How to Properly Start a Wood Burning Stove

Wood stoves are a cozy method to heat a room and also save energy. However, they require some level of maintenance.

Many modern wood stoves meet EPA emission guidelines. Look for an EPA sticker on the underside or next to the grate, to ensure that your stove won't produce a lot of harmful pollutants.

How to start a Wood Fire

The scent and sound of a wood fire could be a wonderful feature in any house. But it's important to learn the proper way to build a fire in your stove. Improper techniques can result in a fire that doesn't burn efficiently and creates smoke or creosote. These tips will aid you in starting the fire that will warm your home with minimum effort and maximum safety.

Check the condition of your coals and logs before you start the fire. If they're wet they will choke your fire and prevent the proper burning. It is possible to open the chimney to remove any ash that falls into the stove.

Begin by putting a handful of small dry newspaper pieces into your stove. This will help ignite the sparks. Once these begin to ignite, add a layer of larger pieces of kindling to the top of the pile. This should be done with the crosshatch pattern to ensure that there is air between each piece.

If your wood stove comes with an automatic control for combustion, it will automatically feed air to the fire as it expands. This will allow the fire to burn for a long time without the need to open the stove's door often to keep it in check.

Be careful not to use too much tinder, as it will cause the fire to burn at a fast rate and not use the fuel efficiently. Once here are the findings made a solid bed in your stove of igniters, tinder, and embers begin the main flame by laying down two large logs of the base on the grill. Then, you can lay small logs perpendicular to these and on top of the base logs. This "top-down" method of building a fireplace will result in a long-lasting and effective fire that doesn't completely engulf larger base logs.

When your fire is established, close the damper and keep it closed. Doing this too soon can cause the fire be smothered, and it will not allow for the correct airflow, which will decrease the efficiency of the fire.

Add Wood

Stoves can be used to heat your home efficiently and also save you money. They can be utilized together with a central heating system or furnace to provide additional heat in large houses. A lot of the clean-burning stoves on the market use a superior combustion principle that separates the burning of volatile compounds from the combustion of combustible gases and tar by providing air in two distinct stages. The first stage permits the combustion of volatile compounds and the second offers fresh air that is pre-heated. This improves the process of combustion and reduces the odors.

The amount of heat that you will get from your stove will depend on the type of wood used as well as the moisture content and the size of the logs. To let the wood dry, logs should be kept in a ventilated space for a few months prior to burning. If the logs are too wet they will create lots of steam, which is essentially wasted energy.

During the burning of the fire, you should add more wood to the stack in intervals, and not all at all at. Too much wood added at one time can cause the temperature of the firebox to rise, and produces a vortex that sucks smoke and volatile compounds that have not been burned back into the flame, which can decrease the efficiency of your stove.

Avoid using other combustibles inside your stove such as cardboard or paper, because they are not wood. They have different physical properties and can't be burned without producing dangerously high temperatures. You should also not use compressed combustibles, such as wood briquettes because they have a very different chemical and physical properties from actual firewood and are not approved for use in wood burning stoves.

If you're installing wood-burning stoves into your home, it's crucial to have it installed and tested by a qualified. A certified WETT technician can examine your stove to make sure it is safe and functional. They will also check that your chimney is functioning properly. These experts can also provide maintenance services to keep your stove and chimney in tip-top shape. They can look for leaks in the areas that are accessible to your chimney and fix any issues they spot. They will also make sure that all occupants of the house understand and follow the fire evacuation procedure in the event of an accident.

Adjusting the Damper

If you're not making use of your stove, a damper can control the amount of heat that is lost through the chimney. It can also be used to regulate the fire. If the flue is open but the damper is not closed enough, the fire won't burn properly and will release smoke into your living space. To ensure that you get the most efficient fire, with the damper properly adjusted, you should experiment with different settings and observe how each affects the flames.

You want to keep your damper open to allow air to flow into and out of the flue while a fire is burning. This lets the fire get a good fire going and also helps keep it in good shape so that you can enjoy it for a long time. The proper opening will keep the fire from being starved of air and prevent it from blowing smoke.

To adjust your damper correctly, you must first ensure that the fireplace is heated and that the wood stove is hot. This will ensure that the chimney stays warm and has an adequate draft. After these steps are completed, the damper on the wood stove can be adjusted.

Once the fire has smolder for a while, you can reduce the damper to around three-quarters of its maximum. This will stop warm air in the room from escaping into the chimney, while still allowing smoke to escape.

This is the best method to prevent the fire from getting too hot, while also keeping it burning. If you shut the damper too far it may stop the draft from working, however should it be too open, a cold wind could blow into your home.

You can determine how much the damper is opened by placing your hands near the top of the inside of the flue pipe. If you feel a small breeze rubbing against your hand the damper is probably in an open position.

The damper settings can differ from one stove to another and even among different types of wood. The process of experimenting with the various settings will give you an idea of what you should look for, but you might have to keep adjusting it until you find the perfect setting for your stove.

Clean Up

After the fire, it's important to clean the stove and flue. This can reduce the chance of a fire in the chimney which is the main cause of fires caused by wood stoves. Creosote, a sticky substance that forms on the inside of the stovepipe and can be very dangerous. It is caused by moisture and unburned wood particles that cannot escape the fire. This can also be caused when fires aren't properly lit.

Regular cleaning helps to prevent creosote buildup. The most effective method for doing this is by sweeping the chimney every year. It is recommended that you have your fireplace and stove professionally inspected and cleaned at least once per year.

It is also recommended to clean out the ash tray and grate regularly. It is a good idea to use only seasoned wood for burning, as this will result in less creosote and less ash. Avoid burning paper, cardboard and plastic. They could release chemicals that are dangerous for respiratory illnesses and the atmosphere, which may be released into your home.


The glass on the wood burning stove needs to be regularly cleaned as well. A lot of modern wood stoves are made with self-cleaning glass, which means that they don't require a lot of cleaning. If you are not able to clean the glass of your wood stove as clean as you would like you can use stove glass cleaners that you can use on the window.

Other ways to keep your wood stove in good condition include turning down the vent when you aren't using it, and opening doors or windows to increase airflow. This will help keep the fire burning more hot and more efficiently, as it will not need to work as hard to circulate the air. It is recommended not to stack logs or leave them on the fire for an extended duration. This could cause splitting and warping. It is recommended to avoid using combustible compressed wood in your wood stove because the paraffin that is contained in the logs can melt and leak into the flue, which could cause damage.