Brenda from Port Hardy, B.C. says that her wood burning insert smells of soot when it is not in use.The problem is obviously one of air coming down the chimney. Either the exhaust fans in the house are drawing air when there is no fire to maintain an upward draft, or the wind is twisted around on...
Cheryl in Kenton, Manitoba is worried about breaking tiles under her wood stove. Actually Cheryl, the tile itself can easily carry the weight, as long as it is not a pointed contact. If the feet are bent and do touch on one corner, put a metal plate about 2 inches square under the feet to sprea...
Daniel in Ottawa has a lot of trouble getting the fire started without smoke in the house.Chimneys on the outside of the house always have more problems than chimneys that run up inside the warm part of the house. There may not be enough air available for the draft to start, which can be demo...
Chimneys : The Six CommandmentsChimney does not belong to the house, but to its appliance.More carefully sized to the heating appliance.Be insulated.Be tightly constructed.Be located within the heating envelope of the house.Terminate at or near the highest point of the building.The best resource...
The key to efficient heating with a wood stove is not just having an air tight stove, but controlling completely the burn, even re-burning the gasses after they come off of the logs. It is easier to understand if we look inside an energy efficient stove. Check out this 3-D animation.
Rick from New Brunswick is having problems with his wood stove backdrafting and he wants to know if it will help to box in the chimney on the outside of the house. Backdrafting or difficult starting with wood burning appliances is often a problem and there are several entries in this database ...
Wood heating appliances get hot -- that's why we use them -- but they also burn down houses. They are only safe if you install them safely.
-- Let's start with the fascinating process of how wood burns;
-- and now let's see how that process can happen inside your walls or floors near woo...
A viewer from Quebec starts the ball rolling on a discussion of maximizing the efficiency of your chimney's draw.
Starting with a small hot fire is always an aid. We need to warm up the chimney before it can draw properly. Chimneys built totally inside the heated part of the house always work be...
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Je vis dans un quartier francophone, donc même si ce site est essentiellement en anglais, j’écris quelques articles dans la langue de Molière, surtout celui-ci pour mes voisins. Pour les autres articles en français, cliquez ici.
Y A-T-IL UN INCENDIE D...
Note: There is one important exception to all the pollution control described below. The Montreal by-law states: "Authorizing the use of all solid fuel-burning devices during electricity outages that last more than three hours." (but you must keep your fireplace and chimney clean and in good ...
