Conclusion
HEATING WITH WOOD - A VERY BASIC PRIMER
PART 3 -
Periodically during the summer you should check your wood pile to make sure your tarp(s) are
secure, the bumblebees or wasps aren't building a nest in it, and just to make sure the wood is
seasoning properly. You can tell it's seasoning properly by checking the cut ends - the nice creamy
colored wood you stacked should be darkening and developing a pattern of fine cracks radiating out
from the center.
This is also the time to check your wood stove and chimney. You should have cleaned out your stove
in the Spring after you finished burning. Wood ash absorbs moisture on damp or rainy days. Wood
ash and water produce sodium hydroxide, more commonly known as lye - a very corrosive
substance. If you haven't cleaned your chimney or had it cleaned properly, do it now. I have it done
by a professional simply because it is such a dirty, nasty job. If you do it yourself, do it thoroughly -
from the top of the chimney all the way to the inside of your wood stove. You want to remove any
creosote (see below) that has accumulated so as to prevent chimney fires. Take particular care to
scrape off any accumulation inside your wood stove. If there are any rust spots on your stove, sand
the spot back to bare metal and paint with a high temperature spray paint (available in almost any
hardware store). You want to do this in the summer as it gives the paint a few months to dry
thoroughly. (This will minimize paint odor when you start your first fire). HOW TO BUILD A FIRE
It seems odd to explain how to build a wood fire, however, in our modern high tech society, quite a
few people have never had the occasion to build a wood fire from scratch. I remember the first time
my wife, a transplant from the tropical part of Australia, tried to build a fire in our new stove. She
was patiently trying to get several large pieces of oak to burn by holding a match under them.
Needless to say, that is not the best method.
First let me say that you NEVER use flammable liquids to start a fire in a wood stove. You do need
several things: 1. Something that catches fire easily like a few pieces of balled up newspaper, some
wood shavings, or the dryer lint and wax firestarters described on one of these forums. 2. You need
a supply of thinly split pieces of wood. Pieces of pine scrap split into small pieces of varying size are
excellent. DO NOT USE PRESSURE TREATED WOOD. This contains arsenic salts and puts off
poisonous vapors. A number of people have died from burning pressure treated wood. 3. You need
some wood that is somewhat larger - 1-2" in diameter. This will create your initial supply of coals. 4.
Finally you need a supply of dry, seasoned firewood. You should keep some of your firewood on a
porch or somewhere handy to your wood stove where it cannot get wet. Wet wood will burn but it is
very difficult to get started burning. (It is also a good idea to bring some kindling and firewood
indoors before you go to bed. Wood at room temperature is much easier to get started than wood
from the cold outdoors).
The traditional method of starting a wood stove fire is to build a stack of progressively larger pieces
with the paper at the bottom and the actual firewood at the top. If you have a damper open it and
then light your fire. I generally lay two nice pieces of oak side by side about 8" apart. I build the small
fire between them and when that is burning merrily, I put two more pieces of oak on top crisscrossing
the oak on the bottom. There's lot's of ways and you will find one that you are comfortable with.
If you have a new or repainted stove pick a day in the fall, before you really enter the heating season,
to build your first fire. We're doing this now because fresh paint will smell the first few times it is
heated. Building the fire at this point in time allows you to do so when you can open the windows.
Remember that your stove is built out of cast iron, steel, or a combination of both. This means your
first fire should be small. We just want to stretch the metal a bit and drive off any solvents remaining
in the paint. When you can distinctly smell the paint solvents your fire is big enough. Just let it die
down and go out and allow your stove to cool. You want to build a second fire somewhat bigger
than the first. Again, when you smell the paint strongly, let the fire go out. At this point you should
have prepared the stove for service. It may still smell some when you build your first true heating fire
but the odor will be much less acrid and the smell will disappear fairly quickly.
WHAT KIND OF FIRE IS BEST?
When wood burning became popular with suburbanites in the early 1980's it was common to hear
people bragging how long they could make a load of wood last in their wood stove. The epitome of
achievement in wood burning yuppiedom was to have your wood last all night. They would do it by
cramming as much firewood into the stove as would fit and then closing the air control dampers
almost all the way. The wood would smolder more than burn.
Burning wood in this way is not an efficient or environmentally friendly way to heat with wood. A
smoldering fire produces large amounts of the chemicals that produce creosote in your chimney and
stink up the neighborhood. It is not efficient because a good percentage of the heat in a piece of
firewood is in the vapors that burn off in a well constructed fire. A small hot fire will: 1. smell better.
2. keep your wood stove and chimney MUCH cleaner. 3. produce more heat for the same amount
of wood. 4. offend your neighbors a lot less.
WHAT IS THIS CREOSOTE STUFF YOU KEEP TALKING ABOUT?
It is a deposit of chemicals from the incomplete burning of wood. It will appear in your chimney (and
in your stove if you build smoldering fires or you burn unseasoned green wood and possibly if you
burn a lot of resinous softwood though this has been disputed in recent years) in several forms. 1.
One is a shiny, black, hard coating. This is from various tars and resins that have condensed on the
cold surfaces of your chimney. A common place to see it is at the top of your chimney where the
warm smoke meets the cold chimney mouth. This form can be very hard to remove and fortunately is
not usually a great fire hazard unless you already have a chimney fire from the other form of creosote.
2. This is a dull black, crumbly material that will build up rapidly in your chimney if you do a lot of
slow cool burning or burn green wood. In my firefighting days I have been to chimney fires in which
an 8" chimney was totally blocked except for a hole the size of your thumb. How long did this
remarkable situation take to develop. Would you believe six weeks! The homeowner was building
slow burning fires using freshly cut green wood. These are the extremes though. If you burn good
quality, well seasoned hardwood and you burn it in a fairly hot fire you will not have any trouble
getting through a heating season with absolutely no problems.
By the way, if you should somehow have a chimney fire (you'll hear a rumbling or whistling sound and
flames will come out of the top of your chimney) close your stove doors, close the air vents
completely, get everyone out of the house, and call the fire department. Do not put any water on the
fire or the chimney. You can spray water on the roof if the fire looks like it is extending into the
house. However, if you follow the rules it is unlikely you will ever experience one. I haven't in my
house.
Info courtesy of Netpoppa
Jeff |
