Wooden Stove Not LightingWood Stove Not Staying LitWood Stove Not DraftingWood Stove SmokesWood Stove Leaking SmokeWood Stove Smoke Not Going Up ChimneyWood Stove Not Getting Enough AirWood Stove Only Burns With The Door OpenWood Stove Not Burning HotWood Stove Not Heating Room Or HouseWood Stove Burning Too HotWood Stove Burning Too FastWood Stove Just SmoldersWood Stove Not Heating WaterWood Stove Smells When Not In UseWood Stove Damper Not WorkingWood burning stoves are a great way to assist increase the heat output and effectivity of burning firewood in your house in comparison with utilizing traditional open fireplaces.
However, there are numerous issues that can come up from utilizing wood stoves. As every state of affairs is totally different, including completely different sized stoves, flue lengths and home structure and sizes, a wooden stove might not always work as fully supposed.
We’ve got each wood burning and multi gasoline stoves within the family and have been using both of them for a number of years.
During this time we’ve come across a variety of issues related to utilizing our stoves, from not being able to get the stoves to gentle to struggling to maintain them burning sizzling.
We’ve subsequently put collectively this full guide to all of the commonest wooden stove issues, and outlined the options that can assist you overcome these issues related to utilizing any type of wood stove.
In this text we’ve coated why a wooden stove:
– Will not be lighting
– Isn’t staying lit (retains going out)
– Will not be drafting
– Smokes
– Is leaking smoke
– Smoke isn’t going up the chimney
– Shouldn’t be getting sufficient air
– Only burns with the door open
– Isn’t getting hot
– Not heating the room or home
– Burning too hot
– Burning too fast
– Just smolders
– Not heating water
– Smells when not in use
– Damper isn’t working
You need to use the Table Of Contents above to take you straight to each specific subject inside this article.
We also have more devoted guides for a few of these issues and so we’ve linked to these articles the place related.
Wood Stove Not Lighting
To begin a fire in your wooden stove and prevent it from going out be sure that the draft has been started, enough air is being allowed into the stove, and the hearth is built accurately with a hearth starter, dry kindling and one or two dry logs.
One of the most important parts of getting a fire in a wood stove is being in a position to start out the fire off well, which helps in setting up an extended and successful fireplace.
So as to help make sure that your wooden stove is lighting you’ll want to consider the next:
– The standard and amount of firewood
– The airflow into the stove
– The airflow out the stove (the draft)
A hearth needs plenty of oxygen and gasoline in an effort to get going effectively. In a wooden burning this implies making certain that you’re using the fitting high quality of firewood and permitting as much air into the stove as possible.
You’ll also want to think about the draft, which is the circulate of air up the flue from the stove. If there isn’t adequate draft on the stove then your wood stove fireplace can wrestle to mild.
Due to this fact, when lighting a wooden stove and to assist forestall a wood stove from not lighting correctly:
– Build the fire using a form of firelighter, corresponding to newspaper, and one or two small logs.
– Shut the door to the stove after lighting if you’ll be able to but depart the door open if needed.
– Mild the fire starter in various factors across the stove to help the fire spread to the kindling as rapidly as potential. Hold a match near the inside high of the stove to help warm up the air within the flue before lighting the fire. The stove door ought to be closed as quickly as potential into the fireplace.
For more info see our full guide to lighting a wood burning stove right here.
Begin the draft if obligatory.
– Ensure that the air vents on the stove are broad open after lighting the hearth.
– Use only dry firewood that’s of 20% or much less moisture content material.
– Use softwood kindling and logs to help the fire to catch and burn extra quickly.
We even have a information on learn how to gentle a multi gas stove.
Wood Stove Not Staying Lit
To assist keep a fire going in your wooden stove be sure that solely low moisture content material fuel comparable to seasoned firewood is being burnt, and that sufficient air is being let into the stove so that the fire isn’t smoldering on account of a scarcity of oxygen.
In relation to a wooden burning stove that isn’t staying lit you’ll want to contemplate the next:
– The standard of the fuel being burnt
– The airflow into the stove
– The draft
Ensure that you’re only burning low moisture content firewood, ideally beneath 20% moisture content. Wet wooden will probably be tougher to burn and might result in a wooden stove fire that retains going out.
