This is what ought to be done to safely use a wood heating system. Before you ever take up a fire in your wood heater check the stove pipe and chimney. Look to see they're properly connected and that they haven't any holes showing. Fumes like carbon monoxide, and also smoke, could escape into your home through a hole in the stove pipe, as could flames f you ever have a little chimney fire. That could take up a house fire.
Open a window some to allow oxygen from outside to enter the area where your heater is burning. The fire burns the oxygen within the room when the heater is operating.
It is a good idea to have your heater sitting on a sheet metal base, that stretches out while watching heater's door. This metal sheet spreads out any excessive heat on to the floor and should the fire spit out burning embers once the door is opened for putting wood in, the floor will undoubtedly be protected from burns. This may often happen if the wood being burnt is not completely dry. Some forms of wood like spruce will have a tendency to pop and spit embers frequently while burning.
Check the fire proof chord seal round the door of the heater, ensuring there are no holes or gaps present. You need the fire box of one's heater air tight when you close the draft lever shutting off the air flow. The draft lever allows you to control how hot the fire burns. Closing the draft lever slows down the fire by stopping its oxygen supply.
You need to keep a door seal repair kit on hand. It contains a tube of liquid adhesive and a amount of fire proof rope-like chord. If you can see the light of the fire through the edge of the entranceway where in fact the door seal is located, repair is needed.
It is best to do the repair when the door of the heater is still quite warm. Measure and slice the correct length of door sealing chord that will fit all around the door in the groove. Scrape out any of the old chord still in the heater door groove so when clean wipe it with a rag. Apply the liquid adhesive a few drops at the same time to the inside of the groove. The warmth of the door may cause it to become sticky in a minute. When the adhesive becomes gel-like, press the chord into the groove with a screwdriver. Hold the chord in place for a few moments although it sets, attaching a few inches of the chord to the groove at a time. When it's all set up, close the heater door. Tighten the door latch whenever you can and let it set for about 15 minutes.
The chimney should be checked for an excessive amount of soot deposited on its inside. It is just a good idea to open the hole for the soot to fall down the chimney and stove pipe in to the heaters burning chamber. That is done by turning two fire bricks on their side near the top of the heaters burning chamber.
Go to this website . Take hand wiping rag, chimney cleaning brush, and the tools needed to take away the stove pipe cap at the top of your chimney. Carefully climb onto the roof. Remove the chimney cap and brush the soot off the inside of the cap. Look in the chimney. You'll likely visit a layer of black soot covering the top of the chimney. Blow it away. Take the chimney brush and carefully push it down and pull it up the chimney. Do this repeatedly until you see forget about black near the the surface of the chimney. If it is clean reattach the cap onto the chimney, clean your hands and tools with the rag and be careful climbing down off the roof. Invest some time. It isn't worth getting hurt by falling.
Wood heat is a comfortable way of heating your home but it does take some safety knowledge and precautions to take action safely.