Why Is My Wood Stove Smoking? 4 Best Reasons!

Are you worried about why is my wood stove smoking? Stop worrying, as you have arrived at the right place. When a woodstove starts smoking much more commonly, that might be a fault with both the wood and the stove’s functioning, or maybe even the stove structure.

There could be many reasons why a wood stove is smoking since many different parts of creating a blaze inside a wood stove have to join together over a good fire.

why is my wood stove smoking

Whenever a flame inside a wood stove burns its wood incompetently, there is indeed a greater possibility that the fire may smoke. The major causes of a wood stove smoking may thus be simply reduced to critical parts of a stove fire that impact either the wood or even the air supply. You should keep reading this article to know the reasons for wood stove smoking.

 

Reasons Why My Wood Stove Smoking

There seem to be various reasons that cause your wood stove to smoke, the wetness in the wood, or it is too cold, and the problem with air vents all are reasons. We have discussed them in detail below, which helps you in learning why is my wood stove smoking. 

 

#1. It’s too wet in the woods

Burning excessively damp wood is one of the most prevalent causes of wood stove smoking. To burn effectively in a fire, wood must be dry sufficient. Freshly picked wood has high water content; it must be dried out for a long time before use on such a fire without producing problems. One of the significant drawbacks of burning damp wood inside a stove would be that it produces more smoke than average. The fire must first burn out any excess moisture in the wood before adequately burning the wood to create heat. 

If wood is burned incompetently, including when it is too damp, additional smoke is created. The typical functioning of such a wood stove may produce small quantities of smoke. If you’re getting a lot of smoke, make sure you’re utilizing wood that has been ‘well-seasoned’ and ‘kiln-dried’. Remember that these descriptions usually refer to wood that has been dried lengthy enough to use as firewood.

Moisture meters would be able to provide you with an accurate reading of the wood’s water content. Moisture content measurements of roughly 20% less than are ideal. The better the wood burns, the less likely it emits smoke, and the smaller its moisture content.

 

#2. The wood stove is too cold to use

The flame in a wood stove might smoke if the furnace is too chilly or the fuel is too cold. It usually requires a fire longer to get hardwood up to combustible temperature compared to wood at room temperature. The wood may be burning inefficiently at this period, causing the fire to smoke. We take the wood in from outdoor storage a minimum of one day before using it in the stoves. 

We like to store the wood in a storage container near the stove, and taking it in from the chilly outdoors allows it to heat up to temperature. When wood is brought close to ambient temperature before being put on the stove, it burns more effectively and produces less smoke. A chilly wood stove might also cause a smoldering fire. Cooler air contained inside the stove might press down on the fire, causing any smoke to escape into the room.

Less fresh air will reach the fire when smoke or waste gases cannot adequately exit the stove. Because it can’t burn the wood well, a fire that smolders might start to smoke due to the lack of oxygen. As a result, we usually keep our wood stove door wide open for a bit before lighting a fire. You may also be interested to know about a troubleshooting chart for your wood stove or insert.

 

#3. Your stove draft is bad

The draft helps flow air from the house into the stove and out the vent. Because cold air stuck in the chimney may hinder the stove from drawing enough air to start fires, users could use a source of heat before lighting a fire to assist warm up the chimney and starting the draft.

We want to put a burning piece of folded-up paper underneath the chimney outlet inside the wood stove to assist heat things up before starting the fire. The warmth from the fires causes ascending warm air, which displaces any blocked cold air in the chimney. If you really can observe smoke billowing up into the chimney from the paper, you’re in good condition to start fires in the stove.

 

#4. There aren’t enough air vents

Because of poor combustion, if the fire does not obtain sufficient oxygen to burn through the quantity of wood in the stove, it will begin to smoke. A shortage of oxygen could be caused by blocked or insufficiently open-air vents on the stove. Before starting a fire, the air vents of a wood stove should be entirely open, and they should remain fully available until the fire gains hold of the wood.

 

It’s A Wrap!

Learning why is my wood stove smoking is essential; irregular smoking makes situations panic. We hope you have learned all the reasons that cause wood stove smoking; if you get the leading cause, try to fix it or hire a pro. Thank you, friends, for staying with us. You may also want to read about how to make a wood-burning stove and how to make wood stove look new.

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