Ensure that you’re permitting sufficient air into the stove. If the vents are too far closed and the fireplace is being starved of oxygen then it will possibly lead a hearth in a wooden stove that won’t stay lit.
Additionally ensure that there’s adequate draft on the stove all through the duration of the hearth. A poor draft will forestall recent air from entering the stove and holding the fireplace going.
For more info we’ve a complete guide why a wooden stove hearth keeps going out.
Wood Stove Not Drafting
To help maximize the draft in a wooden stove guarantee you’re utilizing a enough heat supply to start the draft, comparable to matches or perhaps a small hearth. To help maximize the draft all through a fire guarantee to burn hot and efficient fires using dry firewood.
The draft on a wooden stove is the motion of air up the flue.
This movement of air is triggered by the new air rising up the flue and more air being sucked out of the stove behind it. This additionally helps suck extra air into the stove and assist feed the fire.
As a result, the draft is important for conserving a fireplace going in a wooden burning stove.
The issues it is best to consider when your wooden stove isn’t drafting embody:
– When the flue was least swept.
Burning firewood can release creosote which may line the walls of your flue and scale back the draft on the stove. Burning wet firewood may improve the rate of creosote construct-up because of poor combustion of the wooden.
– Whether there is a damper in the flue and that it’s open.
Flues and chimneys should therefore be swept a minimum of once per year in keeping with recommendations. A blocked flue could also be the rationale why your wood stove isn’t drafting.
In case your wooden stove has a damper (sometimes situated in the stovepipe simply above the stove) then if the damper is too far closed it may be proscribing the circulate of air up the flue. You may read extra about dampers in one other one in every of our articles right here.
Therefore to assist resolve the difficulty of a wood stove not drafting:
– Have your chimney/flue swept if it hasn’t been finished so throughout the last couple of years.
There are also other factors that may affect the draft on a wooden burning stove, such because the weather, the top of the flue and surrounding buildings.
– Ensure that any damper positioned inside the stovepipe is fully open to help maximize the draft.
For extra data see our full guide on the reason why your wood stove isn’t drafting.
You can also assist to begin the draft earlier than each fire to maximise the probabilities of a profitable fire.
You should utilize a heat source similar to a match to help heat up the air throughout the flue and begin the draft. Merely hold the heat source throughout the inside top of the stove for a short while. If smoke from the match begins to rise up the flue then it’s a sign that there is adequate draft to begin the fire.
For more info we’ve got a dedicated article on how to start out the draft in a wooden burning stove.
Wood Stove Smokes
To assist overcome a wooden stove that smokes, guarantee to burn solely low moisture content firewood in order that the wooden is combusting properly, and allow enough air into the stove by the air vents to forestall the fireplace from smoldering and producing smoke resulting from a scarcity of oxygen.
A smoking wood stove fireplace can be a standard difficulty. The primary issues that will affect whether or not a wooden stove smoke include:
– The quality of the gas being burnt
– The amount of air getting to the fire
– The draft on the stove
Smoke is often produced when firewood isn’t being properly combusted.
When firewood isn’t being combusted successfully and extra smoke is being produced, it might normally be all the way down to an issue with both the draft, the air provide or the gasoline itself.
Wet wood might be much harder to burn than dry firewood because the excess moisture must be burnt off earlier than the wooden could be correctly combusted. Burning wood that is just too wet might be subsequently be a main reason why your wooden stove is smoking.
If a hearth in a wooden burning stove isn’t receiving enough air then it may be producing extra smoke than traditional. A wooden stove fire wants sufficient oxygen to have the ability to combust firewood efficiently.
If there is a poor draft on the stove (which might be caused by a quantity of factors together with a soiled flue) it might probably forestall waste air from leaving the stove and therefore prevent fresh air from coming into. A poor draft can therefore contribute to a poorly burning wooden stove fireplace that’s producing smoke.
Therefore, to assist prevent your wooden stove fires from smoking:
– Ensure to at all times burn only dry seasoned or kiln dried firewood that is ideally under the beneficial 20% moisture content for firewood.
