Wood burning stoves are one of the oldest stoves in the market. Technological advances have come up with modern wood burning stoves that are beautiful, efficient and very reliable. While this is the case, these fireplaces aren’t free from problems. Here are some of the common wood burning stove problems:

Smoking chimney

Although, you expect smoke in the stove, you shouldn’t have smoke in your living area. If smoke is reaching your living space, the stove definitely has problems that you should address.

There are many factors that can provoke smoke to reach your living space. These factors include: a faulty door, wrong quality of wood, poor insulation, faulty chimney cap, large stove opening, and strong winds.

Blockage

Your chimney can be blocked by different things such as animals, debris, excessive buildup of creosote, and deterioration of masonry. To avoid the dangers that come with a blocked chimney, it’s recommended that you clean the chimney at least twice a year. It’s also recommended that you regularly undertake chimney inspection to ensure that the creosote isn’t excess or there are any birds in the chimney.

Paint smell

This is a common problem when the stove is new. The problem comes about when the stove is initially fired up. If you notice paint smell you shouldn’t worry as it will go away in no time. While this is the case, the smell shouldn’t last for more than four days. If you notice paint smell that isn’t going away you should contact a chimney professional. You can also contact the stove manufacturer.

Maintenance tips

To avoid the problems that come with wood burning stoves, you should take good care of the stoves. One of the things that you need to do is to ensure that you clean them often. For ideal results you should remove the ash every time you use the stove.

Since wood tends to produce a lot of soot, it’s wise that you clean your chimney more often.

Stove seals tend to leak after working for a while; therefore, you should contact a chimney repair professional and ask him/her to take a look at it.

The stove door also tends to get damaged due to the opening and closing. To ensure that the door is working perfectly you should contact an appliance repair professional and ask him to take a look at the door. In some cases you may be forced to replace the door.