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How to prepare your wood burning stove for winter

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home”- Edith Sitwell

As the season switches from summer to winter, it is time to inspect the heating system. Over the centuries, the Wood-Burning Stove has been a convenient and reliable choice for producing House Warmth. There are a few important points which need to be considered while preparing your Wood Stoves for winter.

Clean the Stove– Remember, the wood burning stove has been idle for quite some time. It is obvious to have dust, bird nests, and creosote in the flue. Embark on a cleaning mission with whatever preliminary cleaning you could do with available resources. In warmer seasons, some people make use of the wood stoves as an extended storage space. Do check for the condition of stove for loss of any spares or structural damage.

Hire a chimney sweep– Next step is to get the chimney swept by a professional. Last winter has probably left the flue with creosote. Creosote is the result of wood burnt all over the season, which is flammable. It must be removed while preparing the wood stoves for winter. It is necessary to get a professional to do so as they are well versed in chimney operations.

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Check Damper Condition– Damper is a device, used to block off the air flow going out. Put a damper in an open position when starting the stove. Precautionary measures must be taken as you can’t compromise checking it’s working condition. Dysfunctional damper can cause over fire or under fire. Also,your wood stove might consume more fuel than it needs to, and in some cases, send most of the excess heat generated, straight out through the flue system.

Get the Wood Stove inspected– As these are the fireplaces, the Wood Stoves are entitled for causing potential health hazards. The Home Insurance and a Wood Stove inspection by a certified inspector are interdependent.Get it checked and be safe on legal front. Safety comes first. You must meet the minimum clearance from the wood stove in all the directions. Standard distance is already in place and you must achieve the same.

Get the cords– Estimate the cords you would need this winter. It is okay to get an extra portion of wood. It is winter, and you don’t want to take chances. Also, it’s good to refresh your basics and choose the right wood available in the market. Hardwood and Softwood are the two major types which are further classified in to more detailed types. Know the pros and cons of both.

Finishing Touches– Now that you have all the things checked, spend few times in painting and improving the aesthetic appearance of wood stove London. A fireplace is a treat to eye which assures warmth and coziness. Avoid keeping any flammable items nearby. While assuring warmth to your family, keep safety first, on your mind.

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Popular – Sadiq Khan unfairly wants to ban Wood Burning Stoves in London

Pros and Cons of wood burning stoves

There are a lot of Pros and Cons of wood burning stoves. In our horse and buggy times, in our houses, we used the wood stove to radiate a sauna temperature in the room while all the other places were full of freezing cold temperature. In the first winter, to fight against the cool and produce insulation, not to be costly, fuel charge must not eat us, to fetch a snug and excellent ambiance. We were in search of some material that would fit all these above-mentioned characters. So, we chose wood. As London is a place smoke protected area, Defra had to approve your burning of wood. Since it became more and more popular the negative aspects also started. Let us check on the following importance in the use of wood.

Wood stoves are of multiple types, that is, a box or chunk stove, air-tight box stoves, front-burning stoves and these works by adding the fuel in the lesser amount and with a lit of fire leading to a big ramp of fire producing the best environment to fight against the external cold. Wood stoves installation is based on the manufacturer’s guidance in relation to the distance in lighting the fire that is placed on the plastic board or also said as the timber stud wall, quantity and the dimension regarding the height and width of the fireplace is to be decided based on the requirement. At the same time, the manufacturers to measure all the above and specify their review opposing to on the technical specifications of the stove. Along with all, there are holes that are to be cut on the roof of your house favouring some safety issues, thus it is better to call upon a professional installer who is certified to do such works. For any kind of wood stove installation across London, its based on the HETAS registered installers are to be in service.

Each stove is installed in different ways, albeit there are pros and cons of wood burning stoves, they help people manage with the external environment. Also, all kinds of installing is done according to industry standards. Thus, as previously mentioned Defra accepts the wood stove only if it’s in your limit and we guide you to fetch that acceptance. Every six months to one year the chimney has to be maintained to prevent the carbon monoxide residue formation and its health-hazardous smoke relieved through the walls. Most of the manufacturers also keep their range within Defra limit.

Thus, a good family time in the place and makes it lively and gives rise to a healthy family. The positive is the heat generated is more than any gas stove or fireplace and energy usage is also less. When we think about the cost, then this is also cheaper when compared to others. Sometimes it is more electricity consuming, break easily as it has no big support, finding the pellets really very tough.

So in Urban Area wood burning stoves are not the environment friendly choice!

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Popular – Sadiq Khan unfairly wants to ban Wood Burning Stoves in London

How to use a Wood Burning Stove

A wood stove is a comfortably cosy place in our homes, thanks to the lit-up area or a fireplace.

