While wood burners are mainly designed to burn wood, problems start to happen when they spend too much time not doing that. After a long period of not being used, wood burners tend to have trouble firing up. In some cases, some parts may need to be repaired or even replaced before the wood burner can finally work correctly again.
While usually reliable, we can safely deduce that wood burners are not immune to different problems. Some problems can be tiny, but others can be quite severe. In this article, we’ll talk about the possible issues a wood burner can face, along with what you can do to troubleshoot them:
1. Soot Forming on the Glass
Soot generally forms on the glass if the wood you are trying to burn is not dry enough. Wet wood when burned will release steam that can cause the soot to form. To stop soot from forming on the glass, always ensure that you are using well-dried and seasoned wood. It’s also important to make sure that the air supply is enough, which allows the stove to have access to oxygen to properly burn the wood.
2. Trouble Lighting up the Stove
Sometimes, it may be the user’s mistake that causes the stove to not light up easily. Make sure to reacquaint yourself with the proper firing-up procedure for wood stoves. If that doesn’t work, check the chimney to ensure that there is enough draft in there to pull fresh air. Finally, make sure that the wood is dry. Wet wood isn’t only hard to light up—it is also toxic. Dry wood is much safer to burn and easily lights up on fire.
3. Smoke Coming Out of the Stove
Generally, smoke is a sign that there’s a fire brewing. When it comes to your wood-burning stove, however, there really shouldn’t be much smoke—and it shouldn’t spill out of the stove. If that happens, chances are that the chimney may be blocked, forcing the smoke to come out from the stove into the room and filling your house with toxic gases. B sure that the chimney is clear from any blockages.
4. Glass on the Stove Turned White or Cracked
While this problem is quite rare, it can still happen. Stove glass that has turned white or cracked means that it has overheated, which is caused by heating up the stove too quickly or using the wrong fuel. Make sure to always use proper fuel and heat up the woodstove slowly. You may need to replace the glass, however.
Conclusion
Although the problems stated above may not commonly happen, there’s always a chance that they could. Treating and maintaining your stove properly is a must to ensure the chances of these issues rising is minimal.
Should any of the problems show up, however, stop using the stove immediately and get it fixed. Continuous use will not only put the stove at risk of more damages, but it can also put you and your house members in danger, not to mention put the house at risk of a fire.
Stove Scotland offers multi-fuel and wood-burning stoves in West Lothian in various top brands like Merlin and Pod to ensure your needs are thoroughly satisfied. If you are looking for high-quality wood stoves that you can rely on, check out our offers!
