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How to Properly Operate a Woodburning Stove Wood stoves are an excellent method of heating your home. They're also inexpensive. Smoke from wood stoves can be hazardous to your health. It is essential to know how these appliances work and how they operate. Modern stoves employ secondary or catalytic combustion to control emissions. But older open fires and stoves create 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 a box-like combustion chamber with walls and doors. Most fireplaces have either prefabricated metal or a masonry fireboxes. The type of firebox you choose depends on your preferences as well as the type of fireplace you own. Most fireplaces with wood burning use a constant air flow to create the flame and burn fuel. Fresh air is introduced 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 taken up by the chimney, and safely out of your home. Modern stoves that have catalytic second combustion employ a special catalyst that allows unburned gases to be reburned to generate additional warmth. This results in cleaner and less polluting smoke than traditional wood stoves with no secondary combustion. Modern non-catalytic stoves are available, but they're generally less efficient than stoves that have catalytic secondary combustion. Some wood-burning stoves have backboilers that are used to heat water, in addition to space heating. These are referred to as “combination” or “hybrid” stoves and have been around since the beginning of the 20th century. Wood burning stoves should only be burned with seasoned wood. Freshly cut wood (green) has an excessive amount of water. This could lead to low flue temperatures, and excessive creosote accumulation in the chimney. This can lead to chimney fires that cause damage to the stove, and can even be dangerous to your family's health. If you're in search of an expert who can examine your wood-burning stove or perform repairs to your firebox, be sure the chimney expert you hire has CSIA certification and provides testimonials from their customers on their website. Find out their rates and the type of work they do. The ventilation pipe Ventilation is required for wood stoves to eliminate fumes and keep the home healthy and warm. Ventilation is essential to remove carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide from the combustion process. It also helps reduce the impact of air pollution and heat loss to the outdoor. Gas, pellet and wood stoves have different requirements for venting to accommodate the ways they operate. It is crucial to keep the stove's venting system on annually to ensure security and efficiency. The ventilation system consists of the firebox, the vent pipe, and the chimney. The chimney and the ventilation pipe are used in conjunction to create draft, bringing smoke from the stove through the fireplace and into the outside air. The differences in densities and temperature between the hot wood smoke and cold outside air creates draft. The higher the temperature, more smoke will rise through the ventilation pipe and chimney. The majority of modern wood stoves are EPA-certified low-emission units. This means they emit significantly less pollution than older models, and contribute to global warming and other environmental concerns. Modern stoves are equipped with pollution control systems that limit the amount of carbon dioxide released while making sure that they burn efficiently. Older stoves that have open flues create lots of carbon dioxide, poisonous gas that should not be allowed to escape into the home. Carbon monoxide can be a source when the chimney is dirty or if there is inadequate ventilation. Installing wood burning stove outdoor inside your house is therefore important. Measure the distance between the opening of the chimney in the wall or ceiling and the place where the wood stove is on the floor. Multiplying this distance by 2 will give you the shortest length of stovepipe that you require. You can use either single-wall or double-wall stovepipes but you must allow for the adequate clearance from combustibles. When the stove first starts to burn, adjust the air vent until a proper flame has been established and the combustion is stable. It is recommended to stay clear of using wood logs in the stove since they could contain volatile chemicals that could cause the air vents to fail. The chimney The chimney might not be something that homeowners think about a lot to, but it's actually an intricate system that requires careful attention. The chimney is comprised of numerous important parts which are all essential to the safety and efficiency of your stove. The firebox, ventilation pipe and chimney work together to exhaust the combustion gases produced by your woodburning fireplace to the outside. This is essential to reduce carbon dioxide levels as well as prevent harmful emissions. To do this the chimney and flue must be hot enough to move the gases from the fireplace without cooling. This is achieved by using a woodburning stove that has an extremely high heat output, and by adding regularly new logs to the fire. Modern woodburning stoves are taller chimney than older models to improve the drafting effect. However, this could be a disadvantage if the height of your chimney is higher than the maximum allowed for your location. If this happens the chimney could compete with the house stack for draft, causing gases to cool before exiting. This could impede the flow of gases and lead to creosote accumulation, which poses a potential fire danger. One of the most frequent mistakes homeowners make is to close and open the fireplace door too frequently which can adversely affect the combustion. It is essential to keep the fireplace door as closed as possible, and only open it when you need to add ash or firewood. The door that is left open for too long allows the hot air to escape from the stove, causing the logs to get cooler and harder to light. It also releases unburned volatile compounds into the room. Other types of combustibles can cause higher emissions or even the possibility of a chimney fire. The reality is that woodburning stoves are designed and designed to burn firewood and not other types of combustibles. The flu A woodburning stove requires an appropriately large flue that allows for adequate air flow and draft development. Usually, the size of the flue has to be at least 25 percent larger than the stove pipe (which connects the stove to the chimney) to provide enough space for smoke passage. Additionally the stove must be set on an open hearth made of a non-combustible material and has a clear, unobstructed area that is in the front of the opening for the fireplace. Modern stoves come with an engineered combustion system that reduces the amount harmful byproducts that get released into the chimney. This feature is also able to improve the efficiency of a wood stove by burning a fire that produces more heat and less pollution. Making use of other types of combustibles other than firewood however, can cause problems with lower efficiency and more emission levels. It is important to use dry or seasoned wood when burning wood in your fireplace or stove. If your wood is not seasoned or dry, it will emit high levels of creosote and water vapour into the chimney. This can result in low flue temperatures and even a chimney fire. A professional can also help you avoid an explosion in your chimney by regularly inspecting and cleaning the flue system. This includes the stovepipe, chimney and the chimney itself, to ensure all are in good working order. A dirty flue and stove can lead to an unclean chimney draft that can produce carbon monoxide in your home. This can be harmful to your family members and should not be allowed to happen. A good rule of thumb is to ensure that your stove and chimney are cleaned by a professional at least once a year. This will also help to keep the stove and chimney functioning efficiently.