Proper heating

Source: Landwirt.com

On frosty days, a fireplace provides warmth and creates a cozy atmosphere. Whether a fire just smolders or burns brightly depends not only on the fuel but also on how you light it.

When it gets dark early outside and the cold settles in, a fireplace can provide warmth and comfort. To enjoy a fire that not only warms but also burns efficiently, the fuel must be lit correctly. But how do you identify the correct fuel? What is allowed in the stove, and which materials should definitely not be used?

Only wood may be burned in the fireplace. However, some materials made of wood are also unsuitable for burning.

This includes:

• treated wood
• coated wood
• Disposable boxes and chipboard
• Wood scraps from construction sites and carpentry workshops
• Cardboard and waste paper

By law, the burning of packaging materials, treated wood (impregnated or varnished), chipboard, and plastic is prohibited. Furthermore, most stove manufacturers will void the warranty if the wrong materials are burned in the stove.

Even seemingly natural wood from construction sites and carpentry shops may be treated with wood preservatives and is therefore unsuitable for home fireplaces. This produces toxic smoke and ash contaminated with pollutants. Printed paper is also unsuitable for kindling. The printing ink and various coatings release pollutants when burned. The ash also impedes airflow.

Therefore, only the following fuels are suitable:

• dry wood
• Pellets
• wood briquettes

Wood should be dried for two to three years to achieve the ideal moisture content of 20%. If wood is dried for only one year, the moisture content will still be 35%. This means that about a fifth of the energy stored in the wood is lost during combustion due to additional water evaporation. If the wood is operated incorrectly, more than half of the fuel's energy can be lost through the fireplace, even if the wood is dry. The resulting increased demand for firewood, due to incorrect operation or the use of wood that is too moist, turns a cost-effective fuel into an expensive energy source.

Assess quality

There are some indicators that can be used to assess the quality of fuels.

Firewood

You can check the moisture content of the wood using a standard wood moisture meter. It should not exceed 25%; at higher values, too much combustion energy is wasted on evaporating the water. Another important consideration is the cleanliness of the wood. It must also be free of any fungal decay.

wood briquettes

They should be made from untreated wood. The calorific value specified by the manufacturer must be at least 5 kWh/kg. Furthermore, the briquettes must comply with the new EN 14961-3 standard. This guarantees high quality in terms of ingredients, calorific value, moisture content, and ash content. If the standard is not indicated, it must be assumed that other materials such as chipboard and cardboard were used in the production of the briquettes. This increases pollutant emissions while simultaneously reducing the calorific value. Defects that are quickly noticed include crumbling briquettes, a high ash content, and very rapid combustion.

wood pellets

The requirements are comparable to those for wood briquettes. In addition to the quality standard EN 14961-2, there is the ENplus certification system. With ENplus, an independent body verifies that the manufactured product actually complies with the product standard. High-quality pellets ensure long-term, trouble-free operation of your heating system.

Proper lighting

By following a few tips, you can heat with wood economically and in an environmentally friendly way. Assuming proper installation, a wood-burning stove will be smoke-free after just a few minutes, and emissions of harmful substances will be avoided. Properly lit, the fire will burn evenly and with maximum efficiency.

And what do you need to properly heat wood-burning stoves, fireplaces, tiled stoves or Swedish stoves?

• a few well-dried logs
• a few kindling sticks
• a firelighter, preferably made of biological material, for example wood wool soaked in wax

A good fire burns from top to bottom. Therefore, it's important to stack the fuel correctly. The logs are placed at the very bottom. The kindling and firelighters are placed on top. These are lit, and the fire burns as desired from top to bottom.

Here's how to light your fire correctly, step by step:

• Open air supply
• Arrange logs loosely in the combustion chamber. Ideally, place as many as you want to burn, but never too many at once, as the flame needs space. The logs should be a few centimeters shorter than the combustion chamber depth and no thicker than about 10 cm.
• Place small logs, shavings and firelighters on top.
• Now light the top. The resulting gases flow through the hot flame and burn completely.
• After a few minutes, bright, high flames burn – a good sign of sufficient air supply and optimal combustion.
• When the wood has burned down and only the basic embers remain, you can either add more wood or close the air vents.

Farmer Info: Storing firewood correctly

The best place for a wood storage facility is a well-ventilated, covered location. For example, a spot under a porch on the south or west side of a house, where wind and sun can freely radiate, is ideal. Avoid storing fresh wood in the garage or basement. The logs should not have direct contact with the floor, walls, or ceiling. This would impair air circulation, which is essential for wood drying.

The distance from the floor should be approximately 10 cm, from the walls 5 cm, and from the roof at least 30 cm. The ideal storage period is at least two years. It's best to store your daily wood requirement in heated living spaces. This allows the wood to warm up and dry out.