Why does my wood burner keep going out

Closing down the air vents too soon into the fire can cause the fire to go out. As with having completely closed air vents, the fire can be starved of oxygen if too little airflow is provided early into the fire. Once your fire has going, you can feel the heat radiating from the stove and see the hot coals, you can manually adjust the air vents to control the supply of air to the fire. Depending on your model of stove, you can usually close the bottom vents and use the top vents to the control the rate at which the wood burns.

Again, closing these vents too quickly into a fire can cause it to go out. Each wood burning stove is different and so it will take time to understand how to use the vents effectively.

A poorly ventilated room can be a reason why your fire keeps going out. The fire in your wood stove requires oxygen to keep burning the wood. The more air supplied to the fire, the faster the wood will burn. If the fire is being starved of a fresh supply of air then it can impact how well the fire is maintained.

Even if the air vents on the stove are wide open, too little airflow into the fire may cause the fire to subside and go out. Your flue will suck waste air and gases out of your stove, and this air needs to be replaced by air within your home. If there is a lack of ventilation within the room, negative pressure and a vacuum can be created, potentially leading to the fire going out.

Every stove is made and operates differently, and so each stove will have their own break in procedures. In some cases, the damper can be closed between fires to prevent warm air from leaving your home and being replaced by cold air from the outside. The damper should be completely open before a fire is started. As we want the fire to catch and progress quickly, a wide open damper will help improve how quickly smoke and gases from the fire are removed from the stove. This is will in turn help suck more air into the stove to feed the fire.

The damper can be slowly closed off as the fire progresses in conjunction with closing off the air vents to help control the draw on the fire and how fast the wood burns, while also maximizing heat output. If the damper is closed when the fire is started then it will cause the fire to keep going out.

Furthermore, if the damper is closed off during a fire then it can also cause the fire to go out. By using your wood burning stove you can learn to understand how to use the damper to control the fire and how your specific model of stove performs at its most optimum.

Too much ash can restrict the airflow into your stove and cause the fire to go due to lack of oxygen. The bed of ash should be kept to a couple of centimeters in depth. Any deeper and the lower vents on your stove can become blocked. In contrast to having too much ash in your wood burning stove, having too little ash can be a reason why your fire keeps going out. A bed of ash helps when starting a fire and to insulate the hot coals of wood and improve the heat output for lighting further bits of wood as they are added to the fire.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Having a fire when the flue is dirty or the damper is too far closed. Setting Up The Fire Incorrectly Setting up the fire correctly and getting the fire going well is essential to having a long, hot and well-burning fire.

To set up a fire in your wood burning stove correctly: Start with a few crumpled pieces of newspaper newspaper works best and lay them on the bed of your stove. The newspaper should be crumpled enough so that air can still get in between the pieces. Lay dry pieces of softwood kindling over the newspaper in a crisscross pattern. Put smaller logs on top of the kindling, also in a crisscross pattern.

Make sure to always add plenty of fresh logs every morning before getting started with any other work around the house since this will ensure a nice, toasty fire for the rest of the day. The best way to keep your wood-burning stove going is by using dry, seasoned firewood. Using unseasoned wood will cause you more problems than just having a hard time starting up your fire — it can potentially damage the equipment itself if allowed to accumulate too much moisture inside its components.

These air pockets are formed when water evaporates out through gaps in between rings after coming into contact with heat from drying. Only use seasoned firewood because unseasoned wood could damage your stove or even cause a house fire! When your wood-burning stove is poorly drafted, the smoke gets pulled back down into the firebox.

This creates a backup in your flue and then you get excessive creosote buildup. When this happens it can cause health issues depending on how bad of an infestation there is upon inspection by a professional chimney sweep. The door of your wood stove is like the gas cap on a car.

It has to be closed tightly for it to burn efficiently and safely. If you leave the door open too often, air will come in-and hot coals will go out! If you are having trouble getting your wood stove to start, open the damper. This will help get more oxygen flowing through the vent and firebox of your stove so it can burn hotter. Allow two minutes for this before closing again.

The bottom line with starting up any new appliance, including your wood stove is patience. There are no shortcuts when learning how to operate something so simple yet powerful like an outdoor fireplace or furnace. One of the most common causes for a stove to go out is that air vents are closed, which decreases airflow.

Airflow can be increased by opening windows and doors in other rooms or increasing draft controls on your wood-burning stove. Closing down the air vents too early is another common cause of a wood-burning stove going out. If this happens once or twice it may not be such a big deal, but if you do this on every occasion that you light up the bare minimum will get burnt and soot clogs up can form which could lead to future problems when trying to restart fires.

If that means having fallen tree branches or dried-up logs near an open flame for hours on end, then so be it. If your wood-burning stove has a tendency to go out, it may be because the damper is closed. The damper controls how much air comes into the firebox of your furnace and can have a significant impact on how well it burns. It should also be noted that closing all six sides off during operation creates back pressure which makes pulling heat from the room more difficult as well as limits heat transfer to heat up water great for showers!

As long as there are no flames coming out of any part of this appliance, then the only thing that should be emitting smoke is your chimney. If you are unsure if your damper is fully closed or open, it may be time to call in a pro — an expert with years of experience can help diagnose problems and determine all possible solutions.

If your stove is going out, there could be too much ash on the stove. This can prevent it from burning properly and lead to all kinds of problems like smoke coming into the room or it just not staying lit for very long. If you think this might be happening, get a small shovel or something similar and scoop out some of the coals that are left over after burning these should help keep things working well again. The fire needs oxygen and too many ashes mean less airflow.

If your wood is burning properly then there should be little or no ash left over when you are done with all three stages of combustion. Ensure you have a sufficient supply of kindling and logs. The wood needs to be dry in order for it to burn well. If the fire is not getting enough oxygen, this can cause problems with keeping it going. This means that more air should be let into the stove by opening windows or doors on opposite sides of the room.

You can also create some cross-ventilation by placing an electric fan at one side of your fireplace if there are no open doorways on either side of where you are burning your fuel.

When you are lighting the fire, do not use lighter fluid or gasoline. These can coat your stove and make it harder for the wood to catch as well as produce dangerous fumes that could increase the risk of a house fire. To properly light a kindling fire, crumple up some newspaper and place it in the bottom of your fireplace before adding any kindling sticks.

Light this typing using matches or butane gas lighters and leave overnight to ensure that all parts have caught alight fully without any smoldering bits left behind which will smoke when added to the main fuel load.

Not all firewood is ready for the fireplace. In the right setting, it generally takes between six months and a year for wood to sufficiently dry out to be suitable for use as firewood. When the wood has too much internal or external moisture, smoking occurs.

Solutions: Use seasoned firewood, if you have access to some. If only green wood is available, try a different approach. Place unlit logs to the sides of the grate.

Place a sawdust and composite wax fire log on the grate and light it, but never add this type of artificial log to an existing wood-burning fire. It could be that your firewood is seasoned but has gotten too cold outside. The difficulty with lighting your fire could be a lack of tinder. This is the component of fire-building that gets flames going.