Begin the draft before starting a hearth and burn hotter and quicker burning fires to begin with to help warm up the air inside the flue and maximize the draft on the stove. Close down the vents to some extent the place the hearth is burning calmly but not smoldering and smoking resulting from a lack of oxygen.
– Ensure not to shut down the air vents in your stove too far as to starve the hearth of oxygen.
For our complete guide to why your wood stove is smoking see our different article here.
Wood Stove Leaking Smoke
To help prevent your wooden stove from leaking smoke ensure that the door gasket isn’t damaged and exchange if needed. Verify the physique of the stove or the flue for any injury and identify where the smoke is leaking from.
Along with a wooden stove producing smoke, there may be smoke leaving out of your stove from the inside.
This may be an indication that there’s a leak somewhere within the stove. Fixing this challenge won’t solely assist cease smoke from leaking from your stove but also assist carry the stove again to a completely sealed system and assist return it to most efficiency.
The most common areas where smoke might be leaking out of your wood burning stove embody:
– The door gasket
– The flue
– The body of the stove
Over time the seal on the door to the stove (which seems like rope) can begin to wear out. If this gasket turns into damaged or too laborious to create a seal then it may possibly start to leak smoke throughout fires.
Smoke from wood stove fires leaves your house by the flue. If there are any unhealthy joints within the flue then it could also be inflicting smoke to be leaking from there.
In additional extreme cases there may be damage to the body of the stove. Damage to the body of a wooden burning stove is usually a result of the stove reaching the tip of its lifespan, but can be induced prematurely by burning fires too hot for what your stove was designed, referred to as over firing your stove.
To help stop your stove from leaking smoke:
– Verify the stove and flue for indicators of the place the smoke is leaking from.
– Fix any cracks or harm to the body of the stove, or substitute the entire stove if required.
– Change the door gasket if required.
For more information on door gaskets now we have a information to why your wood stove door won’t shut here.
– Repair the joints on the flue if required.
We even have an article explaining what over firing is and why you shouldn’t burn fires too scorching in your wooden stove.
Wood Stove Smoke Not Going Up Chimney
To assist forestall smoke being produced by a wood stove fire from not going up the chimney, be sure that the draft has been began and that there will be ample draft at some stage in the fireplace. Poor draft generally is a results of a dirty chimney or bad weather.
The difficulty of smoke not going up the chimney or flue can most often be a results of poor draft.
The draft is created by the heat air rising up the flue pulling further smoke and air up behind it. This continuous cycle helps to keep a wood stove hearth burning and take away unwanted byproducts from the fire similar to smoke from your property.
If any smoke being generated by your wood stove isn’t going up the flue or chimney:
Start the draft earlier than lighting the hearth. We use an extended match to start the draft in our wooden stoves.
Make sure that the chimney has been cleaned. A soiled or blocked chimney or flue can reduce the draft and forestall smoke from leaving your stove.
For more info on why a wooden stove smokes see our dedicated article here.
Begin hotter fires. Using very dry kiln dried softwood kindling and logs when constructing your fires may also help the fireplace to catch, burn and get hotter extra shortly. You can heat up the air inside a flue by holding a heat supply inside the highest inside of the stove for a brief while.
For more info on wooden stove draft see our article on why your wooden stove isn’t drawing and how to increase it.
Wood Stove Not Getting Sufficient Air
For a wooden stove that isn’t getting sufficient air, make certain that all the stove’s air vents are totally open and never blocked, and test that there is sufficient draft on the stove to be able to keep up airflow through the stove. Don’t depart the stove door open as this may lower effectivity.
Wooden burning stoves work by making a sealed atmosphere the place all the air coming into the stove is through the air vents (when the stove door is shut).
This enables the quantity of air attending to the hearth to be more accurately controlled, and helps fires in wood stoves to burn extra efficiently and extra heat can be extracted from every bit of firewood burnt.
If your wood stove isn’t getting enough air:
– Be certain that all the air vents on the wood stove are absolutely open. Leaving the door open will significantly scale back the efficiency of the stove and cause fires to rapidly burn via the wood. If the vents are closed by an excessive amount of the hearth may be starved of oxygen.
