Question about wood stove

[NancyAnne]

I moved into a house this year with a wood stove. Instead of starting a fire with newpaper, would it be safe to start a fire with a cardboard egg carton filled with dryer lint? Thanks for your help.

[red]

by drier lint do you mean the fluff you clear out of the filter of your tumble drier? if so, then you have to consider the material your clothes etc are made out of - its mostly synthetic then the fluff will be synthetic too, then there is anoxious fumes thing going on... then again.. it goes up the chimney.... thena gian.. what about the envirnment.. then again.. what happens to the drier fluff if you don't burn it

hmm.. do what i do - light your woodburner with scrap paper.. old envelopes etc......

not much of an answer eh?

its been a long weekend....

Red

[hedgewizard]

Get some chickens, seriously. You'll never have too many egg boxes then.

You'll soon run out of drier lint, but once you learn to set the fire properly (a couple of twisted up scraps of paper or old envelopes, a handful of kindling on top, one or two ONLY finger-width twigs over that, open bottom vents and flue, close top vents, light paper and close door quickly) you'll need hardly any paper. If it's ventilated properly it'll practically suck the match out of your fingers!

[Millymollymandy]

You've got a lot of vents! What is a top vent for? We don't have a flue that opens or shuts either.

[hedgewizard]

It's not as fancy as it sounds. The bottom vents are the main air intake, and a second set at the top of the doors are for when you want a roaring fire (read: never as the damned thing is like a nuclear furnace) to help total combustion of monoxides etc. The flue can be partially closed off to reduce the burn rate, which lets you damp the whole fire down to a smoulder where two logs can last all night, although you have to watch that you don't leave the flue wide open when the front vents are closed, because then the wind can puff smoke back into the room.

That makes it sounds huge, but it isn't - apparently not powerful enough to run a back boiler.

[Millymollymandy]

Mine is 14kW and is a Norwegian make, but we only have the air vent at the bottom - close it off at night time or when we go out and open it up when you light the fire or want it to blaze.

It still doesn't heat anywhere near as many m3 as it is supposed to - I suppose it is mostly due to lack of insulation in our house though.

I really must get round to getting living room curtains!

[tremone]

We have a Stanley range installed in the 50's but since re-engineered to heat rads & water & also does the cooking, Of course have OFCH aswell as it is handy as we don't get in from work until 6 so we'd be freezing our nuts off in NW Ireland in the wintertime waiting for the Stanley to get going. It's great on a winter Saturday.

Rgds,
Tremone

[digiveg]

As one of the byproducts of burned wool is cyanide it's probably best NOT to use your dryer lint for starting fires...the main thing with woodstoves is the condition of the chimney. You should definitely check to make sure there are no cracks in it, as far as you can (when you light a fire, can you smell smoke upstairs?) and to keep it clean. Creosote, which burns rather nicely, will form on the inside especially when the fire isn't burning very efficiently - and then you're quite likely to get a lovely raging fire where you really don't want it.

Incidentally, if that happens, just shut all the vents tight and cross your fingers for a minute or two. If it's still going after that, it's time to phone for help!

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

We had issues with our chimney when we installed our wood burner last Christmas, the previous owners had capped off the chimney about 2 feet inside the roof space so we built up ,installed a flexi liner and then had to attach stainless steel twin wall to go out through the roof, she burns like a beast and keeps us warm as toast, luckily I have a friend who creates things out of wood, bridges sculptures etc, so we get all his off cuts and shavings which are totally fab for starting 'her off'.


www.welshgirlsallotment.blogspot.com

[heylittledoggie]

Hello all!

I would like to install a wood burner, but am getting very conflicting advice about what needs to be done to the chimney first, I know it needs a sweep but is it really necessary to line it? ( I live in a victorian terrace).


Any comments welcome!

[red]

well a sweep is a really good start and it does not cost alot (about 20 quid) and if you choose someone that is used to coping with woodburners.. he should be able to give you some advice too.

we have just bought a house and tried a smoke test (that is lighting some paper in the grate then running outside and looking at the pots)
alas smoke came out of two pots, so this probably means the chimney has a hole in itinto one of the other chimneys , and will need a lining when we install a woodburner. my last house had a woodburner profressionally installed and they said the chimney was fine without a liner. if you chimney is in poor repair - then there is danger of smoke coming out of one of the other fireplaces or next door in a worse case! repairing it is costly and a liner can be the cheapest thing to do.

I would start with a trusty sweep and ask his advice while he is there.

[Muddypause]

The full smoke test involves burning a special smoke pellet in the fire opening. You not only see if the chimeny is drawing properly, but you will see if smoke is rising from only one chinmey pot. But you also check if the smell of it (it's made especially smelly) percolates through the walls of the chimney into any of the rooms or attic space that it passes through. If it does, then it is likely that the flue gases will also. This is theoretically life threatening, because the gases will include things like carbon monoxide. The issue is usually that the mortar between the bricks is decaying and porous, and Victorian houses, with their soft lime mortar are by now prime candidates for this.

Having said that, there must be many Victorian terrace houses with unlined chimneys in regular use, and no apparent ill effect to the occupants.

I think Red's advice is right - find a trusty chimney sweep and see what he thinks. You'll need regular sweeping anyway with a woodburner.

[hedgewizard]

Roasted chestnuts last night by slitting them and then leaving them on the hotplate on top of the wood burner. Then forgot about them for 40 minutes, when the "roasting" smell started. They were perfect!

[red]

dang i miss my woodburner since we move house....

it has to be the next indoor project... i want my fire back....