Homeowner Resources

This page features wood-burning how-to’s and resources to help you get the most out of your investment.

Scroll down to the bottom for pellet stove how-to’s and info!

safety first!

The United States Fire Administration (part of FEMA) recommends the following practices to ensure safe operation of your wood-burning fireplace, insert, or stove. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll use the word “fireplace” to include all wood-burning appliances.

Before you burn:

Make sure your chimney and fireplace has been professionally cleaned and inspected at least once a year, especially if you haven’t used it in a long time or if you burn every day.
Keep all combustible materials at least 3 feet from the fireplace.
Install a carbon monoxide detector and replace the batteries annually.
Install a smoke detector and replace the batteries annually.
If the glass is dirty, clean it before burning or after the fireplace is completely cool.

Lighting A fire

First, make sure you only burn dry, well-seasoned wood to prevent creosote build-up. The wood species you burn is far less important than many people think. Hardwoods will burn longer, but what’s really important is to only burn wood with a moisture content of less than 20%.

Many people who are new to wood-burning experience a lot of smoke blowback into the home. This is annoying and not great for your health. Avoid blowback by:

Opening the air intake all the way
Opening a nearby window or door (just a crack is enough!)
“Prime” the flue - which is likely filled with heavy, cold air - by lighting a small piece of wood like a fatwood fire starter - to move that cold air up and out, which will create a good draft
Use newspaper, corrugated cardboard (unpainted, not shiny), or fatwood to start a fire (fatwood is sap-laden wood from the heart of a tree - it lights reliably, and smells great too)
Once the kindling is burning well, slowly add larger pieces of well-seasoned wood being careful not to over-stuff the fire box

Here’s a video from Jotul on how to light a fire in a Jotul F500 V3 Oslo wood stove:

getting rid of the “new stove smell”

New wood-burning stoves, inserts, and fireplaces have a distinctive “new stove smell.” The smell comes from the paint used on appliances. The paint needs to cure, and the only way to do that is with heat.

For your first fire, make a fire using dry, well-seasoned wood. Open the doors and windows during the curing process. While non-toxic, the fumes are unpleasant.

Slowly add fuel until you have achieved a medium burn (about 400°F/204°C and maintain this temperature for at least 45 minutes. Then, increase the burn temperature to a hot burn (600°F/315°C) for at least another 45 minutes. All told, the curing process should take no more than 2-4 hours.

Note that the door gasket (or “stove rope”) can get stuck to the paint so open the door carefully every time you add fuel during the curing process.

where to get firewood

Need firewood? Our friends at Evergreen-based SylvanCycle can help! On this site, you will find marketplace-style listings of fire mitigation professionals as well as homeowners with firewood to sell (or even free firewood). SylvanCycle is just getting started and currently serves the Evergreen/Conifer area, but the plans are to gradually expand to include the Front Range mountain communities. Using firewood from fire mitigation projects is a win-win for everyone!

Some landscapers or arborists also sell firewood. They’re a great source of hardwoods like maple, cherry, and oak. While hardwoods are more expensive than softwoods like pine and fir, they burn longer which will help offset the price.

How to store firewood

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as a couple of seasons’ worth of dry, split, stacked wood. How you store it is important for successful burning as well as pest control and fire prevention.

The best way to store firewood:

Outdoors
Off the ground
Split and stacked loosely to reduce drying time and prevent mold
Protected from the elements with a tarp or a simple lean-to structure.
Keep firewood and away from drip zones like roof overhangs and trees
If possible, stack wood in a sunny spot

If you are using pine-beetle killed trees, cover the wood pile tightly in black plastic wrap for an entire season to kill the beetles (the heat and lack of air flow will kill them), and keep the pile away from any healthy pines to prevent any escaping beetles from colonizing a new tree.

Wood that’s ready to burn is called “seasoned” for a reason. If you cut it this year, plan on burning it next year!

At the very minimum, allow six months depending on how green (fresh)the wood is, whether the logs are cut and split, and whether you follow the storage guidelines we outlined above.

