12 Woodburning Stove Facts To Refresh Your Eyes At The Water Cooler

How to Maintain a Woodburning Stove

A woodburning stove is an efficient and effective method of heating a home. It is essential to maintain your woodburning appliance to ensure its maximum performance.

Tips: Choose wood that is seasoned with low moisture content. This will allow you to burn the wood for longer and generate more heat.

State environmental agencies are struggling with how to address the issue of air particulate pollution from older wood-burning stoves.

How They Work

Wood-burning stoves, as the name implies, burn wood to produce heat. The fire is contained within an aluminum and glass body that assists in maintaining a constant temperature within the home. It also acts as a barrier to stop smoke from entering the living space.

Stoves control combustion by controlling the amount of oxygen they let into the fire. This is accomplished through one or more controllable air vents that can be closed and opened to control the amount of oxygen flowing in to the fire.

Modern stoves typically employ catalytic or non-catalytic technology in order to control this. Catalytic stoves are equipped with a catalytic convertor that is designed to reburn the gas that is produced during primary combustion, so they do not escape from the room. Non-catalytical stoves don't have a catalyser and rely on secondary combustion within the firebox to reduce emissions.

It is recommended that you only use seasoned wood in your woodburning stove. It must have a moisture level lower than 20%, which allows the fire to burn effectively. This will help to reduce the amount of smoke and harmful pollution from the flue system and also make the glass inside your stove less likely to be blackened due to creosote which is a result of burning wood that can accumulate over time.

In addition to reducing emissions well-seasoned wood can also save money on your heating bills by producing more heat for the same amount of fuel. This is due to the fact that drier wood has a greater surface area and consequently produces more heat for a given volume of fuel.

However, smoke from wood can be harmful for anyone, but especially children and older adults with weakened lungs. It can also irritate those with lung conditions like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). If you reside in an area that has been designated as a smoke control zone, it is essential to ensure that your stove is maintained and has an appropriate chimney that meets the requirements for the location.

Burning Wood

Woodburning stoves offer clean and renewable source of heat. They are also a great option to keep the house warm during power outages. They also aid in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, which can be detrimental to the environment, from fossil fuels such as gas and oil.

Modern woodburning stoves work more efficiently than older models and are designed to stop the build-up of creosote, however, it is important to keep track of the combustion process. Creosote can be a dangerous byproduct of incomplete combustion and it can block the chimney if left to build up, resulting in less efficiency and creating a fire risk. Using seasoned wood will aid in keeping creosote levels low and can save on the cost of logs, as well as helping to avoid the need for professional cleaning services.

There are stoves that use wood and coal offering you the option of choosing between carbon-neutral sources of energy. It is crucial to keep in mind that coal is not a sustainable fuel, and there are some concerns about the way it is mined.

It is recommended to use the Defra approved stove and ideally one that is Ecodesign ready, as they will be in compliance with the most current emission regulations. The UK building regulations have specific rules for how the flue is installed and the size of the hearth, and the distance that the stove must be from combustible materials and therefore it is always advisable to speak with one of our stove experts prior to making a purchase.

Other combustibles, like garbage and paper should not be used in woodburning stoves, as they can lead to more pollution, or even a chimney fire or worse, make them operate less efficiently. Other combustibles are lighter than firewood and therefore will burn at lower temperatures and produce more particles.

It is crucial to only use well-seasoned, split, and dried firewood. This will burn more efficiently. Wet or damp wood produces more pollutants and smoke. It is recommended to use a stove pipe of high-quality in order to ensure that the temperature of the flue will be sufficient and that it is installed correctly.

Emissions

Woodburning stoves emit a myriad of gases and particles. They mostly produce fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which is tiny enough to enter the lungs and penetrate into the bloodstream, potentially damaging the liver, heart and brain. However, they also produce carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and carcinogenic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Some of them even release poisonous metals, such as mercury and arsenic, depending on the fuel they're burning.

There have been several attempts in the US to regulate how much wood-burning stoves pollute the environment with different degrees of success. In 1988, the Environmental Protection Agency set emissions guidelines that basically limited the amount of pollution that new stoves could release. Since since then, there's been two revisions to the regulations. The most recent revision in 2015 mandates that all stoves, catalytic or non-catalytic, release not more than 4 grams of pollutants every hour.

Although these rules were strict, they caused a significant shakeup in the industry, leading hundreds of smaller manufacturers to close up shop and create an effort to design and build well-designed and efficient stoves that could last and able to produce less emissions than conventional models. To improve their products, stove makers examined and analyzed the flow of combustion baffles, the shape of the combustion chamber. They also studied the insulation of materials and the recirculation systems. Over time they succeeded.

The moisture content of wood is an important element in determining the emission. The higher the level of moisture, the more harmful emissions the stove can produce. For that reason, the best way to reduce emissions is to use well-seasoned firewood that's been properly dried for 6-8 months.

According to numerous studies that compare pollution from exhaust only wood-burning stoves can produce as much particle contamination as 15 diesel vehicles. These tests were not scientific. These studies fail to take into account that the majority of pollution that cars emit comes from its brakes, engine and tyres, not its exhaust.

Ten blue states have been pushing on the EPA to review its carbon emissions and air quality guidelines for wood-burning stoves. Attorneys general from New York, Washington and Illinois have declared that they will sue the EPA if it continues to allow high-emitting stoves to continue to be sold in homes across the country.

Maintenance

Although wood-burning stoves are extremely efficient in heating homes, they can be difficult to maintain. A stove needs to be regularly cleaned to keep it looking and functioning efficiently. A dirty stove can affect the health of the occupants as well as how much heat it generates. In addition to cleaning the stove, there are additional maintenance tasks that should be completed to ensure that it is working properly.

It is simple to clean the interior and exterior of a stove. Cleaning your stove is recommended every week or every two weeks depending on how often it is used. It is recommended to remove ash from the fire box each time the stove has been used. Spread newspaper on the floor prior to scooping the ashes from the stove, and put on gloves to protect your hands. It is also a good idea to utilize a ash container made of metal rather than a bucket, as this will prevent rusting.

It is essential to keep the flue and chimney clean. A professional chimney sweep should be employed at least once or twice per year to clean the chimney and multifuel stove thoroughly. This will prevent creosote from building up and lessen the risk of fires on chimneys.

A chimney must be examined for cracks in the flue liner as well as masonry, excessive creosote deposits or bird nests, as well as other debris. A professional chimney sweep is capable of repairing these issues and restore a safe, working chimney.

The clear glass on a wood burning stove can become smudged or cloudy due to the buildup of soot over time. Spray an ammonia-based mixture and water on the glass, and wipe it with a clean cloth. It is best to avoid scratching the glass since this could weaken it and break it when it is hot.

Paint that is heat-resistant can be used to paint a woodburning fireplace if the paint starts to chip. These paints are generally found at stores where stoves are sold and can be found in many colors.