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Stoves F.A.Qs

Every thing you need to know about Gas Fires and Multi Fuel Stoves

How do i light my new stove ?

There are many ways to light a fire in a wood stove. There is no one right way to do it and I am sure that all the stove owners out there will have their own individual ways of lighting fires that have developed over the years.

This is one way to light a woodburner. Ensure that the stove firebox is not full of ash - remove ash if necessary using a suitable metal container. If the stove is a multifuel stove where the only air supply is from beneath the stove grate then you will need to make sure that the grate is clear from ash and that the ashpan is empty (or at least that the ash in the ashpan is not obstructing the air flow to the fire).

Open the bottom air vents of the stove and open the flue damper if you have one. Some people use firelighters but personally I think that they smell bad and are uneccessary.

Start with some pieces of newspaper and scrunch them into loose balls. Some people tie them into knots or other shapes which is fine as well. I have tried this and it takes much longer than just scrunching the paper into balls.

I use about 8 full sheets of newspaper to light the fire. It is possible to use much less paper, but if there is no need to conserve your newspaper supply then my opinion is that you might as well be assured that the fire will light by using a little bit extra. Pile the balls of newspaper in the centre of the firebox.

Get some kindling. If you do not have some already prepared then use dry seasoned pieces of firewood. Softwoods or light hardwoods are best so pine, beech, or ash would be fine. Use a hatchet to chop the wood into some small pieces roughly 10mm square. The sizes do not have to be very precise and I would not recommend measuring each bit! Lay around 6 small pieces on top of the newspaper in different directions - rather like the game pickup sticks. The idea is that air and flames should be able to get to each piece of wood. Now lay a few larger 30mm and 40mm square pieces on top.

Light the newspaper in a couple of places at the bottom and when they are going close the door of the stove.

Once the wood has caught alight and the fire is going well inside the stove you can put some larger pieces of wood into the firebox. Place them gently on top of the fire. Do not fill the firebox with wood - I would recommend burning around 3-4 large pieces of wood at a time. At this stage you can turn the air supply down a little but aim to maintain good flames whilst not letting the fire smoulder.

If you have air vents at the top of the stove then close down the air vents at the bottom and open those at the top. You may need to do this gradually as the fire develops.

A novel way of lighting a fire is in a top-down direction. You start with the bigger pieces of wood, then on top of them put the smaller pieces of kindling and on top of that lay some newspaper balls. Everything is done in the same way as in the bottom-up method discussed above but just in reverse order. Light the newspaper and the fire will work it's way down. Surprisingly this is a remarkably good way of lighting a fire - why not give it a try.
How do i get the best out of my new stove?
Wood burns best on a bed of ash

If you have a woodburning stove then let the ash build up to a reasonable thickness on the base of the firebox around 25-50mm. Do not follow this to the letter - become familiar with your stove and how it works best. I use a shovel and metal bucket to remove excess ash when it gets too high. Always leave a bed of ash in place - do not completely empty it out.

If you have a multifuel stove with a grate, but will be burning wood for long periods then let the ash build up on the grate so you have a layer covering the grate up. When you come to burning coal make sure to empty all the ash out or it will not work well and you may damage the stove parts.

If you will only be burning wood then choose a dedicated woodburner if possible as it will be more efficient at burning wood and the firebox will be larger than the multifuel stove.

We do not recommend that you burn wood and coal at the same time: burning coal produces sulphuric acid and wood can contain a lot of moisture - this combination can coat your chimney in sulphuric acid solution which can quickly eat away at anything.
Plus the conditions for burning wood efficiently are not the same as those for burning coal efficiently.
Wood burns best with a supply of air from above

When you light a wood fire open the bottom air vent as well as the top air vent to get it going to start with if needed. When the fire is going properly close down the bottom air vent and then control the stove using just the top air vent.

If this makes the fire die down too much then it sounds like the draw on your chimney is not that good. In this case use the bottom vent too and consider contacting us to see how you could improve the draw on your chimney.

When wood burns it is in fact wood gas that is burning. This gas burns best with a supply of air to the top of the firebox. On cleanburning stoves supply of heated air is introduced to the top of the firebox and you will be able to see flames hanging in the air and possibly a jet of flame where the cleanburning air supply comes into the firebox. A Morso Owl stove and Westfire 16 stove are good examples of a cleanburning wood stove.

