Common Wood Burner Problems and How to Solve Them

If you have a wood burning stove in your home they can sometimes present problems we don't understand. It is especially frustrating to encounter issues with your wood burner on a cold night when you just want to get warm! So this guide covers some common problems associated with burning wood in wood burning stoves and multi fuel stoves and what you can do about it.

If you're totally new to operating a log burner see our article: 'I just bought a log burner - now what?!'

The most common problems we see usually involve smoke escaping into your room and difficulty controlling the burn. You might struggle to get the fire going and keep it going or perhaps your fire is going so well your stove is overheating. Here are the most common wood burner problems we get told about:

Wood Burner Woes

Smoke Smothering The Fire

You could be doing everything right and yet on a cold night, you light the fire only to find billows of smoke appearing to pour into the wood burner from above smothering the fire. Eventually the smoke starts to leak through air vents in the stove and the fire goes out completely.

The problem here is in two parts. First, you have a cold flue. You can't help this, it's likely a cold day and the flue is open to the cold weather.

Secondly, the most smoke is always produced early in the life of the fire when the relative temperature of the fire is low and you are burning things like paper, bark or other easy-to-combust materials in order to get the fire going.

Lots of smoke drifts up the chimney but rapidly cools in the cold flue system. This is especially problematic if you have a very tall flue like those in old three storey Victorian houses in Cornwall. As the smoke cools down, it can no longer rise so starts to sink.

All the flue gasses are now sinking down the chimney and the only place they can go is into the wood burner again. Here they are greeted by more smoke coming from your fuel and all of a sudden you are overwhelmed with smoke. Now there is no oxygen in the stove, the fire goes out and with it, any hope of getting the air to flow as it should.

The solution: To solve this smoke smothering problem we need to tackle it on two fronts. First, we want to reduce the amount of smoke we generate in the first place, and secondly we want to raise the temperature in the flue so the smoke we do send up there doesn't cool and sink.

To reduce the amount of smoke, make sure to use kiln dried firewood. Burning wet unseasoned wood (or simply seasoned wood) will always produce cool wet smoke. This goes for kindling too.

Don't use paper, cardboard or sawdust to start your fire - these also produce loads of smoke (and it usually smells really bad). Instead, use paraffin soaked firelighters. These produce a steady flame with hardly any smoke at all.

By taking these steps, the fire can now raise the air temperature much faster. This will help initiate a positive air flow drawing air in from the room, heating it and allowing it to flow up the chimney.

With your fire burning properly at a high temperature with minimal smoke, the flue is warmed and any smoke that is produced doesn't cool to quickly, sink or smother the fire.

Smoke Leaking Into The Room

As discussed above, smoke can sometimes smother a fire but if you're definitely burning properly seasoned wood and you don't have a blocked chimney but smoke is leaking out into the room you likely need a new stove door seal.

All fires produce some smoke, even if you burn an ultra low smoking hardwood such as Oak. And that smoke will hang around in the burner for a bit before it goes up the chimney, especially when you're just starting the fire and the temperature is relatively low.

Stove doors have rope seals that are designed to be compressed when the door is closed creating an air-tight seal. The air pressure inside your stove will be higher than outside it because it is much warmer and the air flow is controlled. If your door seal is damaged or worn, the smoke will therefore leak into the room.

To avoid problems, first replace your door seal - they are not expensive. Worn parts are usually available from the installer or manufacturer. It may be worth contacting a qualified professional to ensure seals, handles and glass are replaced safely.

Secondly, always burn kiln dried firewood. Poor quality wood that has not been dried will produce excessive smoke because it's moisture content is much higher.

Reducing the amount of smoke will help reduce pressure on your stove's door seal and the way to do this is to burn dried hardwood logs and never ever wet wood.

Black Glass

Your stove glass should always be clear so you can see the lovely glow and so you can tell when to put another log on. A common cause of glass blackening is soot, and soot is the result of incomplete combustion - put simply, the fuel isn't being burned cleanly so the smoke particles stick to the cooler glass surface and form a black coating.

