What do I have to keep in mind when buying a stove?
- The decision to buy a stove should be carefully considered due to their comparatively high emissions, and clean alternatives, e.g. low-emission biomass boilers, heat pumps or solar thermal systems, should be taken into consideration.
- If you need to purchase a new stove, talk to a specialist dealer or a chimney sweep before buying. They will know which kind of heating system will suit your household, what requirements the stove and chimney have to meet and will give you tips regarding its operation.
- Electronic combustion air regulation is useful as it improves the burning process. The same applies to exhaust gas purification: it helps to reduce emissions and should become standard, especially in highly polluted areas.
- Pay attention to the right size and heat output of the stove. Because if your stove is too big, the heat will literally be escaping „out of the window“.
What kind of wood can I use?
- It‘s best to use wood from sustainably managed forests.
- For pellet stoves: use pellets of the highest quality.
- Ensure that your wood is well ventilated and protected against moisture.
- Make sure the moisture content of the wood is correct (max. 25 per cent). This can be determined with a wood moisture meter from a DIY store. Even dirty or mouldy wood can result in more pollutants being emitted. If the wood is too dry (moisture content below 10 per cent), e.g. if it was stored too long in warm rooms, it will burn too fast. That‘s why it should spend some time covered up out-doors.
- For optimum combustion, the logs must not be too thick or too thin. They should have a diameter of approx. 6-12 cm and be long enough that they can be stacked with a gap of a few centimetres from the stove wall. Use smaller logs only for lighting the fire.
- Important: Do not burn treated wood or waste! This generates extremely toxic substances, which also settle in your immediate environment
How do I heat with wood properly?
In contrast to automated pellet stoves, using traditional wood-burning stoves, which are fired with logs, is much more demanding: the optimum amount of wood must be regularly replenished and the air supply correctly adjusted. First, read the operating instructions carefully. They will give you important details on how to operate your specific stove. In general, however, the following applies:
1) Lighting the fire :
- A lot of combustion air is needed, especially when first lighting the fire. So always fully open all air flaps. Only when combustion is in full swing should the air supply be reduced as indicated in the operating instructions.
- Use professional lighting aids such as wood wool fire starters with wax. Cardboard or paper is not suitable because the ash they generate can hinder the supply of air.
- As a rule, it is recommended that you „light from above“, as this causes the upper part of the firebox to heat up more quickly and causes fewer pollutants
2) Adding fuel to the fire :
- Put more fuel on the fire at the right moment: when the visible yellow flames have nearly gone out and there are still enough embers present (generally about every 30 minutes).
- Make sure that you don‘t overload the stove and regularly add small amounts of wood. Guideline: 0.15 kg wood per kilowatt of nominal heat output of the stove (see the operating instructions or the type plate).
- Clean combustion requires oxygen: don‘t throttle the air supply too much. The stove interior should remain bright and have no black soot deposits.
- Caution: open the stove door slowly to avoid that smoke is emitted to your living room
3) Maintenance :
- Dispose the completely cooled ash in your household waste. Avoid raising dust, so that you don‘t inhale ash particles that are harmful to health.
- The chimney has to be cleaned regularly. Depending on how often you use your stove, it should be cleaned between one to four times a year, as recommended by the chimney sweep.
- What you yourself can do: regularly check the door seal, the firebox lining and the grate, and if need be, replace any defective parts.