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How to prepare your wood-burning stove for winter
Plan ahead for the cooler temperatures by getting your woodburner ready for regular use throughout winter.
The nights are drawing in and the cold weather is beginning to set in for winter. It’s time to make sure that your wood-burning stove is ready for action. In this article, we will explore everything you need to do to prepare a woodburner for winter.
Before the temperatures plummet and you urgently need your stove, now is the time to put it through its paces. Much like an athlete in pre-season training, you need to do some preparatory work to make sure that your stove is in peak condition and doesn’t let you down when you need it most.
With that in mind here are the things you can do to get your woodburner ready for winter and ensure you'll be snug throughout the colder months.
Call a chimney sweep
If you've not yet done so, you should call a chimney sweep to remove any remnants of last season's burning. Even the cleanest, most efficient wood-burning stoves can leave deposites of flammable creosote in your chimney. This is especially true if you weren't burning well-seasoned logs on your stove.
Having a chimney sweep get rid of any build-up of creosote and soot reduces the risk of a chimney fire. It also removes any other blockages, such as twigs, that might have found their way into the chimney during summer.
But getting your chimney swept also ensures you can continue to operate your woodburner efficiently. A clean chimney keeps the air flowing through your woodburner flue, which will maintain an efficient burn and ultimately burn fewer logs to create the same amount of heat.
Perform a visual check
Inspect your woodburner to look for anything that's gone slightly awry since it was last in use. You might spot some rust on the woodburner. This can happen if condensation has settled on the stove and hasn't evaporated promptly because the stove wasn't in use.
You can quickly and easily remove rust from your woodburner panels by rubbing it away with wire wool, then repainting the affected area with stove paint.
You should also look for any indication that the panels of your stove are still firmly together. Any gaps could allow smoke from your woodburner to escape into the room. If the panels do have a gap between them, you can fill it with fire cement. Another of the key uses of fire cement is to seal any cracks within the panels themselves.
The final part of your visual check is to inspect your stove glass for any cracks. If you find any, it’s better to replace the glass immediately rather than wait for it to develop into a more serious problem.
Test the glass rope
The stove glass rope forms the seal around your stoves glass and door. Check the rope to make sure that it hasn't become broken, squashed or frayed, which would prevent it from sealing correctly.
Make sure the glass rope is still doing its job correctly by trapping a piece of paper in the door. If the paper can be easily removed when the door is closed, you need to replace the rope to create a tighter seal. Read our guide on replacing wood-burning stove rope for more information on how to do that.
Remove the baffle
Your chimney sweep will probably have done this, but if you haven't had the chimney swept it's worth removing your woodburner's baffle plate. Since ash can gather on top of it, removing the baffle is an important part of cleaning a wood-burning stove.
Your stove manual should provide instructions on the best way of removing the baffle, and refitting it once it has been cleaned.
Check your carbon monoxide alarm
Make sure your carbon monoxide alarm is working correctly. This usually involves pressing the test button, in the same way as you wood test a smoke alarm. A working carbon monoxide alarm is essential for staying safe with your woodburner.
Carbon monoxide alarms also have a replacement date. After this date, the manufacturer no longer guarantees that will work correctly and therefore you should replace your alarm.
Buy or check your firewood
To prepare for the new burning season, you should either buy a supply of firewood or check your existing log store. In either case, you should make sure that the moisture content of the logs is less than 20%.
This will ensure you are burning well-seasoned logs, which will keep your stove burning efficiently, cost-effectively and cleanly.
Light a small fire
If your stove has been out of use for a while, it's best to start with a small and gradual fire for the first burn of the season. This will give you a final opportunity to check for unusual smells, smoke leaking from the woodburner or any other issues.
Before lighting the fire properly, you might like to burn a sheet of newspaper folded to cover approximately all of the inside of the firebox. This intense burn will help to remove any air pockets that have settled in the flue, and help to get the flue up to temperature.
A small fire can be easily and quickly extinguished if any problems arise by closing the air vents. You can then address these issues before lighting your stove again.