipe, chimney and the chimney itself, to ensure all are in good working order.
A dirty stove and flue system can result in an unclean chimney draft that could result in carbon monoxide being released into your home. This could be hazardous for your family members and should never be allowed to occur.
A good rule is to have your chimney and stove swept by a professional every year. This will keep your chimney and stove in good working order.