https://www.fireplacesandstove.com/products/cleveland-iron-works-erie-wood-stove How to Properly Operate a Woodburning Stove Wood stoves are a fantastic option to heat your home. They're also cheap. Smoke from wood stoves can be harmful to your health. It is important to know how these appliances function and how to use them properly. Modern stoves employ catalytic or secondary combustion to control emissions. However, older open fires and stoves create large amounts of particulates. The firebox The firebox is the heart of any fireplace system. It's where you create a fire to heat your home and provide ambiance. It's a simple concept, but there are many important details that must be accounted for to keep your wood burning stove safe and efficient. The most simple way to think about the firebox is that it's an open-air combustion chamber that has walls and a door. The majority of fireplaces have prefabricated metal fireboxes or masonry firebox. The type of firebox you pick will depend on your preferences as well as the kind of fireplace you have. The majority of wood-burning stoves utilize a constant flow of air to create the fire and burn the fuel. Fresh air is introduced into the stove through dampers that can be adjusted within the doors. This allows the fuels to be burned properly and reduces the harmful gases produced by incomplete or unburnt combustion. The exhaust gases will then be drawn through the chimney and away from your home. Modern stoves with catalytic secondary combustion use a special catalyst that reburns the unburned gasses to generate additional heat. This produces a cleaner and less polluting smoke than traditional wood stoves with no secondary combustion. Modern non-catalytic stoves are also available, but they're typically less efficient than stoves with secondary combustion that is catalytic. Some wood-burning stoves have a backboiler that can be used to heat water in addition to space heating. These are referred to as "combination" or "hybr