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How to keep a wood-burning stove lit overnight
Is it possible to keep a woodburner lit all night?
The answer is yes, but there is some skill involved. There’s also likely to be lots of trial and error involved. But with a bit of practice – and perhaps even a bit of luck – you should be able to keep your stove burning through the night.
Is it safe to keep the stove burning at night?
There is inevitably some risk attached to leaving a lit stove unattended for hours at a time. While this was not only commonplace but practically a necessity in many homes in yesteryear, nowadays some people would rather know that their stove is extinguished before they go to bed for the night.
Equally, we know from speaking to customers that being able to keep the stove in at night is one of the things that they’re most looking forward to about their new appliance. With that in mind, here is our explanation of the best and safest way to keep a stove lit overnight.
How to keep a woodburner going at night
As we’ve already mentioned, an unwatched fire always poses a slight risk so what you’re aiming for from a safety perspective and to ensure a long burn is to dampen the fire as much as possible before you leave it for the night.
The first step is to build up the stove with a good load of fuel about an hour before you want to go to bed. Place the fuel near the front of the stove to allow charcoal to build up towards the back. Before you go to bed, you should see glowing charcoal embers with no flames.
Secondly, close all the air flow dials to minimise the amount of oxygen getting to your fuel. This will encourage a slow burn.
You can further dampen the fire by coating the embers with coal dust or dross.
Starting the stove up the next morning
When you return to the stove the following day, open the air vents to allow more oxygen into the firebox as if you were about to light the appliance. If you’ve been successful, the fire should immediately start up again from the embers.
At this point you can add kindling and get a proper fire going once again.
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