But having a wood burning place or a wood burning stove is not sufficient, using it is a crucial task, and it becomes a headache if not optimized properly. If you have never done it before, here is a guide for you on how to use a Wood Burning Stove for the first time or we can say for the beginners. The necessary things to recollect are that you just need a hot and quick fireplace where you can spend a quality time with your family as well as guests. There are many types of fireplaces you can own at homes but a classic wood burning over or a wood burning stove has its unique and classy ambience as well as smell. Its utmost necessary that you just never leave a hearth unattended, let’s see how can you use a wood burning stove at your home…

Follow the instructions

Yes, you need to read the user manual by your wood burning stove’s manufacturer. They almost cover all the necessary and precautionary instructions on how to start as well as maintain your wood burning stove. Follow the step by step guide on how to put all the pieces together and most important thing to remember, place your wood burning stove in a safe place preferably in your living area, where kids won’t play with fire and future risks are avoided, plus it gives an advantage of a classy look to your living room when guest are invited for a dinner.

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Right Fuel

It is important thing that should not be neglected, using a right quality and quantity of wood is important to avoid wastage and fire. Green wood might waste the fuel because 50% of the wood is s occupied by water and burning water is against chemistry laws, you won’t find it helpful, plus it will cause a lot of smoke in your chimney as well as in your living room, and believe us, you won’t want that. One thing you can do with green wood is take it and dry it yourself, it is the most cheap way to handle green and damp logs of wood at your home, we recommend you give at least a summer to dry these logs by themselves in hot air and clean sunlight. Another thing you can do is to find a supplier that gives home delivery for dried and clean fuel for your wood stove.

Clean Air

Basic chemistry and physics laws are taught in our schools, fire needs proper breathing and it should be controlled when we require it to be, open all the controls on your wood burning stove and make way for air, clean and fresh air from your living room will save you time and money, use proper instructions and guide to control fire if it goes out of your hands.

Start the fire by putting old newspapers inside the stove.

Take proper care

You leave your loved ones near fireplace, it’s important to take care while you do this, installation of proper fire extinguishing fire equipment within reachable area of your fireplace is a good way to keep you safe from uninvited fire.

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Popular – Sadiq Khan unfairly wants to ban Wood Burning Stoves in London

Traditional and Contemporary Wood Burning Stoves

Are you up to buy a new fireplace for your cozy home? Yeah Winter is Coming and there is nothing like a warm fireplace in home with the classic view of wooden logs burning inside… but you are confused between classic that is traditional or a modern contemporary wood stoves?

Let us break things down for you.

First of all, it is necessary to understand the basic differences between these two fireplaces…

A traditional fireplace will burn the logs of various varieties of woods and get you the necessary heat for your home. Whereas modern stoves will create an ambiance like wood burning stoves with the use of Wood, Gas, oil or any other flammable product in the market.

There are still some points that need to be considered while choosing a nice fireplace for your homes.

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Aesthetics

A beautifully designed fireplace with stones looks elegant in a living room. A masonry fireplace has a number of possibilities while designing like mosaic tiles, stacked stones, brickwork, veneer or even marble. Open view of fire flames and the incomparable appearance, feel and smell of burning wood in a fireplace makes this classic style of fireplace among many people.

Since classic fireplaces provide this feel on the other hand, a wood stove will have a glass door and it will lack this smell and elegance.

Safety

Any fireplace appliance featuring a wood burning fire can come with natural safety challenges. As gas or pellet fuel is clean and safe, byproducts and creosote from burning wood can accumulate in chimney, posing a serious chimney fire if not taken care properly.

Sparks coming from wood fires is another issue. Sparks are easily spread out of fireplaces causing injuries or even property damage. Installing proper covers in the forms of glass doors to fireplaces can help ensure that sparks won’t come out of the place to furniture or carpets in your homes. Wood stoves on the other side are already equipped with glass doors since they feature the closed combustion unit that means no spark flying around your living room.

An open burning fireplace is a potential hazard for children and pets. Wood stoves are much safer in this respect since fire is not directly exposed in the open, but there still is a minute risk of someone getting burned if they touch the glass door of the stove. Safety gates and glass doors are the great ways to keep your little ones wandering with their furry friends around the living room.

Efficiency

It’s a known fact that wood is the lowest expensive fuel type compared to gas, pallet, oil and coal etc. although cheap as fuel it is, wood fireplaces are not the efficient fire equipment in the market. In fact, they tend to be the least efficient heat source with a heat efficiency of 10% only. The biggest part of the heat gets vanished through chimneys, leaving the room less warm than it should be. On the other hand; wood burning stoves can provide 300% more heat with 1/3rd of the firewood which places them on the efficient side. When it comes to efficiency, wood burning stoves win.

Eco-Friendly

Burning a wood releases no more CO2 than a tree does while decaying itself naturally in forests, which means Burning Wood, is Carbon Neutral. The wood stoves today, are equipped with closed combustion system which means, they produce a very little amount of emission. That being said, they are more efficient and better at providing heat, wood stoves can help supplement your current heating system, allowing you to lower your utility during the cold winters.

When it comes to heating appliances, it up to your choice what you prefer, whether a Traditional one or a Modern one. If aesthetics, ambiance and authenticity have their places in the corner of your minds, go for a wood fireplace. If you desire a highly efficient heating powerhouse together with ambiance and modern elegance, a wood burning stove would be a great choice for you.

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Popular – Sadiq Khan unfairly wants to ban Wood Burning Stoves in London