Wood and Coal Stove Advisory

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Safety and environmental good sense suggest that we update our stove installations to modern standards and change a few old habits so we burn more cleanly.

Reinstalling the pipe, avoid the mistake most common to older installations, and keep bare stove pipe least 18 inches from flammable walls and ceilings. If need be, replace the pipe with stainless-steel insulated flue; install it lower down in the chimney or add heat-shields. Its total length must total less than eight feet, with more "rise" than "run"—more pipe that angles up than runs horizontally.

Tin-over-plywood, asbestos, or steel-plate stove boards placed on top of wood floors are fire hazards. So are hearths of loose brick. Build yourself a modern hearth of mortared brick, flagstone, or other code-acceptable material that extends eight inches beyond the back of the stove, eight inches to each side, and sixteen inches in front of the door.

Unless heat-shielded, the stove must be at least 36 inches from combustible walls, wood bins, and dried flower arrangements. If a plaster wall becomes hot to the touch, the wood behind it may be slowly drying to tinder. Pull the stove farther out or cover the wall with shielding, such as 24-guage steel plate on non-flammable, one inch spacers. An open slot at bottom and top or open sides on the heat shield will permit cooling air to circulate.

Your chimney should extend high enough (one yard should do it) above the roof to exhaust smoke instantly and completely, except perhaps for a few minutes when you are firing up. Your house must also provide adequate air exchange; if your modern, weather-tight house seems just a little smoky much of the time, add a couple of feet to the top of the lue and/or install a fresh air supply inlet for the stove—and, quick. You may be risking a dangerous carbon monoxide build-up and never know it.

A Small, Hot Fire of Dry Wood

Do your best to burn clean—which means keeping the fire hot. During the day, keep dampers part-way open and feed a small fire frequently with small splits to maintain a brisk flame, so that more smoke components are consumed. At night, burn the driest, most dense wood (oak rather than birch) you have, split small. Before closing up in airtight mode, burn hot and bright for a quarter hour to warm the flue and cook off water. During the night, open the draft briefly to burn smoke any time you can. You may use a bit more fuel, but our air will be cleaner, and you'll produce less creosote.

To have wood as dry as possible, split and store it under cover for a summer after it has seasoned in the woods for six months or more. A black plastic tarp over the top of the pile will fend off water and collect solar heat to force-dry the wood. And, if you have the space, during the heating season, keep several days' supply of firewood inside to warm and dry even more.

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