https://shieldforest14.bravejournal.net/10-misleading-answers-to-common-wood-burners-questions-do-you-know-the-right How to Properly Operate a Woodburning Stove Wood stoves can be an inexpensive and cozy way to heat the home. Smoke from wood stoves can be hazardous to your health. It's important to understand how these appliances work and how they operate. 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 firebox is considered an open-air combustion chamber with walls and lid. Most fireplaces come with prefabricated metal fireboxes or a masonry firebox. The type of firebox you pick will depend on your personal preferences and the type of fireplace that you have. Most wood-burning fireplaces make use of a constant flow of air to create the fire and burn fuel. Fresh air is drawn into the stove through adjustable dampers that are located in the stove's doors. This allows the fuels to burn correctly, and also reduces the toxic gases that are produced by incomplete or unburnt combustion. The exhaust gases are taken up by the chimney, and safely out of your home. Modern stoves with catalytic second combustion use a special catalyst that reburns the unburned gasses to produce additional heat. This results in a much cleaner and less polluting exhaust than traditional wood stoves that have no secondary combustion. Modern wood stoves that are not catalytic are available however they are usually less efficient than stoves with catalytic second combustion. Some wood-burning stoves include backboilers that can be used to heat water as well as for space heating. They are also known as "combination" or "hybrid"