How to heat a stove with wood: useful tips

In Russia, people heated their homes with a stove. For many generations, technology has been perfected. Even in the modern world, residents of private houses and summer cottages do not refuse to warm the room with firewood. Often people use the stove in the old fashioned way to melt a bath. Regardless of the purpose, it is necessary to carry out ignition, taking into account all the features. To do this, consider the main nuances that will help you rekindle a potbelly stove with wood.

Regular wood stove maintenance

1. It is important to monitor the condition of the furnace, this directly affects the heat loss of the furnace. A common reason is that sometimes a small gap forms between the shutter of the combustion chamber and the brick arch of the wall, in which case the efficiency is reduced by 12%.
2. In such situations, the furnace draws in a small stream of cold air, it contributes to the escape of thermal energy through the chimney. If the combustion chamber is not equipped with a door, the efficiency of the melted furnace drops by 40–45%. As a result of this, consumables increase, namely firewood. To maximize the efficiency of the brick kiln, annual maintenance is required.
3. Inspect the heating tool. If you find obvious cracks and gaps, eliminate them as efficiently as possible. The destruction of stone materials occurs due to differences in air humidity and temperature changes. Try to pay attention to the technical part in warm time.
4. It is worth adopting that you need to clean the chimney 2-3 times a year. The main reason for the pollution of the chimney is the allocated soot from burnt firewood. The substance settles in a dense layer on the walls of the device. There is only one result - the stove does not work properly. The chamber decreases due to soot, the heat transfer efficiency drops by 25%. Do not forget to carefully clean the grate and chamber from ash and carbon before each heating of the furnace.
5. If you do not clean, the required amount of air will not flow into the furnace. As a result, firewood will not be burned properly. If you are not indifferent to the fate of your stove, you can not bother about its maintenance. In any case, the furnace will work, only efficiency will drop significantly. You will spend more time firing up firewood.

What kind of firewood is better to use

1. Obviously, the main condition is dry logs. The best factor for quality raw materials is its premature harvesting. Firewood used for the furnace is split well in advance of the process (from 1 year or more).
2. The main condition for the storage of finished raw materials is an equipped dry place. The room must be protected from weather conditions. The ideal size of firewood is considered to be split into four equal parts of logs.
3. Each specimen has a size of about 11 cm in diameter and a length of 40 cm. You can also rely on personal preferences. Do not forget about humidity, this indicator is important. Your health is directly dependent on unprocessed wood properly.
4. Condensation starts to stand out from the wood, which pollutes all the composite furnaces. Heat dissipation is deteriorated due to the formation of moisture on the walls of the device. It is also worth considering that raw wood contains an enzyme that, when evaporated, is converted to acid. She begins to corrode everything.
5. It is best to use firewood with an increased density of 1 m³. The duration of combustion of the raw material and its heat transfer directly depends on these indicators.For example, birch has a density index (1.0), and oak (0.75). Consequently, the last type of wood will need less to light the stove.

Test ignition of the furnace after construction

1. To check the quality of the newly built furnace, a test ignition should be carried out in the presence of a specialist. Thus, after the first warm-up of the device, it will be able to identify obvious shortcomings. The procedure is necessary after the masonry is completely dried. Next, the furnace fire is carried out for 3-4 days with a normal amount of firewood.
2. If the stove is built in good faith, you will not see smoke in the room. After warming up, inspect and touch the entire available surface. A good stove gives off heat evenly, there should not be too hot places or, conversely, cool ones. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that the new building cools down slowly. She should not quickly waste the acquired heat.
3. The stove-maker, in turn, must carefully examine the appearance of the building. Assess the quality of the ligation of bricks, the thickness of the seams and the evenness of the walls. The deviation of the vertical masonry should not exceed 2 mm. at 1 m. height. Also, a specialist should inspect the quality of the internal dressing, the strength of the shutters and the correct construction of the arch of the firebox.
4. After the furnace is completely warmed up and cooled inside the furnace, the size and nature of the cracks are evaluated. External inspection may not reveal this. To test the density of masonry and valves to the full, you need to burn any dense material soaked in diesel fuel.
5. Such a move will contribute to the release of a large amount of black dense smoke, which will be used to test the furnace. At the same time, the room should not have a hint of smell, especially a kumar. If problems are identified, repair all cracks as efficiently as possible, then rub them. If you monitor the furnace properly and conduct annual maintenance, it will last for more than a dozen years.

