A smoke-free startup

The best way to start a fire in a fireplace or wood stove can vary depending on the unit and the experience of the user. In most cases, a person who has thirty years of experience and has recently purchased the latest EPA certified wood stove is ironically the one who will smoke the entire house. The majority of smoke related incidents occur while operating the most efficient units.

EPA certified wood stoves are designed to preserve the most amount of heat possible inside the combustion chamber in order for the gases to burn. This means that the startup process also causes a restriction for the heat to rise and warm-up the chimney faster than the older stoves. This is why it is so important to always remember that heat rises whereas cold descends. If you feel a cool breeze on your hand when opening the door of your wood stove, this means that you need to heat your chimney adequately or else you will create an abundant amount of smoke that is down draught by the descending cool air.

An effective way to avoid this situation is to burn, one at a time, thirty or so small balls of newspaper. One ball will create a rapid fire and a burst of intense heat that will force the cool air to reverse its trajectory. Just remember, the air supply lever must be in the open position at this time. A heat indicating thermometer inside the black pipes would be an added bonus and decrease the margin of error. When the temperature inside the pipe has reached 250 to 300 degrees, you are more likely to have a successful smoke-free startup.

Once the chimney is sufficiently heated, you can then add paper and startup wood without the risk of over-smoking.  It is important that you use small pieces of wood, such as kindling. You can progressively begin to add larger pieces of wood to the burning fire, all the while ensuring that the air supply lever is still in the open position. The startup of a wood stove generally takes between 15 and 25 minutes depending on the amount of humidity in the wood being used.

A humidity rating between 15% and 20% is recommended for efficient burning in most woodstoves and fireplaces. In order to properly determine the humidity of your wood, you can purchase a humidity detector at most specialty retailers listed in our directory. In the event that they do not have them available, please contact us so that we can refer you to your nearest distributor. This detector will also allow you to rate the level of honesty of your wood supplier.

Have a warm heating season !

At Bien-O-Chaud.com we believe in the sharing of information. Our section entitled Tips & Tricks was created so that we could share our knowledge with you and for you to mutually share information with us. We encourage you to participate and to send us your articles, suggestions and advice.

*   Your information is protected. “See our section entitled Personal information under the Privacy policy of Bien-O-Chaud.com”