The non-scientific way of knowing your wood is ready to burn is by whacking two logs together. If they feel heavy and you hear a dull thud, they’re wet. If they’re light and you hear a hollow sound, they’re ready to burn. The scientific way is to invest in a moisture meter. Don’t burn firewood with more than 20% moisture - it will burn, but it will also create a lot of smoke and creosote.

Keep firewood away from your house or any flammable materials.

Never store firewood inside your home unless you love spiders, termites, ants, moths, pine beetles, and other creepy crawlies.

wood burning tips

To help you get the most out of your wood-burning fireplace, insert, or stove, the Environmental Protection Agency has a variety of resources in multiple languages to help you become a wood burning expert. These tip sheets and brochures have everything you need to know about wood burning appliances. You can also call our friendly experts if you have questions about your specific heater, such as how to use your catalyst.

What to do with all that Ash

What to do with all that ash? Safety first: make sure ash is put into a metal container with a lid that is stored outside on a non-combustible surface, at least 3 feet away from any flammable materials. Let your ash cool completely cooled before using it!

This Old House has a great article that describes the many ways to use fireplace ash: as soil enhancement, composting, pest control, and more!

glass CARE & cleaning

Glass Care

The ceramic glass on your fireplace, insert, or stove is designed to withstand extremely high temperatures, but it needs to be treated with care.

Never operate a fireplace with broken or missing glass
Never place wood against the glass
Never slam the door or use the door to push a log deeper into the fireplace.
Make sure the stove rope is in good condition and creates a seal when the door is closed

Glass Cleaning

Burning wood means, in essence, a beautiful way to heat your home, but it’s only beautiful when you can see the flames!

The glass on your wood-burning appliance can become coated with creosote and ash to the point you can’t see the flames. Dirty glass can also result from a poor draft, burning wet wood, a small (cooler) fire, or closing the damper too early.

We recommend cleaning your glass frequently with non-ammonia glass cleaner, which is available at our showroom. Our service trucks also carry glass cleaner, so your regular service call is a great opportunity to stock up!

If your glass becomes sooty or caked with creosote, wait until it is completely cool to clean it. Spray it with non-ammonia glass cleaner and use a flat razor to scrape off the creosote. Here’s a very satisfying time-lapse video of how easy glass cleaning is with a flat razor. Follow mtnhp on Instagram for more fun content!

chimney cleaning

Chimney cleaning is just as important as changing the oil in your car, because prevention is much cheaper than the cure. A dirty chimney can significantly reduce burning efficiency and worse, it can lead to chimney fires.

We recommend annual chimney sweeping, which includes a thorough inspection to make sure your chimney is free from cracks, or other damage (especially at the chimney-roof interface), and that there’s a chimney cap to keep debris and water out of your chimney.

We make scheduling service super convenient with our forward-scheduling process: we’ll call you when it’s time for your next service, so you’re always ready for burning season!

how to use a catalytic combustor

Modern stoves are super efficient. The secret is the catalytic combustor, or catalyst: a simple ceramic structure with a honeycomb configuration coated with noble metals. A catalyst doesn’t engage right away when you’re starting a fire.

During the early stages of a burn, the stove’s catalyst handle remains in the open (“bypass”) position to create the best draw through the chimney. Do not engage the catalyst too early, or you’ll choke the flame and cause build-up on the catalyst itself.

In order for the catalyst to engage, it has to heat up to at least 500 degrees. This usually happens after 20-30 minutes of burning.

Once the catalyst reaches this temperature, you can move the lever to engage the catalyst. Now, smoke must pass through the catalyst as it exits the firebox. When combustible gases and particulate matter (“smoke”) passes through the catalyst, a chemical reaction occurs that causes the smoke to ignite.

This secondary burn makes the stove more efficient because it produces nearly complete combustion. When the catalyst is engaged, your stove burns everything that’s in the stove: the wood plus nearly all of the smoke that’s generated - remember, smoke is combustible too. This lets you get up to 50% more heat from each log. That’s a lot more heat from less firewood! A catalyst will also ensure a much cleaner chimney with less creosote build-up.

