11 Strategies To Refresh Your Woodburning Stove

How to Maintain a Woodburning Stove

A wood-burning stove is a reliable, effective way to heat the home. It is essential to maintain your woodburning stove to ensure it is operating at its best.

Tips: Choose seasoned wood with a low amount of moisture. This will allow for longer burn time and a higher heat output.

State environmental agencies are wrestling with the problem of particulate air pollution from old wood burning stoves.

How They Work

As the name suggests woodburning stoves burn wood to generate heat. They do this by enclosing the fire within a metal and glass body, which also helps to keep the temperature of your home at a consistent level. It also acts as an obstruction to smoke from entering your living space.

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

Modern stoves typically employ non-catalytic or catalytic technology to manage this. Catalytic stoves feature catalytic converters which are designed to burn the gasses produced during primary combustion, so that they don't escape into the room. Non-catalytic stoves, on contrary, do not contain a catalyst and rely on secondary combustion taking place inside the firebox to reduce emissions.

It is recommended to only burn firewood that is seasoned in your wood-burning fireplace. This means that it must have a moisture content below 20 per cent and this will allow the fire to burn more efficiently. This will reduce the amount of smoke and harmful substances that escape from the flue and will also prevent the glass of your stove from getting blackened by creosote. Creosote is the by-product of burning wood, and it will build up over time.

In addition to reducing emissions the right kind of wood can save cash on heating bills by producing more heat from a given amount of fuel. This is due to the fact that drier wood has a larger surface area and consequently produces more heat from a given quantity of fuel.

Wood smoke is harmful to anyone, however it is particularly dangerous to children and adults with vulnerable lungs. It can also affect people with lung conditions like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). If you live in an area designated as a smoke control zone, it is important to ensure that your stove is seasoned and installed with a chimney that meets the standards required for the location.

Burning Wood

Woodburning stoves offer clean and renewable source of heat. They are also a great choice to keep the house warm during power cuts. They also help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which can be harmful to the environment from fossil fuels like gas and oil.

Modern wood burning stoves are more efficient than earlier models, and are designed to stop the accumulation of creosote. However, it is important to monitor combustion. Creosote, which is a risky byproduct of incomplete combustion, can clog the chimney and cause it to lose efficiency. It also poses a fire hazard. The use of seasoned wood can aid in keeping the levels of creosote at a minimum and reduce the cost of logs, as well as helping to avoid the need for professional cleaning services.

There are stoves that can burn coal and wood and give you a choice of carbon neutral energy sources. But it's worth remembering that burning coal is not a climate-friendly fuel and there are some concerns regarding the manner in which it is mined and transported.

It is recommended to choose a Defra approved stove and one that is Ecodesign ready, since these will comply with the most recent emission regulations. The UK building regulations define the type of flue and the size of the hearth and the distance between the stove and the combustible material. It is recommended to consult our stove experts before purchasing the stove.

Other types of combustibles like garbage and paper should not be used in woodburning stoves, as they can cause pollution, and at worst, an explosion in the chimney, and at best cause them to operate less efficiently. Other combustibles are less dense than firewood, and thus will burn at lower temperatures and create more particles.

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

Emissions

Woodburning stoves emit a variety of gases and particles. They release a lot of fine particulate (PM2.5) which could enter the lungs, penetrate the bloodstream and possibly harm the heart, liver, and brain. However, they also produce carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and carcinogenic substances like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Some even release poisonous metals, such as arsenic and mercury, based on the type of multi fuel stoves they're burning.

There have been numerous attempts in the US to regulate the amount wood-burning stoves pollute the environment with different degrees of success. In 1988 the Environmental Protection Agency set emissions guidelines that basically limited how much pollution new stoves could release. Since then there have been two more revisions to the regulations and the most recent one in 2015 requires that all units both catalytic and non-catalytic release less than 4.5 grams of pollutants per hour.

These rules imposed by the government caused a major shake-up within the industry, forcing hundreds of smaller companies out of business. However they also spurred an effort to create efficient stoves that could last and could emit less carbon dioxide than conventional models. Stove designers analyzed and studied combustion air flow, baffles, combustion chamber forms, insulating materials and recirculation systems to improve their products. In time, they were successful.

The moisture content of wood is a key element in determining the emission. The higher the level of moisture of the wood, the more harmful emissions the stove will produce. The best way to reduce the amount of emissions is using seasoned firewood which is properly dried over a period of 6-8 months.

According to a variety of studies which compare the impact of exhaust-related particles only wood-burning stoves can cause as much particle pollution as 15 diesel vehicles. These tests were not scientifically valid. However these studies fail to take into account that about half of a car's particle pollution originates from the brakes, engine, and tyres rather than its exhaust.

Ten blue states have been pressing on the EPA to review its carbon emissions and guidelines for air quality of wood-burning stoves. The attorney generals of New York, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Alaska, Oregon and Vermont have announced plans to sue the EPA for allowing high-emitting stoves to be sold and installed in homes across the nation.

Maintenance

Wood burning stoves are efficient at heating homes but can be difficult to maintain. To ensure that your stove is clean and functioning correctly, you'll have to keep it clean regularly. A dirty stove may affect the health of its occupants and the amount of heat it produces. Cleaning the stove is not the only maintenance task that should be completed to ensure it is functioning properly.

Cleaning the exterior and interior of a stove is easy to do. It is recommended to clean the stove every week or on a fortnightly basis, depending on how frequently it is used. It is also recommended to empty ash from the fire box each time the stove has been used. Spread newspaper on the floor before scooping ashes from the stove, and then wear gloves to protect your hands. It is also recommended to utilize a ash container made of metal rather than a bucket, because this will stop rust from forming.

Cleaning the chimney and flue clean is also essential. A chimney sweep professional should be hired every year or once to clean the chimney and stove thoroughly. This will prevent creosote buildup and reduce the risk for chimney fires.

A chimney should also be checked for cracks and creosote buildup as well as bird nests, and other debris. A professional chimney sweep can fix these issues and restore a safe and working chimney.

Over time, the glass of a wood-burning stove can be smudged and clouded with soot. A mixture of ammonia and water can be sprayed on the glass, then wiped with a cloth until it is clean. Be careful not to scratch the glass, as this can weaken and shatter when it's hot.

If the paint on a woodburning fireplace begins to chip it is easily repainted with a quality heat resistant paint. These paints are usually available at the places where stoves are sold and are available in various colors.