Up where the smoke is
All billered and curled
'Tween pavement and stars
Is the chimney sweep world
We are so excited with our gift for each other this year. It’s a beautiful cast iron Vermont Castings wood stove in a soft creamy white. Bernie even managed to sell our old wood stove for a surprising sum of money. I guess those who love the Quadra Fire brand have a real affinity for the old stoves. Granted it was a good heat source, but too much for our living space. It nearly cooked us out of the room at times
The new stove is better suited for our Great Room space and even comes with a spark screen for fireplace-like viewing when the doors are open, or removed. Ambiance baby. As stewards of nature and the planet, we are also thrilled that it’s made from 100% recycled materials and production processes that utilize renewable energy. In addition, it’s clean burning so we won’t be adding as much pollution to the air.
Once the buyers of the old stove removed it from our hearth, we had Matchbox Chimney Sweeps come to make sure things were in order for the new stove, and the new burn season. We are so happy we found Matchbox, they do a thorough job. In addition to cleaning out any creosote, sweep Garen gave us some burning tips for preventing future buildup.
- Avoid burning low and smoldering fires.
- Only burn firewood that is dry and has cured at LEAST 12 months.
- Burn smaller fuel loads and larger air settings. ( Hotter fires)
We were familiar with the first two, but like many owners of wood stoves we load up our stove at night and tamp down the air. The idea, keep a low smoldering fire burning until morning. The problem is that when warm smoke meets a cool chimney, it creates the creosote that can cause chimney fires. Without regular proper cleaning, the creosote builds up in layers eventually glazing the inside of the chimney. Once it gets to this stage, it’s a bit more challenging to remove.
Prevention seems to be a good plan of action. We've got about three and half cords of dry seasoned firewood, a mix of pine and hardwoods. Our stove will be installed the first part of December and we're axious to put it to use. We also have our next appointment with Matchbox Chimney Sweeps scheduled for August, 2018. When it comes to wood stoves, safe burning and regular chimney maintence is key.
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