Tips:

Make sure the stove’s temperature is at 500-700 degrees before engaging the catalytic combustor. If you don’t have a temperature gauge, wait about 20-30 minutes.
How do you know the catalyst is working? If you step outside and smell burning wood but don’t see any smoke, the catalyst is performing as it should!
If you notice a decrease in performance like “lazy” flames or a lot of smoke even after a couple of hours of burning, chances are good that the catalyst is dirty.

blower, or no blower?

Wood Stoves

There’s a common misconception that you need a blower in order for a wood stove to heat your space. This probably comes from forced air furnaces which require a fan to move air through the ducts. However, wood stoves do not require a blower to heat your home efficiently.

All wood stoves heat a space via radiant heat where the body of the stove heats up and retains that heat to radiate warmth into a room even after the fire has gone out. This is very different from convective heat, which heats your home through the movement of heated air through the home. This means that all stoves should have a blower to move air around… right? Wrong! We recommend not using a blower with a cast iron or hybrid (cast iron/soapstone) stove.

That’s because a blower actually cools the stove down (it’s exactly like blowing on a hot potato to cool it down). Cast iron and hybrid (cast iron/soapstone) stoves are especially good at retaining and radiating heat. With these types of stoves, adding a blower will cool the stove too much and reduce the incredible heat-retaining properties of soapstone and cast iron. Yes, some warmed air will be moved around the space, but at the cost of making the stove cooler than it should be. If you have a cast iron or hybrid stove, a better way to move warmed air is with a ceiling fan if you have one. You’ll not only optimize the performance of your stove, you’ll also save about $700 on a blower you really don’t need.

When is a blower a good idea? If you’re heating a very large space, or if you have a steel stove which has lower radiant properties than cast iron or a hybrid.

Try this: if you have a cast iron or hybrid stove and it has a blower, try going without the blower for a couple of days. Just burn your stove as you normally would, and see what happens. You might notice that your stove stays hotter longer. Why does this matter? A hotter stove will retain more heat when you really don’t want to be stoking the fire, like in the middle of the night. A cast iron or soapstone stove will still be warm to the touch in the morning even long after the fire has gone out, and still radiating warmth into the room: but not if it’s cooled with a blower.

Also keep in mind that a blower will not work during a power outage.

Fireplaces/Inserts

Blowers can be used to boost the heating properties of wood-burning fireplaces or inserts. Since five sides (top, bottom, both sides, and rear) of the unit are enclosed and therefore insulated, fireplaces and inserts can only radiate heat through the front. Ceramic glass does an amazing job of radiating heat but like steel, it does not stay hot as long as cast iron or soapstone. A fireplace or insert is insulated by its enclosure, so a blower can help move more heat into the room without much impact on the unit’s temperature. You will only increase the perceived heat by 10-20 percent, however. Most of the heat will still radiate into the room via the glass viewing area. Again, a ceiling fan is the best way to push warmed air around a room. A fireplace or insert blower will also not operate during a power outage.

pellet stoves

To get the most efficiency from your pellet stove, here are some important tips.

Use Quality Pellets

High quality, low-ash pellets prevent clogging the hopper and feed system. It’s important to know the ash content of the pellets. Some pellet stoves can handle high-ash pellets, while others are only designed for low-ash pellets.

Properly Store Your Pellets

We get a lot of calls from frustrated homeowners whose pellets aren’t burning properly. In many cases, it’s because the pellets were stored incorrectly and have absorbed moisture.

Keep pellets elevated, preferably indoors, in a cool, dry location. If you store them outdoors, they must be thoroughly protected from the elements. Never put pellets on the garage or basement floor! There’s enough moisture in concrete to soak into the bags and ruin your pellets.

Keep Up with Maintenance

The burn pot and ash pan must be cleaned out regularly to ensure proper airflow. At the end of the heating season, remove any unburned pellets from the hopper and feed system. If you don’t, they can soak up moisture, breed mold, and clog the system.