Regulate the ash. Be certain that there’s nothing blocking the air vents contained in the stove, such as a lot ash at the bottom of the stove.
For more info on why you wood stove might not be getting sufficient air see our full guide on how to use the air vents to manage a wood burning stove. Wood stoves can have more than one air vent, and are generally known as major, secondary and tertiary air vents.
Examine the draft. A poor draft will stop waste air from leaving your stove and in turn forestall recent air from getting to your fires.
Don’t depart the stove door open unless getting a new fire going.
We also have an article that explains major, secondary and tertiary air in wood stoves, and one other on why you shouldn’t go away the door on your wooden stove open.
Wooden Stove Only Burns With The Door Open
Wood burning stoves aren’t typically designed to burn with the door open. If a wooden stove only burns with the door open it could also be because of a problem with the air supply to the fire, or the draft.
Wood burning stoves are designed to create ‘sealed environments’ the place the entire air coming into the stove can be managed.
Being ready to adjust the amount of air attending to a hearth inside a wooden stove helps to provide a lot greater management over how sizzling, fast or environment friendly the fire is burning.
If the door to the stove is left open throughout fires, subsequently allowing an unrestricted stream of air into the stove, it will possibly result in fast burning fires that aren’t an efficient supply of heat.
If your wood stove only burns with the door open it can be attributable to a problem resulting from:
An absence of airflow into the stove. Closing the air vents down too far will cause the fire to smolder as a result of an absence of oxygen.
Due to this fact, to help guarantee that you can burn wooden stove fires with the door closed: Be sure that all of the air vents on the stove (a stove can have a couple of controllable air vent) are totally open when starting a hearth, and then slowly shut them down when the fireplace has acquired going till the fire is burning calmly.
Poor draft. Inadequate draw on your stove from the flue can forestall enough air from coming by the air vents, meaning that leaving the door open might be the one answer to keep your fires burning.
Start the draft before lighting a fire.
– Only burn correctly seasoned or kiln dried logs through the duration of your fires in order that you’re all the time burning scorching fires.
– Start wood stove fires with fast and hot burning very dry softwood kindling and logs to help heat up the air in the flue and start the draft as soon as doable.
– Depart the air vents on the stove large open when lighting a hearth.
Close down the air vents after the hearth has acquired going till the fire is burning calmly by way of the wooden, however not smoldering or burning too fast.
For extra info on why your wood stove solely burns with the door open see our devoted articles on:
How to use the air vents to regulate a wood burning stove.
Why you shouldn’t use a wooden stove with the door open.
Why your wood stove isn’t drawing and how to improve it.
Wood Stove Not Burning Sizzling
For wooden stoves that aren’t burning hot, ensure that enough dry firewood is throughout the stove and that the fire is being provided with sufficient oxygen by opening the stove air vents.
In order for a wood burning stove to burn as scorching as attainable it needs to have the following:
– A constant and ample provide of fresh air
– Sufficient good quality fuel to burn
– A robust draft
These three principal parts work together to assist a wooden stove to produce as much heat as potential from every piece of wood. Wood stoves are setup in means that processes comparable to secondary combustion assist to produce much more heat than what can be possible through traditional wooden burning fireplaces.
A fire in a wood stove needs enough dry firewood to have the ability to combust the wood effectively, in addition to enough recent air by means of the vents to have the ability to burn the wooden as rapidly as attainable to produce heat.
There additionally needs to be a powerful sufficient draft on the stove to ensure that sufficient air is being sucked into the stove to feed the hearth.
Wooden stoves also need to be sized for the area they should heat. If a stove is undersized for the heating space then it will possibly really feel just like the stove isn’t burning scorching enough. Larger sized rooms or homes will want larger sized stoves.
If you’re finding that your wooden stove isn’t burning scorching as typical, guarantee to:
– Only burn high quality gasoline comparable to correctly seasoned or kiln dried logs which are ideally under 20% moisture content.
For more data on why your wooden stove isn’t burning scorching, see our articles on: Extra firewood can mean more heat being produced, but don’t add an excessive amount of fuel to your stove at any one time as this will result in a stove that’s burning too sizzling. Opening up the air vents will provide the hearth with more oxygen to allow the hearth to burn by the wood at a sooner fee and produce extra heat.
