The Self-Sufficiency Handbook. Alan Bridgewater
There is nothing quite as comforting on a wet and windy winter’s night than to sit in front of a glowing wood-burning stove. A good modern stove will warm a large living area as long as it appropriately sized to the room, and it will burn for twice as long, and twice as clean, on the same amount of wood as one of those old cast-iron horrors.
Wood-Burning Tips
• Hardwoods, like oak and maple, burn better than softwoods. It is a good idea to split the logs so that they dry out more quickly.
• Only burn well-seasoned wood, which contains just 20–30 percent water, because it burns more efficiently than freshly cut wood. Well-seasoned hardwoods provide a long-lasting, high-temperature fire.
• Never burn plastic waste (such as packaging) in the stove because it will create potentially dangerous fumes.
• Make sure that the chimney/flue is at least as big as the stove’s outlet.
• Wood smoke is potentially harmful, so get a modern stove that is capable of decreasing the level of harmful emissions by up to 90 percent.
• Efficient burning is indicated by white or steamy smoke as opposed to gray or black smoke.
• Be wary about “damping down” (partially closing the damper) for the night. It does enable you to keep the fire in, but it is one of the factors that creates a buildup of creosote in the chimney.
• Open all air vents when starting up the stove so that the resultant brisk fire burns away creosote and pre-warms the chimney.
Lighting a Wood-Burning Stove
• Crumple up half a dozen sheets of crisp, dry newspaper (ordinary cheap newspaper, not glossy magazine paper).
• Take about twenty pieces of dry, split kindling and build a raft-like layer on top of the newspaper.
• Take two small, dry half-logs (logs that have been split down the middle) and set them down flat on the raft of kindling.
• With the door(s) wide open, and the air controls open, light the newspaper at as many points as possible.
• Leave the doors and vents open until the logs are well lit.
• Allow the fire to burn vigorously and brightly until the logs are well charred and then add more logs and cut the draft down in stages (or according to the manufacturer’s instructions).
Wood-Burning Stove Glossary
Baffle: A wall around which the smoke and gas must flow in its passage through the stove; wall designed to control the airflow.
Creosote: A sticky mix of highly flammable tars and oils that can build up within the smoke pipe and chimney lining and then ignite, causing a chimney fire; it is the result damping down too frequently.
Damping down: The act of closing down the vents to keep the fire going overnight. Damping down hastens the buildup of potentially dangerous creosote.
Downdraft: A system of baffles and vents that results in the gases being forced down through the body of the fire before they are allowed to go up the chimney.
Emissions: Harmful by-products. A good modern stove produces relatively low emissions.
Firebox: The containment that holds the body of the fire.
Flue: The chimney, pipe, or vent.
Hearth: The fireproof base (usually made of concrete, tiles, or metal) on which the stove stands.
Kindling: Thin, dry wood (usually softwood) that is used to start a fire.
Seasoned: A term used to describe logs that have been allowed to dry for six to twelve months. Seasoned wood burns more efficiently than freshly cut wood.
Secondary air: A system that introduces a stream of air above the body of the fire, which results in the gases being forced down through the fire before being allowed up the flue.
• Always refer to your stove manufacturer’s guidelines because design and air-flow systems vary from one stove to another.
Looking at Your Flue System
Once you have decided that you want to install a wood-burning stove, and assuming that you have an existing chimney and fireplace, have a good look at the way the chimney and fireplace are arranged. You will be faced with two options. You have to choose a stove to fit what you have, or, if you like a stove that does not fit, you have to change the chimney to suit the stove. Either way, if you are living in an old house with a small open fire or a new house with a chimney that has never been fitted with a stove, the chances are that the flue or chimney will be a simple brick structure. If this is the case, you will need to line it.
Why Line and Insulate Your Chimney?
Flue gases from burning wood produce tar and impurities that will in time condensate on the inside surface of the flue. Because a stove is more efficient than an open fire, there will be a greater buildup of tars. Tar buildup is a problem for three reasons: (1) it will gradually leach through and stain your walls; (2) it will eventually run down the chimney as a sticky residue and maybe ooze onto the stove; and (3) it will increase the risk of a chimney fire.
Installing an insulated twin-walled chimney liner solves all of these problems; not only does the liner create a smooth surface that makes it difficult for tars to form, but, if tars do form, they are directed back into the fire to be burned again. Better yet, the consistent diameter of the liner and the fact that it is insulated result in the gases passing through the system more quickly; in short, the fire will have a better draw and be altogether more efficient.
In some areas, using wood for heat is an economical option.
Choosing a Back-Vented Stove to Fit a Conventional Open Fireplace
If you have a small, conventional, open fireplace with a hearth (meaning that you have to kneel down in order to look up the chimney), then one option is to install a back-venting stove with a short length of flue that extends horizontally from the back plate directly into the fireplace opening according to the following steps.
1.Measure the width of your fireplace opening as well as the height from the surface of the hearth to the top of the opening. Also measure the depth of the hearth.
2.Buy a back-vented stove that can be installed so that it sits flush against the wall with the flue spigot running straight back into the fireplace opening. Note: If your fireplace opening is very low, you might have to run the flue back through the wall at a higher level. If this is the case, choose a stove that allows you to make a new opening at some point higher than the existing fireplace lintel/arch.
3.Once you have chosen your stove, put it in place and clamp it to the flue liner.
4.Finally, seal the fire opening with brickwork or with a metal closure plate. If you are using a metal plate, fit the plate over the pipe before clamping it to the back flue.
Fitting a Top-Vented Stove in a High-Level, Cottage-Style Fireplace
If you have a large high-level, inglenook-type open fireplace (one that you can more or less stand in to look up the chimney), you have the choice of (1) bricking up the opening and installing a back-venting