There are a few reasons why soot is created:

Burning Wet Unseasoned Wood

If your logs are not fully dried, the stove wastes heat boiling off the moisture instead of burning the wood properly. This lowers the fire temperature and creates smoky, sooty combustion.
Wet smoke will always leave deposits on the glass and inside the flue.

The solution here is simple burn dry wood with a moisture content below 18%. This ensures the fire gets hot enough for clean combustion and keeps the glass clear.  We only sell Woodsure Approved Ready to Burn logs.

Poor Air Flow

Modern stoves rely on a good supply of oxygen to burn cleanly. If you close down the air supply too early or too far, the fire will smoulder instead of burn. A smouldering fire produces thick smoke that coats the glass very quickly.

The fix: Let the fire burn hot and bright before turning the air controls down, and don't starve the fire of oxygen just to make logs last longer. It will cost you more in soot, smoke and glass cleaning in the long run.

Wrong Fuel Type Such as Softwoods or Random Burnables

Softwoods and random improvised fuels (cardboard, paper, pine offcuts etc.) burn fast and dirty. They tend to produce tarry smoke that loves to stick to glass.

If you need to ignite the stove quickly, use kiln dried kindling and a firelighter, not scrap wood.

Poor Airwash System or Blocked Airwash Vents

Most modern wood burners have an airwash system - a curtain of air that flows down the inside of the glass keeping it clean. If the airwash intake is blocked with ash or closed too far, the glass loses this protective airflow.

Simply make sure your stove's airwash control is open when the fire is running and that ash and debris aren't blocking the channels. If the issue persists for long periods you may be inline for a new stove - some older stoves do not have the means to prevent glass blackening.

Cleaning Blackened Glass

If your glass has already blackened, it can be cleaned with a dedicated stove glass cleaner or (a favourite old trick) damp newspaper dipped in a bit of cold ash. The mildly abrasive ash helps lift the soot without scratching the glass.

Wood Burner Not Staying Lit

Difficulty lighting the fire is a very common problem with log burners. You do everything right, a stack of kiln dried kindling, a couple of paraffin soaked firelighters and it seems to go at first but soon dies and with it your hopes of being warm.

The causes of this are usually airflow, damp and fuel choice. When you're burning wood, controlling air with the air controls is critical to success. When you first start the fire, you need to ensure the air controls are fully open allowing as much oxygen to enter the combustion chamber as possible.

The flames will start to consume oxygen and if they run out, they will go out.

Secondly, too much smoke can choke a fire. This is caused by having too much material like paper or cardboard to 'get the fire going'. It tends to smoulder rather than burn and just creates loads of smoke and gasses that prevent the flames from burning bright.

Your kindling and logs might be wet or damp which again, produces smoke or it might collapse as the fire starts smothering the flame with the weight of the log or kindling.

Ventilation is everything when your fire is just getting going. A well maintained stove should have a good draught pulling through it delivering loads of oxygen to the fire. Structure your fuel in such a way that it won't collapse until much later in the life of the fire and avoid old newspapers - use firelighters instead. Follow these steps for a better burn.

The Room Smells After We've Had a Fire

When everything is working properly with your stove, even with very frequent use, your house should not smell after a fire. A nasty odour from your chimney is indicative of issues up the flue.

The most common cause is forgetting to have your chimney swept. Regular chimney sweeping is essential because a poorly maintained flue is a real fire hazard.

Soot, tar, bird nests and partially combusted fuel all get stuck in your chimney as you use your fires over winter. In extreme cases your chimney may even become blocked.

If the bad smell persists and you haven't had your chimney swept in a while, please do.

Stay Warm

We hope this little guide helps you get the most out of your wood burning stove and enjoy warm, bright, trouble-free fires all winter long. Most stove problems come down to airflow, fuel quality and a bit of technique, and once you get those right a log burner becomes one of the simplest and most satisfying ways to heat a home.

If you're looking for kiln dried firewood, kindling and firelighters delivered at competitive prices, look no further than Logan's Logs. We only supply clean-burning, Ready to Burn firewood that performs brilliantly in wood burning stoves, multi-fuel stoves, open fires, pizza ovens and more.