Don't be left out in the cold
Make sure your woodstove is ready for the winter season
With Thanksgiving behind us, thoughts are slowly shifting to the upcoming
holiday season. While most of us would rather be sharpening our skates or
waxing our skis, in reality, we're far more likely to be untangling
lights, replacing old shovels or tuning the snow blower. As such, it can
be easy to overlook the one thing that we'll depend on the most this
winter?the woodstove.
More than anything else, your wood burning stove needs the same care and
preparations in order to maximize heating while ensuring safety for your
family. With a little effort now, you can avoid problems when you're
hosting family and friends.
Getting started
The most important thing woodstove owners should consider as they prepare
to operate their stoves is to make sure there aren't any obstructions in
the chimney. Regular servicing and cleaning is the best way to prevent
build-up like creosote or animals from blocking the chimney. Similarly, a
simple visual inspection can spot corrosion in metal chimneys, or in the
case of a masonry chimney, cracked bricks or white stains indicating
potential problems. These can lead to dangerous chimney fires and should
be corrected immediately - for a list of qualified "WETT"
certified technicians in your area check out www.wettinc.ca.
Some other steps woodstove owners should consider includes adjusting the
loading door and checking all the gasket seals. A tightly sealed door will
prevent smoke and gases from leaking into the room and ensure that there
is the right amount of air being drawn into the burning chamber through
combustion air inlets, key for efficient and safe burning. Seals around
the glass panels and ash-pan openings should similarly be checked or
replaced.
Fire brick and baffle plates should be checked to make sure they are
keeping the fire contained and burning safely. Some modern appliances
utilize a combustor to greatly reduce emissions?if you have one of those
appliances make sure the combustor has been cleaned and is firing.
Replacing your woodstove
For those of you in the market for a new woodstove, consider a new,
advanced combustion EPA woodstove, insert or fireplace.
These units have a clean glass and a beautiful fire. They also make life
easier by getting the same amount of heat while using one third less wood
as a conventional stove. Burning the smoke makes for a great fire and
results in substantial reductions in smoke production and creosote
deposits. Reductions are typically in the neighbourhood of 50% to 80%.
This translates into almost negligible smoke emissions.
Older stoves can emit 40-80 grams of smoke per hour while newer advanced
combustion stoves emit only 2-5 grams of smoke per hour. If you are not
sure about how much smoke your stove is releasing, take the chimney test.
The next time you use your woodstove, go outside and look at your chimney.
If there is a thick, black smoke, return inside to adjust the air inlets
till you have cleaned up your stove emissions. Of course, you can avoid
constantly adjusting the inlets by using a new advanced combustion
woodstove. Only then can you be confident that you are burning cleanly and
safely.
These are just some of the many tips you should keep in mind as you gear
up for another busy season of hosting family, friends, and neighbours. For
more suggestions, please visit www.burnitsmart.org
for details on how to be a responsible woodstove owner.
Tex McLeod is Manager of the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association of
Canada
