5 widely held but false ideas people will tell you about wood-burning stoves
Lie number 1- I have a multi-fuel stove so I can burn house coal.
The fact is: You should only burn smokeless coal on a multi-fuel stove. House coal will create too much sulphur and will damage your flue. You should never burn any coal on a wood burning stove, it is not designed for it and the coal will not burn correctly.
Lie number 2-Wood is wood, it doesn’t matter what you burn
The fact is: Whilst Different types of wood do burn differently, giving out varying amount of heat the main thing to know is should never burn treated wood or damp, unseasoned wood. Burning these is a guaranteed wat to produce creosote via Inefficient Burning. Burn only kiln dried wood or wood that has been seasoned and has a moisture content of less than 20%.
Lie number 3- You get more heat by opening the door of the stove
The fact is: Many people think that by opening the door of the stove, their room will somehow warm up quicker. This is incorrect for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you will receive an initial surge of heat from opening the door as the pressure balances out, but you will then find more heat is being pulled up the flue.
Secondly you’ll burn an ungodly amount of fuel due to the uncontrolled draught and risk smoke entering your room. The idea of a stove is to take advantage of the air controls, if you want to burn with the door open and no control of the draught, you’re best installing an open fire.
Lie number 4- Stoves are expensive to run
The fact is: This is subjective to the type of fuel you burn, but typically, you can get a huge amount of energy from your fuel – up to 90%. What’s more, you can buy wood at a very reasonable price, and this will last you a long time – perhaps even the whole heating season. Sometimes there is no point in warming your whole house if you’re only using one room, and what’s better than enjoying the warming glow of the fire knowing you’re saving money?
Lie number 5- Stoves are bad for the environment
The fact is: People claim stoves are bad for the environment. This may have been the case many years ago, but modern stoves burn off up to 90% of the fuel, meaning this high efficiency leaves very little to go up the chimney. If you buy very cheap stove these are poorly made and incredibly inefficient Also, burning wood is carbon neutral as it only releases the same amount of carbon dioxide as it took in. Responsible owners source their wood close to home from sustainable sources, reducing the amount of miles your wood has to travel.