Let more air into the stove.
Keep the flue clean. A clean flue will help to maximize the draft and help a wooden stove to burn as quick and as scorching as potential. The drier the firewood the hotter it may burn. A chimney or flue must be cleaned at the very least yearly consistent with recommendations. However, permitting more air into the stove can lower effectivity in favor of heat output. Don’t open the stove door to provide more air.
Add more gas to the fireplace.
Reasons why your wood burning stove isn’t getting sizzling.
The perfect tips on your wood burning stove to assist maximize heat output.
Methods to get essentially the most heat out of your wood stove.
Wooden Stove Not Heating Room Or Home
To assist enhance the heat output of a wooden burning stove to help heat a room or a home, burn kiln dried wooden for the fastest and hottest burn, and open up the air vents to help in offering more heat, however reducing efficiency.
Wooden burning stoves are sized to have the ability to heat a specific area, whether it’s a particular room or entire home.
A wooden stove needs to be sized accordingly and if it has been undersized then if your stove isn’t heating your room or dwelling then you’ll need to assist increase the heat output by adjusting the gas and the airflow.
Burning kiln dried firewood and rising the quantity of firewood in your stove at any one time (as much as your stove’s advice maximum amount) can help to maximize output. Opening up the air vents can even help to extend heat output, however at a loss of effectivity that means that you’ll undergo extra firewood.
You can too help to unfold the heat from a wood stove through the use of stove fans, blowers or standalone fans to assist spread the heat across the room or complete house.
If your wood stove isn’t radiating heat and not heat heating your room or house:
Burn kiln dried firewood.
– Use a stove fan or blower to assist unfold the heat round your room or dwelling.
Open up the air vents.
For more info on being able to heat a room or your whole home, see our information to using kiln dried firewood here, and our other article on whether or not a wood burning stove can heat a whole house.
– Be sure that the heat output of your stove matches the realm it must heat. Bigger sized stoves with higher kW heat outputs will want to be used to heat bigger sized rooms or properties.
Add as a lot firewood to the stove as recommended for your specific mannequin of stove, with out overloading it.
Wood Stove Burning Too Scorching
A wooden stove that’s burning too scorching is usually a result of an excessive amount of firewood inside the stove, burning firewood that is simply too dry, a lot air being allowed into the stove, too strong of a draft, or utilizing a stove that is too large for the room.
The issues you must do in case your wooden stove if burning too sizzling include:
Utilizing much less firewood. Including an excessive amount of firewood to your stove at any one time can enhance heat output. Shut down the air vents till the fire is burning calmly. Seasoned firewood with a moisture content material of between 15 and 20% can be ultimate for wooden stoves.
Cut back the airflow. Closing down the air vents on a stove will prohibit the air supply to the hearth and help it from burning the firewood too rapidly, in turn lowering heat ouput. Don’t shut the air vents down too far or the fireplace will start the smolder and struggle, and burn inefficiently and produce extra smoke.
You should use a stove thermometer (see our really helpful stove thermometer right here) that can assist you understand how hot your stove is burning. Decreasing the quantity of firewood you utilize in your wood stoves may help to scale back the whole heat output. If the wooden has been kiln dried to a really low moisture content material it may be burning too quick and hot.
Burn seasoned firewood that is round 20% moisture content.
A stove thermometer will give you an ideal temperature vary for your fires, and you can regulate the firewood and air provide to help stop your wood stove from burning too scorching.
For more information on why your wood stove is burning too sizzling see our extra in depth guides on:
Why your wooden stove is burning so hot.
A information to seasoned firewood.
What a fireplace in a wooden stove should seem like.
Wood Stove Burning Too Fast
A wooden stove that’s burning too quick could be a resulting from an excessive amount of air being allowed into the stove or using firewood that is too dry.
A fast burning hearth in a wooden stove may be a sign that the hearth is being fed with a lot oxygen. Wide open air vents can lead to a quick burning fireplace that’s burning through the firewood too quickly to be environment friendly.
