Fall is here! Cooler temperatures will make us want to fire up our stoves. It is time to make sure your free-standing unit, fireplace or fireplace insert is ready to use! Make sure your flue or chimney pipe is clean and in good repair. Nests of all kinds can be inside your chimney. Make sure your flue is safely cleaned out.

If your pipe need replacing, don’t wait until the first fire. Chimney caps, gaskets around doors and grates may need replacing. Caulk around the storm collars if needed. If the glass in wood stoves/wood burning inserts/zero-clearance types like the FPX or Appalachian need replacing, ceramic glass is the material to use. Tempered glass (for fireplace doors) and regular glass will shatter. We carry many of the glass sizes for the units we sell in stock.

If your freestanding stove or fireplace insert needs sprucing up, stove paint or polish will make it look like new. It will have to be cured with a low fire and will have an odor so do that on a day when you can open your windows.

When starting up a fire, heat the flue up so the draft will flow correctly with small fires. Gel alcohol firestater is a good choice to begin with. It doesn’t generate smoke and gets the fire going quickly. And as always, dry wood is the key!

Colder Temperatures are Here!

December temperature got a bit colder and now the stoves are firing up making evenings nice and toasty! Remember to keep your wood out of the weather and check your pipes and cap to keep ahead of any build up. Creosote can form in as soon as 24 hours so keeping ahead of it is very important.

Also, wood stoves are not like gas products. Try to plan your fires so you do not have a burn that is too large for indoors. It takes a little practice but it’s always easier to add to a fire than to take away from one.