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There are not many things these days that are strong, durable, and beautiful. It seems that in these days of efficiency and company profits, no one is willing to really build a product that will last for decades, or even centuries, without ever letting you down. Cast iron wood stoves are one of those things that you used to be able to rely on for your entire life, knowing that they were virtually indestructible. There is not much these days that can say the same thing. If you have a cast iron wood stove then you can use it to heat your home or cabin for a long time into the future.
Taking care of cast iron wood stoves, while simple, is very important. There are a few things you can do to ensure that your stove will perform at its optimal level into the future without getting damaged or clogged.
The main thing you should aim to avoid with cast iron wood stoves is allowing them to get clogged with creosote. Creosote is a natural waste product of combustion and a certain amount of it is probably unavoidable, however, allowing it to build up in large amounts can not only hamper the performance of cast iron wood stoves, but can also be dangerous. For example, if your stove gets clogged up with creosote then the first problem is that this will reduce the amount of oxygen that gets into the stove. This will cause your fire to burn less efficiently, at a lower temperature and this leads to even more creosote being produced. This is a cycle that can quickly lead to the entire stove getting clogged up and ruined.
If you do not fancy the idea of cleaning out the inside of cast iron wood stoves on a regular basis, then there are a couple of things that you should do to reduce the chances of your stove getting clogged up. First of all, you should ensure that you only use properly seasoned wood. This means wood that is dry and definitely no green wood. To season wood you should store it covered and raised off the ground, preferably for the entire winter, or one year in advance. Using properly seasoned wood will drastically improve the performance and lifespan of cast iron wood stoves.
Another thing is make sure that as much air as possible enters the stove. If your chimney has a damper then make sure this is fully open, and also that none of the outlets and inlets are blocked. A properly burning cast iron wood stove should produce virtually no smoke, so you can check to see how your stove is doing by looking at the smoke coming out of your chimney. If it is black, then you have a problem as there should be hardly any smoke at all.
A well looked after cast iron wood stove is a thing of beauty that will serve you well for years to come, so take care of it properly.
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