The Right Way To Burn Wood.

To get the best out of your stove you must set it up correctly, burn only dry, fully seasoned logs – and be prepared to experiment with your technique in light of experience.

The diagram below shows a modern 'clean-burn' stove running as it should.

The first thing to notice is that a 'sandwich' has formed in the fire-box. At the top is freshly added fuel – as much as the fire-box will accomodate. The centre consists of a layer of charcoal, produced by exposing dry fuel to a high temperature while at the same time limiting airflow. The fire is at the bottom and consists of a deep mass of glowing charcoal resting on a soft bed of ash or sand.

The soft bed traps all embers allowing them to burn out to a fine 'talcum powder'. At the same time some of the glowing embers get submerged and starved of oxygen so that combusion is slowed right down. This resevoir of heat helps to smooth out the burning cycles and speeds up recovery of a fire that has been allowed to burn too low.

It is normally only necessary to remove ash every 2 - 3 weeks and you should always leave a soft bed at least 1" deep.

The pre-heated air-supply at top has been adjusted so that it admits just sufficient air to create a slight disturbance in the fire-bed. By pre-heating the air-supply, using a double-glazed door and lining the fire-box with insulating firebricks, combustion temperatures have been boosted to a level that produce completely clean combustion. Yes – this stove is burning smokelessly! And it will continue to do so except for brief periods when fresh fuel is added.

One last point. Note that although the air-supply has been turned right down, a steady stream of heat is still being 'bled' to the chimney. This is important. Your chimney should be thought of as an integral part of your stove installation and its demands must always be taken into account. If you fail to bleed sufficient heat to it to keep it running sweetly you will run into a downward spiral in which draught suffers, combustion efficiencies fall, smoke is produced and the chimney starts to foul up. All things to be avoided!

TIPS;-

• Long, slow, over-night burns are both wasteful of fuel and foul up the chimney since temperatures in the fire drop below the levels needed for clean combustion. It is much better to let your stove burn right down towards the end of the evening, then load it with dry timber and close the air-supply off completely. If you get your settings right you will produce a wonderful batch of charcoal and tinder-dry fuel to light the stove with that will eliminate the need for kindling and give you a light-up cycle almost as fast as an oil or gas appliance.
• If you must turn the stove down to a very low setting (i.e., as when you are out shopping), run it fast for several minutes upon your return to send a wave of heat up the chimney. This will help boost temperatures to a level that will (hopefully) dry up damp patches in the chimney and vapourise any creosote that has formed.
• Be aware that a chimney fire is a bald statement that something is wrong. If you do not fit a masonry chimney with a low-mass flexible liner before commissioning your stove you are asking for trouble. But there may also be something wrong with your technique – either you are burning damp/unseasoned wood, or you are burning the stove too low, or you are failing to ventilate the chimney by burning the stove brightly for a few minutes each time you light it up from cold. A badly designed chimney may be a contributory factor – particularly if large sections of it are exposed to the elements. (Expect the worst if you have a poorly insulated chimney on a north-facing wall).

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