How to Maintain a Woodburning Stove

A wood-burning stove is a reliable and efficient method of heating the home. But, it's essential to keep your stove in good condition to ensure maximum performance.

Tip: Select seasoned wood that has a low content of moisture. This will allow you to burn the wood for a longer period and produce more heat.

State environmental agencies are grappling with how to address the problem of particulate air pollution from old woodburning stoves.

How They Work

Wood-burning stoves, as the name implies, burn wood to produce heat. The fire is contained in a metal-and-glass body which allows for a steady temperature inside the home. It also acts as an obstruction to smoke entering the living area.

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

Modern stoves utilize non-catalytical or catalytical technologies to regulate this. Catalytic stoves have a catalytic convertor designed to reburn the gas that is generated during primary combustion to ensure they do not escape from the room. Non-catalytic stoves on the contrary, do not have a catalyst and rely solely on secondary combustion taking place within the firebox to minimize emissions.

It is recommended to only burn firewood that is seasoned in your woodburning fireplace. It should have a moisture content less than 20%, which allows the fire to burn effectively. This will reduce smoke and harmful pollutants from the flue system, and it will also make the glass inside your stove less likely to become blackened due to creosote which is a byproduct of burning wood that can build up over time.

In addition to reducing emissions, using seasoned wood can save you money on heating costs because it produces more heat for the same amount of fuel. This is due to the fact that drier cheap wood burning stoves has a greater surface area, and thus produces more heat powered wood stove fan from a given amount of fuel.

However, smoke from wood can be harmful for anyone, particularly children and older adults with weakened lungs. It can also cause irritation for those with lung conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive respiratory disorder (COPD). If you reside in a designated smoke-control zone, make sure your stove is properly seasoned. It must also be fitted with a chimney that meets the requirements of the local area.

Burning Wood

Wood-burning stoves are a safe and renewable source of heat. They are also a great choice to keep the house warm during power outages. They also reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and gas, which are harmful to the environment.

Modern woodburning stoves work more efficiently than older models and are engineered to stop the build-up of creosote, however, it is important to keep track of the combustion process. Creosote, which is a risky byproduct of incomplete combustion, can clog the chimney and cause it to become less efficient. It also creates an hazard to fire. Using seasoned wood will help keep creosote levels low and can reduce the cost of logs as well as helping to avoid the need for professional cleaning services.

There are stoves that use wood and coal, giving you a choice between carbon-neutral energy sources. However, it is important to remember that burning coal is not a sustainable fuel, and there are concerns about how it is mined and transported.

It is recommended to use an Defra approved electric stove fire and ideally one that is Ecodesign ready, since these will comply with the most current emission regulations. The UK building regulations dictate the kind of flue as well as the size of the hearth and the distance between the stove and combustible material. It is always best to talk to our stove experts prior to purchasing an appliance.

Other types of combustibles such as paper and rubbish are not suitable for use in wood-burning stoves because they can lead to more pollution, and at worst, a chimney fire and, at best, cause them to operate less effectively. This is because combustibles other than firewood have different density characteristics than firewood, and therefore burn at a lower temperature and produce more particulates.

It is essential to use only well-seasoned, split, and dried firewood. This will help the wood burn more efficiently. If you use damp or wet wood, it can produce a lot of smoke, as well as generating more pollutant. It is also recommended to make use of a top quality stove pipe to ensure the flue temperatures are high enough and that it has been installed correctly.

Emissions

Woodburning stoves emit a myriad of gases and particles. They mostly produce fine particulate matter (PM2.5) that is small enough to pass through the lungs and penetrate into the bloodstream, causing damage to the liver, heart and brain. They also produce carcinogenic compounds like polycyclic aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Some of them even release poisonous metals, such as mercury and arsenic, depending on the type of fuel they're burning.

There have been a variety of attempts in the US to regulate how much wood-burning stoves produce pollution, with varying degrees success. In 1988 the Environmental Protection Agency set emissions guidelines that basically limited the amount of pollution that new stoves could release. Since then there have been two additional revisions to these guidelines and the most recent one in 2015 stipulates that all units both catalytic and non-catalytic emit no more than 4.5 grams of pollutants per hour.

Although these rules were strict, they did cause a significant shake-up in the industry causing hundreds of smaller manufacturers to close up shop, they also spurred on the creation of well-designed and efficient stoves that were durable and able to produce lower emission levels than traditional models. white electric stove designers looked at and analysed combustion air flows, baffles combustion chamber shapes, insulating materials, and recirculation systems to make their products better. Over time they succeeded.

Emissions are mostly dependent on the moisture content of the wood being burned. The higher the moisture content, the more harmful emissions the stove produces. This is why the best way to reduce emissions is to use firewood that has been seasoned that has been properly dried over 6-8 months.

According to numerous studies that compare pollution from exhaust only wood burning stoves could cause as much particle pollution as 15 diesel vehicles. These tests were not scientific. These studies do not consider that the majority of the particle pollution from cars comes from its engine, brakes, and tyres, not its exhaust.

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

Maintenance

Although wood-burning stoves are extremely efficient in heating homes however, they can be a challenge to maintain. The stove must be cleaned on a regular basis to keep it looking and operating efficiently. A dirty stove could be detrimental to the health of the occupants and the amount of heat it produces. Cleaning the stove is not the only maintenance task that needs to be carried out to keep it functioning properly.

Cleaning the interior and exterior of a multifuel stove; https://www.obadoba.de/?URL=fireplacesandstove.com, is easy to do. It is recommended to clean a stove on a weekly or biweekly basis, depending on how frequently it is used. It is also recommended to empty ash from the firebox each time the stove has been used. Spread newspaper on the floor and put on gloves prior to taking the ashes out. It is also recommended to utilize a ash container made of metal instead of a bucket since this will help prevent rust.

It is essential to keep the flue and chimney clean. It is recommended to employ a professional chimney sweep once or twice per year to thoroughly clean the chimney and multifuel stove stove. This will prevent creosote buildup and reduce the risk for chimney fires.

Additionally, chimneys must be examined for cracks in the flue liner and the masonry and creosote deposits that are excessive or bird nests, as well as other debris. A professional chimney sweep can repair these problems to 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 and then wiped with a clean cloth until it is clear. It is recommended to avoid scratching the glass since this can weaken it and shatter it when it gets hot.

Paint that is resistant to heat can be used to re-paint woodburning fireplace if the paint starts chipping. These paints are generally found at stores where wood stoves are sold and are available in various colors.