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Q. How can I tell if a stove or insert is sized right for my home?
A. Consider your geographic location and climate, the number of rooms you wish to heat, and construction features of your home such as room size, ceiling height, and insulation.
Q. When installing a wood stove, what’s the first thing I should consider?
A. Make sure the wood stove and venting work as a system. It is important for the stove’s venting system to be sized properly, according to manufacturer’s instructions. Whether venting into a masonry or metal system, make sure the diameter of the chimney matches closely, but never smaller than the size of the stove’s flue outlet. Doing anything else adversely impacts emissions and safety.
Q. How can I tell if I am operating my wood stove properly?
A. Check the smoke coming out of your wood stove chimney; the smoke is your operational barometer. If your fire is burning properly, you should only see the white transparent steam of evaporating water. The darker the color of the smoke (unburned fuel), the less efficiently you are operating the appliance. It may be necessary to adjust the operation of your wood stove to decrease the smoke.
Q. Why is wood smoke undesirable?
A. Smoke, in the form of solid particles (particulate) and volatile gases, is unburned fuel. An improperly operated wood stove fails to achieve the high combustion temperatures necessary to burn the particulate and ignite the gases. These gases and particulate contain half the heating potential of your firewood. The loss of this fuel up the chimney amounts to a loss of efficiency.
Q. Are there times when my wood stove or fireplace insert will emit more smoke?
A. There are two periods in the operation of a wood stove most vulnerable to creating smoky emissions -- during startup and during refueling. However, these smoky periods can be dramatically minimized by proper operation.
Q. Is it important to have my stove and chimney cleaned?
A. Yes. Smoke rising through your chimney may condense and build up on the cooler inside walls forming a substance known as creosote.
Q. How often should I have my chimney inspected and cleaned?
A. The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) recommends that all chimneys and vents be inspected on an annual basis and cleaned as necessary. Additionally, frequent stove or insert use may require monthly chimney inspection and cleanings.
Q. Does it matter what kind of wood I use?
A. Your fuel supply should consist of a mixture of hardwoods, like maple or oak, and softwoods, such as fir and pine. When first starting your fire, use softwoods. They ignite easily and burn rapidly with a hot flame. Hardwoods provide a longer lasting fire and are best used after preheating the chimney. If hardwoods are unavailable, you can control your fire’s burn rate by using larger pieces of wood.
