Wood Stove Tips and Safety

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Do you know how to operate a cabin wood stove?
Efficiency is the main objective when using a wood stove to heat the cabin. You want to keep as much heat as possible in the cabin while allowing the stove to operate correctly and safely.

How does a wood stove work?
For the stove to work properly, the fire must have a constant supply of oxygen, and the resultant exhaust gases need to escape through the chimney efficiently.

The chimney is fully responsible for drawing out the smoke. In order for it to do this properly, the chimney must be high enough and hot enough to create an adequate draft. The amount of air or draft that feeds the fire directly affects how fast the fire burns. This is why a fire flares up when you fan it.

Excess air will cause the fire to burn too quickly, and not enough air will cause the fire to starve and not burn hot enough.

Wood Stove Safety
Always install a new wood stove according to the manufacturer’s specifications. Taking short cuts may affect the operation of the wood stove, and will often cause problems with your insurance company if they find out the stove was not properly installed.

Keep all combustibles away from the wood stove. The stove gets very hot and any material that is at risk of catching fire must be stored away from the wood stove. Be careful when you put a chair close to the stove and do not place wet clothing articles on it to dry out. Avoid going near the wood stove when wearing your raincoat or polyester clothing. Plastic melts quickly and can cause a nasty burn.

Always wear work gloves and a long sleeve cotton or wool shirt when adding logs to the fire. Sparks or a shifting log can cause a serious burn. Use the proper tools for moving the logs around when making adjustments to the wood stove fire.

Keep children away from the wood stove when it is in use. Most cabins are a significant distance from medical facilities and a burn caused by touching the wood stove will ruin the vacation and may injure the child for life.

Be sure to properly inform people who are unfamiliar with using the stove, such as cottage renters and guests, about how to use the wood stove correctly and safely.

Safety must be on your mind at all times from the moment the wood stove is installed until the last piece of wood has finished burning each time you use it.

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​​McGovern Agency is here for all your insurance needs.
Please feel free to contact us if you have one of these in your home or cabin!
(586) 464-2400 ~ Inquiry@TheMcGovernAgency.com