Utilizing very dry firewood also can result in a wood stove hearth that’s burning too fast. Firewood with little or no moisture content will probably be combusted very fast by a fire.
Due to this fact, to help forestall your wood stove from burning too quick:
Close down the air vents so that the hearth isn’t burning the firewood as quickly, but only shut down to a degree where the fire is burning calmly and never struggling or smoldering.
For extra data on why your wooden stove is burning too fast see our full guide here.
– Use firewood that’s around the recommended moisture content material of 15-20%. This may help to gradual your fires all the way down to be extra environment friendly as firewood with some moisture retained in it might probably burn slower and launch heat extra slowly consequently.
Wooden Stove Simply Smolders
A wooden burning stove that just smolders will be a sign that there is a matter with the quality of the firewood, the hearth isn’t being provided with sufficient air, or that the draft is poor.
A smoldering fireplace is an indication of a poorly burning one.
As smoldering hearth has the everyday traits of a hearth that doesn’t have any actual noticeable flames and might be producing extra smoke than common.
The main explanation why a wooden stove fire is smoldering could be:
Not enough air is attending to the fireplace contained in the stove.
– The fireplace is struggling to combust the fuel because there’s a problem with it, comparable to firewood being too wet to burn efficiently.
Subsequently, to assist stop your wood stove hearth from smoldering:
Weak draft, which means that air isn’t escaping the stove correctly or quick sufficient and recent air isn’t in a position to change the waste air to assist keep the fireplace going.
– Assist start and maximize the draft earlier than lighting the fire.
For more information on helping to stop your wood stove fires from simply smoldering see our articles on: If your fires start to smolder open up the air vents once more to some extent where the fireplace stops smoldering.
Absolutely open all of the stove’s air vents before lighting the hearth, and only begin to shut down the air vents as soon as the hearth has got going effectively. Firewood ought to ideally be below 20% moisture for a more efficient burn.
– Only burn correctly seasoned or kiln dried firewood in order that a hearth won’t wrestle to burn through it.
How to start the draft in a wood burning stove.
The best way to check the moisture content material of firewood.
How to use the air vents to manage a wood stove hearth.
Wooden Stove Not Heating Water
Many wood burning stoves will be purchased with, or retrofitted with, boilers to assist provide sizzling water and central heating for your own home.
We considered getting a boiler for our Clearview multi gasoline stove but ultimately we decided we didn’t need it.
The producer of our stove explains that:
– Boiler stoves can require double the quantity of wooden in comparison with stoves without back boilers.
– Ensuring that using top quality firewood becomes more important for stove boilers.
Due to this fact, in case your wood stove will not be heating water:
– Boiler stove methods may be complicated and would require servicing to assist keep it in full working order.
Reload instances for firewood might be rather more frequent because of this.
– Be sure that the stove’s boiler system has been serviced recently in line along with your manufacturer’s pointers. The best moisture content for firewood is 20% or beneath, and the drier the firewood the extra of a cleaner and hotter burn might be offered.
Don’t burn any firewood that is too wet to burn effectively.
Wood Stove Smells When Not In Use
– Carry on top of sustaining the fires when using the stove to offer sizzling water for your house.
A stove that smells when not in use can be a sign of moisture inside the stove or flue, which could be both a results of burning gas that is simply too wet or because of wet weather such as rain moving into the flue.
To help prevent your stove from smelling, either when in use or when not in use:
– Guarantee to burn dry firewood that’s at or under the advisable 20% moisture content for firewood. Wet wood with moisture content material higher than this number can launch that moisture when burnt and leave a musty odor within the stove between fires.
– Have your chimney or flue swept in the event you haven’t finished so throughout the last 12 months.
– Burning hotter fires using drier firewood might help to reduce the odor.
For extra data and full record of the reasons what a wood stove can scent when not in use see our complete guide as to why a wooden burning stove smells.
Wood Stove Damper Not Working
A wooden stove damper will typically be located inside the stove pipe simply above the stove.
Dampers are common on older, less environment friendly, fashions of stoves the place the draft needs to be adjusted to help make the fires extra efficient.
A damper is simply a round piece of metal positioned within the flue. There will probably be handle on the skin of the flue that turns the damper inside.
