Maintenance and safety

Guides

• Carbon monoxide and wood burners: stay alert

  Why stoves can produce carbon monoxide, the warning signs, and the alarm, sweeping and ventilation that guard against it.

• Chimney fires: the signs and how to prevent them

  The signs of a chimney fire, what to do (call 999), and how dry fuel and sweeping prevent one.

• How often should a chimney be swept?

  How often to sweep a chimney for a wood burner or multi-fuel stove, what the sweep checks, and setting a reminder.

• Stove firebricks: cracked, OK or replace?

  What firebricks do, which cracks are normal, and when to replace them or ask an installer.

• Getting your stove ready for winter: a checklist

  A pre-winter checklist for your wood burner: logs in, chimney swept, CO alarm checked, seals sound and kindling ready.

• Heating in a power cut with a wood burner

  Planning heat for a power cut with a stove: logs on hand, how long they last, and lights and phones.

• Spring stove clean: end-of-season jobs

  End-of-season jobs for your wood burner: ash out, sweep booked, seals checked and the glass cleaned.

• Stove rope seals: when and what size to replace

  How to tell when a stove door rope has gone, measuring the channel, and what size rope to buy.

• Summer stove care: damp, air controls and cowls

  Looking after a wood burner over summer: air controls, damp in the flue, the chimney cowl and stacking next winter's logs.