Adjust Airflow and Settings

Too much air will cause pellets to burn too hot. Too little air will lead to incomplete combustion, and a build-up of creosote. Adjust the airflow for a steady burn that’s hot enough for your heating needs but not so high that you overfire the stove and blow through bags of pellets too quickly. If you’re not sure what settings to use, our friendly experts can help!

Use a blower system or fan to distribute the heat throughout the space, whether your pellet stove is used for zone heating or whole-house heating.

FAQ

Why am I feeling a cold draft from my wood-burning fireplace?

The most common cause of a cold draft from an open fireplace is that the damper is open. Unfortunately, beyond closing the damper there’s not much that can be done to keep cold air (which sinks) from coming down the chimney into your home. This - and because so much heat goes up the chimney when you’re burning a fire - is why we highly recommend replacing an open fireplace with an insert. If you’re feeling a cold draft from an enclosed fireplace (with doors) or an insert, you can use fire-rated caulk or sealant to fill in gaps around the fireplace insert.

I get smoke spilling into the house when I light my wood fireplace.

This happens often when the air in the chimney is colder than the air in the fireplace or stove (which, when cold, is around room temperature). Cold air sinks and pushes the smoke back into your living space. Many modern wood fireplaces and stoves feature a bypass damper, which helps direct smoke up the chimney rather than into your living room. Prevent smoke spillage by starting a fire properly. start with good kindling and slowly add larger pieces to prevent suffocating the fire. You can also crack a door or window to equalize the air pressure between the home and the outdoors.

What are outside air kits, and do I need one?

At our high Colorado altitude, there isn’t quite enough oxygen to achieve ideal flames. We recommend installing an outside air kit which will provide additional combustion air to the fireplace to give the fire more oxygen. Outside air kits also help prevent smoke spillage while opening a stove/fireplace door.

I get very short burn times. How can I extend my burn times?

Softwoods like pine burn quickly, so try mixing some hardwoods into each load.

What about overnight burns? The traditional way to avoid stoking the fire in the middle of the night is to do a slow burn, or keeping the damper open just enough to maintain the flame and burn at lower temperatures for a longer time. However - and this is a big however - low burn temperatures also create significant amounts of creosote in the chimney.

A better option is to make a hot fire at bedtime, a fire that’s near the top of the optimal temperature range as indicated on the temperature gauge; and letting the stove or fireplace radiate heat overnight as the fire dies down. This will keep your chimney cleaner. This method is especially effective if you have a cast iron or hybrid cast iron/soapstone stove or fireplace, which have very efficient radiant properties. Even without stoking, your cast iron or hybrid stove/fireplace should still be warm to the touch in the morning which means it’s still radiating some heat! It won’t be tropical… but it will be tolerable.

Why does my blower take so long to come on?

The blower has a temperature sensor called a snap disc which is located on the bottom or back side of the firebox. This sensor has to reach a certain temperature before the blower turns on. The timing depends on how hot your fire is. It can take anywhere from 20 -60 minutes for the snap disc to heat up enough to trigger the blower. Keep in mind too that even if the thermometer (if your stove is equipped with one) reads a hot temperature like 600 degrees, the sensor is reading the temperature higher in the stove than where the snap disc sits.

Why does the blower come on and off while I’m burning?

Blowers cycle on and off: after the blower comes on, it cools the temperature sensor. Once the temperature sensor has cooled to a certain point, the blower will turn off. You can prevent this by burning a hotter fire. If this does not help, the blower may need to be serviced.

When I’m cleaning my wood stove or fireplace, should I remove all the ash?

You can actually improve performance by leaving between ½ ” to 1” of ash in the bottom to act as a bit of insulation for a growing fire.

The mantel above my fireplace is hot. Is this dangerous?

The mantel will get hot to the touch - but it should never become so hot that you can’t comfortably touch it. How hot it gets depends on how close it is to the fireplace, how thick it is, and the materials it’s made of. If the mantel becomes too hot to the touch or our technicians discover that it has been incorrectly installed (too close to the fireplace), we can install a metal heat shield on the bottom of the mantel to protect it from rising heat. In some cases, a mantel will need to be re-installed at a proper height.