You may be wondering and ask: why does my wood stove smoke up the house? It may be because the fire was poorly lighted from the beginning or some other reasons.
The thing is that in lighting a fire, the start is crucial. The flame must go on continuously right after you lit it. However, if there has been trouble after it has been lit, too much smoke will be produced. Otherwise, the fire will get a hold of the fuel and burn through the wood quickly. Other than a poor start, there could be other reasons that could lead to the issue with smoke.
Much more, your wood stove may smoke up when there’s excessive moisture, when the wood or stove is cold, or when there’s lack of airflow. So, without further ado, let’s keep reading!
Reasons Why Does Wood Stove Smoke Up The House
This part will examine the issues leading to excessive smoke in the house when using a wood stove. Of course, there could be other reasons behind that problem, but we will discuss the four common ones. So, why does my wood stove smoke up the house? Here are the following:
#1. Excessive moisture
There’s way too much water in the woods. The moisture of the wood being burned is the primary cause of smoke from a wood stove. So before lighting a fire, see to it that the wood is completely dry. Using freshly cut wood in a fire can pose issues due to the high moisture level. The wood must be dried out over time (a process called seasoning) before eliminating this problem.
Using a stove to burn damp wood has the disadvantage of producing more smoke. First, you must burn off any moisture in the wood for the fire to do its job of generating heat and burning the wood successfully. Second, increasing the moisture level of wood makes it more difficult to light on fire.
More smoke is produced when the wood is burned inefficiently, such as when it is too moist. However, wood-burning stoves produce a small quantity of smoke when used as intended.
It is essential to look for a lot of smoke when burning wood that has been “well-seasoned” or “kiln-dried,” These terms typically refer to wood that has been cured long enough to be utilized in a fire. If you want to know how much moisture is in your wood, moisture meters can help. To get the best results, keep the moisture content under 20%. Lower moisture content wood burns more quickly and produces less smoke.
#2. Cold wood
Smoldering can be caused by an unheated stove or by wood that is too cold. If the wood is cold, it will take longer to warm up to an explosive temperature. Since the wood isn’t burning efficiently, the fire will smoke. When it’s time to start the stoves, we bring in the wood from outside storage about a day or two early.
We keep our wood in a box near the stove and bring it in from the cold allows it to warm up to room temperature. It burns more efficiently and creates less smoke when the wood is introduced to the stove while it is near room temperature.
You may want to know where to buy wood stove pellets and where to buy wood for wood burning stove.
#3. Cold wood stove
A cold wood stove can produce smoke from a fire. Any smoke that escapes from a smoldering fire is drawn into the room by cold air that’s been held inside the stove. Less fresh air will reach the fire if your stove’s exhaust system isn’t functioning correctly.
Without oxygen, a fire smolders and fails to burn the wood, resulting in smoke effectively. As a result, we usually leave the door open for a while before lighting a fire in our woodstove. Closing the stove door makes it colder because it’s separated from the rest of the house.
You can minimize a smoky stove by letting the stove warm up to room temperature before use. However, it’s isn’t easy to keep up with the draft. Also, using a stove with a weak draw won’t get the waste gases and smoke up the chimney and out of your house.
When the heat from the flames is applied, warm air rises and helps remove any cold air accumulated in the flue. Start your stove as soon as you see the flue filling with smoke from burning newspapers. Here is the best way to start a woodstove fire.
#4. Lack of airflow
Insufficient oxygen can cause a fire to go out before the wood in your stove is completely burned. If the stove’s air vents are closed or not open enough, there may be a lack of oxygen. Open all of the air vents on your wood stove before lighting a fire. Keep the doors and windows open until the fire has consumed all the wood.
Add larger and larger logs to the fire as it consumes the tiniest pieces of wood to boost the heat output. Close the air vents until the fire burns through the wood entirely without smoldering or producing smoke to get the most out of your fire. You may want to read how to reduce the smell of wood in a wood stove.
Conclusion
There you have it! Those are the standard answers to the question: why does my wood stove smoke up the house. Since you are already aware of the issue, you can do stuff to avoid them for sure. Read related articles; know how to burn coal in a wood stove.