How to melt the oven correctly

1. Before starting heating, clean the ash compartment and grate from the remains of the burning. Such a move will allow air to circulate better, as a result of which firewood will burn much better. It is important that the oxygen enters the combustion chamber evenly.
2. After preparation, you can start laying firewood, the procedure is carried out in compliance with certain features. The main difficulty lies in the correct arrangement of logs. After ignition, all wood should burn out completely so that you do not overpay once again for fuel.
3. With proper installation, the logs will burn well, providing the necessary emission of thermal energy. This feature, in turn, will allow you to heat the entire room in 1-2 hours. There are several ways of laying - cell and in-line.
4. To maintain the combustion process between logs, it is necessary to maintain an interval of about 1 cm. In such a simple way, you will allow air to circulate around the wood, so they will burn evenly. Pay attention to the height of the stack of logs formed. Keep a distance of about 20 cm from the ceiling of the camera.
5. By following this recommendation, you will ensure good combustion, the flame will not move into the chimney. In the ignition of the furnace, the main thing is to ensure the smoldering of logs in the furnace. From this compartment, thermal energy will be carried throughout the structure, providing the desired result.
6. After placing firewood in a cage or near, pay attention to the bottom of the stack. On the floor between the logs, place dry slivers or an old newspaper, put the raw materials strictly in the center under the pile. Later, you will burn wood with auxiliary elements.
7. Never use flammable materials such as diesel fuel, gasoline or kerosene. A properly lit stove spreads a flame in the firebox, which spreads evenly from all sides of the fire. Bookmark in such a way that the firewood is located in the center or closer to the door. No need to send logs to the far wall.

Furnace adjustment after ignition

1. Like any other design, the wood stove has a "control panel". Levers of influence help to control the operation of the heating system, and also provide uniform heating and maintaining ignition.
2. The design includes the door of the combustion chamber and the blower (a total of 2 leaves), a chimney valve, a view of the furnace and chimney (a single design).
3. The blades and chambers are designed to regulate the supply of oxygen and its circulation inside the furnace. The view and the valve can control traction.
4. For proper ignition of the furnace, open the door of the combustion chamber, view and gate valve. But close the sash of the blower. When the logs are heated and begin to burn fully, close the firebox door, open the basement.
5. If you control the traction, the firewood will start to burn correctly. In the end, you will not spend your energy and money in vain. To determine if the fuel is being burned correctly, it is important to consider the characteristics of the flame.
6. White color and the presence of unpleasant noise in the exhaust structure indicate a strong draft of the furnace. It must be adjusted by slightly covering the blower flap.
7. A red tint indicates strong burning. You can go outside and find a column of dark smoke flowing from the chimney. This outcome suggests that the traction is insufficient. Slightly open the basement.
8. We can assume that the stove is melted correctly if you see a yellow-orange fire. In this case, you do not need to close or open anything, drain the room to the required temperature.
9. Many people are faced with a problem in which the flame has no color at all, because it has gone out. This feature indicates a large accumulation of carbon monoxide in the furnace. It appears due to the use of unpowered firewood.
10. You can not heat the potbelly stove with raw logs. However, if this has already happened, open the valve and the view, but completely block the fire door. Wait a quarter hour for carbon monoxide to escape. Slightly open the dampers and the door of the combustion chamber.

Kiln Ignition Tips

1. Watch the condition of logs. If you notice charcoals burned, collect them with a poker and move them to the center of the pile. Around, place more burning firewood, slightly cover the basement or the gate valve.
2. Only light the stove during daylight hours. Never heat a potbelly stove at night. A large amount of emitted carbon dioxide often leads to disastrous consequences.
3. It is necessary to constantly look after the heating device. You do not need to move firewood until they have worn at least 50%.

If you have not used a potbelly stove for a long time, during the ignition process it will begin to smoke very much. To eliminate an unpleasant feature, first start a small part of dry wood chips, paper or knots in the firebox. In such a simple way you warm the chimney. Then gradually put firewood with a diameter of about 12 cm into the existing fire.

Video: how to properly heat the stove