Wood needs a good supply of air

Wood needs a decent supply of air to burn efficiently. When your stove is going well you should have clearly visible and energetic flames in the firebox. A smoky fire with intermittent or slow flames or a tarred up stove window are signs that the stove is probably being run too slowly. Running a stove slowly is not only inefficient: that tar that is blocking the window is also being deposited in your chimney, increasing your risk of chimney fire. So banking your stove up and closing it down overnight is not an efficient way to use fuel, nor is it the safest way to treat your chimney.

What is an air wash system ?

A stove with an airwash system will tend to have a cleaner more see-through window. In non airwash stoves tar is deposited on the window when fuel is burnt (especially wood) darkening the stove glass or making it black.
Airwash stoves take in air from above the stove window and pass (or 'wash') it over the surface of the window. This helps keeps the flames and gasses in the stove off the window itself as there is a layer of air protecting it. Less tar is deposited keeping the window cleaner.
 
All our solid fuel stoves use the airwash system

Can I burn coal on my stove?

Yes all our stoves are multi fuel.
Coal must be burnt on a grate

You need a grate in your stove to burn coal which means that you need a multifuel stove. Nearly all multifuel stoves are designed to burn wood, coal, peat and other fuels. The grate in a stove is made up of bars of metal (nearly always cast iron) with gaps in between them. The bars may be fixed into one rigid unit or be separate and sit in a frame inside the stove. The gaps between the bars let air from below get to the coal. This also helps stop the grate bars getting too hot - they can get damaged otherwise.
You need to make sure that the grate remains unblocked and that the ash in the ashpan does not come too close to the bottom of the grate or it will restrict the flow of air to the stove and your grate may get too hot and become damaged.

Most multifuel stoves have a riddling mechanism. This is a method which lets you move the grate in the stove from the outside so as to shake any ash that is blocking the grate down, through the gaps in the grate, and into the ashpan. Riddling usually works either by moving alternate grate bars up and down, by rotating a circular portion of the grate, or by letting you directly shake the whole grate. Some stoves have a fixed (non riddling) grate. In this case you have to poke at the fire with a poker to clear the grate of ash.

We do not recommend that you burn wood and coal at the same time: burning coal produces sulphuric acid and wood can contain a lot of moisture - this combination can coat your chimney in sulphuric acid solution which can quickly eat away at anything.
Plus the conditions for burning wood efficiently are not the same as those for burning coal efficiently.
Coal burns best with a supply of air from below

When burning coal shut down the top air vent of your stove and use the bottom aur vent to regulate the fire. If this makes the fire die down too much then it sounds like the draw on your chimney is not that good. In this case use the top air vent too and consider contacting us to see how you could improve the draw on your chimney.
Coal is a fossil fuel

Coal is one of the vast stores of CO2 on the planet. Burning coal increases atmospheric CO2 which causes* global warming. The global temperature has already risen by 0.74 °C since 1900. Read more about how coal is a

How do i maintain my new stove?

Like any machine your stove needs to have a regular check over. On most stoves this is a pretty straightforward task and the maintenance can easily be carried out by the stove owner.
Follow these 8 easy steps to get the most from your stove

   1. If it is a multifuel stove, check that the grate is in good condition and that it riddles easily. If the grate is cracked or distorted, replace it immediately - too much distortion and it can jam the riddling mechanism or jam in the stove.
   2. Check the firebricks if it has them. If a brick is damaged or cracked so that a piece could fall out, then change it immediately. A missing piece of brick can cause a cast iron stove to crack or a steel stove to distort.
   3. Check the stove's ashpan for holes. Hot ash leaking from an ashpan burns carpets.
   4. Check the firerope seals around the doors and glass of the stove. Replace badly frayed or missing firerope. A good way to check the door seal is by closing the door over a thin piece of paper - it should be difficult to pull the paper out again.
   5. On a cast iron stove, check the seals between the side and top plates. If there are gaps reseal with fire cement.
   6. Check the finish on the stove. Particuarly on a cast iron stove, excessive rusting can cause problems. Rub down with a wire brush or steel wool and re-spray with heat resistant paint or re-polish with black grate polish.
   7. Check the glass for cracks and clean off black tar deposits with glass cleaner.
   8. During summer, always leave a vent or door open in the stove to stop condensation build up inside it or in the chimney.

Stove maintenance is very important and it doesn't take much time to maintain your stove properly.