Purchasing a wood stove for your home is not a small investment when you consider the cost of the stove and the venting materials needed. It is important that you know how to make that investment last as long as possible. There are simple things that you can do to extend the life of your wood stove and keep it warming your home for many years to come.
Follow these Tips to Extend the Life of your Investment …
Perform or Schedule Regular Maintenance for the Wood Stove
Maintaining the structural health of your wood stove is very important to keep it going strong. Check your wood stove annually for any cracks, rust, gaps, or separations that need to be addressed. If your do not fix damages to the wood stove it will not work properly. You will go through firewood like crazy because the fire will be getting too much oxygen coming through any gaps or cracks. Not addressing damages will also just cause them to get worse further damaging the integrity of your investment.
Check the door need to be replaced. It is a very simple job to do. There are gasket kits to purchase. Usually it will consist of the rope gasket material which can be cut to length and then glued into place with gasket cement (included in the kits).
Don’t forget about the stove and chimney pipe, the complete run needs to be checked annually for maintenance and cleaning. Keeping the chimney stack free of creosote build-up will keep your wood stove drafting properly. Maintaining the chimney will also help to prevent experiencing a chimney fire.
Avoid Low-Burning Fires and Over Firing your Wood Stove
Getting a good steady fire going as quickly as possible is the best thing for your wood stove. Many wood burners will want to get the fire going as hot as possible to warm up a home when the fire has gone out but this is not healthy for your wood stove. It is extremely dangerous to burn your stove at higher temperatures than what the manufacturer recommends. Many chimney fires can start this way especially if it has been a while since the chimney has been cleaned.
It is also dangerous to burn low-heat fires as well. This is because until a fire reaches a certain temperature combustion is not complete and creosote levels will increase. You definitely want to burn your fire in the most optimal temperature range so that you keep the investment that you made for your home as safe as possible. A great way to monitor temperatures in your flue or stove is with a Wood Stove Thermometer.
Get all of the things you need to maintain a healthy wood stove here!