Accessories For The Hearth
Accessories For The Hearth
There are some accessories that are necessary for successful and convenient wood heating.There are other accessories that may seem like a good idea, but can create problems.
There are some accessories that are necessary for successful and convenient wood heating. There are other accessories that may seem like a good idea, but can create problems. Here is a review of some of the options.
FireTool Set
You will need a tool set to manage the fire and keep the hearth neat. In general, tool sets for wood heating are simpler and shorter in length than sets for fireplaces. The set should have three tools: a rake for moving charcoal and logs around, a brush and a shovel. A rake is more useful for managing a heating fire than a poker. Pokers and tongs are better for conventional fireplaces.
Ash Container
Ashes should be taken outside as soon as they are removed from the appliance because they may release toxic carbon monoxide into the indoor air. The outside ash storage container should be metal, have a tight-fitting lid, and it should be placed on concrete away from combustible materials. If your appliance doesn’t have an ash pan, you will also need a small ash bucket for transferring ash from the appliance to the outside ash storage can.
Removing ash can result in a lot of dust being released into the house. There are a couple of ways to reduce the amount of ash dust released. If you must shovel ash into a bucket, use a small bucket that you can hold in the door opening so that most of the ash dust is drawn back into the stove. This only works if there is still an active bed of charcoal at the back of the firebox to provide enough heat to produce draft. In other words, the hardest time to control ash dust is when the appliance is cold because there is no chimney draft to draw dust back through the opening. Another option is a ash device that can scoop out ash through the door opening. Ask your wood heat retailer about an ash scoop with a sliding lid.
Hearth Gloves
A pair of heat-resistant gloves is handy to have near the hearth. Gloves can be worn when you need to rake a large coal bed, or in an emergency such as picking up a log that has rolled out of the firebox. Hearth gloves are lined, thick leather gloves with long cuffs. Wood heat dealers usually carry hearth gloves, and welding supply stores have gloves that work well for use around stoves and fireplaces.
Fire Screen
Heating stoves and fireplaces should be operated with their doors closed and latched
to produce high efficiency and low smoke emissions. However, some manufacturers
offer accessory screens that can be put in place when the door is fully opened. The use
of fire screens in modern stoves and fireplaces should be minimized for three reasons.
First, having the door open disables the combustion system, meaning that smoke
emissions are much higher than with the door closed. Second, the open door makes
the appliance much more likely to spill smoke into the room, causing indoor air
pollution. Third, the efficiency of the stove or fireplace falls to very low levels when
the door is open, meaning that much of the energy in the firewood is wasted.
Domestic Hot Water Coil or Collector
Many people who heat with wood like the idea of heating their domestic hot water (DHW) with their wood-heating appliance. This is done with a water coil or collector in the firebox or attached to the hot outside surface of the appliance. However there are a few reasons why the heating of domestic hot water is rare. First, no advanced, low-emission stoves, fireplaces or furnaces are certified to use a DHW collector because the heat drawn away from the combustion zone would make it impossible to meet EPA’s emission limits. Second, DHW systems linked to wood-heating appliances can be very complex and expensive. Third, because of the risks of steam explosions and water damage, home insurance companies are sometimes reluctant to provide insurance coverage to homes containing such systems. Some cook stove manufacturers offer DHW collector accessories and wood-fired boilers can usually be adapted easily to heat DHW. Be sure that the DHW collector you are considering is certified for use with your appliance.
Humidifier
Many people who heat with wood use a kettle of water on their stoves to add moisture to the often dry winter air. Suitable kettles or humidifiers can be found in most woodheating retail stores. The kettle should be placed on a grille or trivet rather than directly on the stove surface. The trivet will prevent moisture condensation during cooling cycles and rust from forming on the stove top.
Not all houses need extra moisture in winter. New, tightly constructed houses with low air leakage rates don’t need extra moisture because normal household activities such as washing and cooking add enough moisture. The best way to check if your house needs extra humidity is to buy an inexpensive hygrometer, sometimes called a relative humidity indicator. Once you know how your house functions in winter you can decide if more humidity is needed.
Contact your REALTOR at Coldwell Banker Vantage Realty for more tips and advice on your home maintenance.
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