Getting the Most Out of Your Fireplace?
Not only do we supply & install wood-burners, Gas fires and electric. We also keep in stock various home fuels and firewood. Turning off the thermostat when winter soon approaches and lighting your fire is an ideal to save energy but are you really utilizing your fire?
Take a look at our tips & tricks to try this winter in order to burn your fuel efficiently & use your fire to its full potential.
1. Choose your fuel carefully;
Ensure your wood is sufficiently dry & seasoned. When burning wet wood, excessive amounts of smoke is produced due to the moisture in the wood warming to become steam. This causes a lower burn efficiency as energy is wasted.
Take a look at the Home Fuels we keep in stock- https://www.greenfieldservices.com/homefuels/
How to check your firewood moisture content?
If you have purchased firewood and you are unsure if it is dry enough to burn there are simple ways to check:
- Use a wood moisture meter- this provides optimal & precise measurements of the moisture content in the wood you are burning. We keep wood moisture meters in stock & ready to take away!
- Take a look at the ends of the wood you are burning. Small splits in the wood indicates that the wood is PROBABLY dry whereas if the ends are smooth, the wood is high in moisture.
2. Starting your fire:
Although you may have started fires in your fireplace multiple times. There is a technique which you may not be aware of which is very specific but is an ideal way to start a strong-burning fire without using too much wood.
- Make sure any air vents/damper are open, fire needs three things to ignite; heat, fuel and oxygen.
- Start off small, by building a ‘fire triangle’. Use flamers & kindling to form a ‘tipi’ shape and light. By giving the fire a lot of air, the small fire will warm the chimney/flue & create a good draft.
- Once this fire is roaring, Add dried & seasoned wood, start with small logs to keep the firebox clear and not smothered in order for the air supply to continue burning until the firebox is warm- continue adding logs until your stove looks the part!
- As you use your fire more in the colder weather, attempt to refine the lighting process by using as little kindling and flamers to find a more economical way of lighting your stove.
3. Circulate the warm air:
You may find that once you have your wood-burner started. The warm air output is staying around the fireplace itself and not circulating efficiently through your property.
A Caframo Ecofan® is a heat-powered fan designed to circulate the warm air created by a wood or gas stove. This improves warm air circulation showing results in greater comfort and less fuel consumption. Take a look at our blog detailing the function and specifications on the Ecofan®
https://www.greenfieldservices.com/greenfield-services-ecofan/
4. Look after your chimney:
By maintaining your fireplace and chimney, you can ensure there is a good draft. By removing any soot, blockages and built-up creosote. An annual chimney inspection should be carried out once a year in order to check all systems are operating as they should.
If you have any questions or queries about the content in this blog- please do not hesitate to contact us for more information!
Products mentioned in this blog can be purchased from our showroom.
Call us on 01903 250400
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