etcetera magazine September 2021

Page 48

home & specialist

Blackened Glass, Anyone? DOES THE GLASS ON YOUR WOOD-BURNER TURN BLACK? HERE’S WHY AND HOW TO STOP IT HAPPENING.

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ood-burners or in fact any fire can be tricky to get the hang of. Your fire may be lit and seem to be burning ok but there is a chance you could be getting a lot more from your wood and from your stove. First, a little about the wood you’re burning. Around 80% of the heat energy in wood are gases known as volatile hydrocarbons. For these gases to burn, they must react with the oxygen entering your stove via the air vents. If you don’t let enough air into your stove, these gases won’t be able to burn and will be wasted up your chimney. Every year when your

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chimney sweep comes to visit, it is these compounds which are removed.

burn your wood. For the waste from your wood-burner to go up the chimney, the air must be replaced into the stove via the air You may find yourself constantly having to vents to create a convection current. If the clean your stove glass of a black or brown stove is being supplied sufficient air, the film. Some of you may film will not form on the have given up and glass as any waste will be decided to live with a Some of you may have given taken up and out of the permanent smoggy up and decided to live with a chimney and so will not be screen on your woodpermanent smoggy screen on able to reside in the woodburner. The black film burner to then condense your wood-burner found on your glass is on the glass. made of the same compounds found further up your A common mistake a lot of us tend to chimney and dirty stove glass is a great make when operating our stoves is putting indicator that your stove is not being too much wood in. If your stove is over full supplied the oxygen it needs to efficiently with wood, you may find the black film


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