5 Log Burner Safety Tips To Keep Your Home Safe & Sound

After falling out of favour for a short while, log burners have become quite a popular addition to homes’ living rooms in recent years, allowing families to stay warm and cozy throughout the winter while cutting down energy costs. Installing a wood-burning stove can also add an effortless touch of personality to any room, driving up the value of the home at the same time — all with very little upfront investment.

However, if you’re one of the many families looking to install a brand-new wood-burning stove in preparation for the colder months ahead, there are a few crucial log burner safety principles you should be 100% familiar with before you start using your new appliance on a regular basis.

Just like any other appliance, log burners require regular maintenance and scheduled check-ups to continue working properly and safely.

No preventive measures are excessive when you’re dealing with fire, smoke, and ash, so here are our top 5 log burner safety tips for ensuring maximum heat and maximum safety as you start using your new stove!

1. Leave the installation to the professionals

Log burner safety starts with a safe and thorough installation, so it’s only natural that you’d leave the job to the professionals!

Getting it right the first time will not only save you time and money in the long run but also help you identify possible issues with your space from the get-go. Your installation professionals will, in fact, adhere to municipal requirements and identify whether the spot you’ve chosen for your wood-burning stove is too close to combustibles or other materials prone to heat damage.

Having professionals share their knowledge and action all these log burner safety principles will prevent plenty of safety issues from ever showing up!

2. Allow proper ventilation

Adequate ventilation is essential for building a safe fire as inadequate ventilation around your stove can lead to hazardous carbon monoxide buildup.

On top of making sure you have carbon monoxide detectors safely installed close to your log burner, you should also ensure your stove room is properly ventilated and that your flue is open to allow plenty of oxygen in.

3. Start your fire right

If you’re looking to maximize log burner safety, you should never start your fire with kerosene, gasoline, charcoal fuel, or wrapping paper, as they can create fireballs and build up flammable material inside your stove over time.

So, what should you use instead?

The best way to start a safe yet powerful fire is to use natural firelighters, made from compressed, dry wood shavings and designed to prevent creosote buildup while maximizing burning performance. Each firelighter will burn for around 8-10 minutes, producing a strong and reliable flame once lit.

4. Clean out the ashes regularly

Another crucial step in maintaining log burner safety through every burning season is to ensure your stove is properly cleaned before starting a new fire, and your chimney is swept by professional sweepers at least twice a year.

This is because ash and creosote accumulation inside flue pipes and chimneys is one of the most common (and easily preventable) causes of house fires. On top of cleaning your stove and chimney regularly, you should also make sure to check your appliance thoroughly for cracks and dents too before starting a new fire, as they might lead to higher flammability!

5. Use the right firewood for your health & safety

Finally, the best way of ensuring log burner safety through every fire is to only use high-quality, seasoned firewood with every burn.

Using unseasoned, wet firewood can lead to excessive smoke and creosote production, damaging your wood-burning stove and, in turn, creating a dangerous fire hazard. Not to mention, unseasoned firewood is frustratingly hard to light, making for a time-consuming and inefficient fire-burning experience.

In order to prevent house fires, indoor pollution, and damages to your stove, you should only invest in what’s best for your log burner: Extra-dry wood fuels like kiln-dried firewood and kiln-dried kindling.

Safety Begins with Your Choice of Wood Fuels

Your log burner safety standards can only go so far if you don’t include high-quality, extra-dry wood fuels in your fire-burning routine.

That’s why we do our best to always provide safe and seasoned logs and kindling, no matter if you’re looking for the biggest heat output with our Hardwood Heat Logs or valuing versatility above all with our Kiln-Dried Firewood.

Browse our growing collection today to find the perfect (and safest) wood fuels for your needs!