BURN SMART

Burn efficiently.

Buy locally sourced firewood.
Season your firewood for at least 6 months – moisture content should be less than 20%.
Store your firewood properly – outdoors and off the ground with the top covered.
Never burn anything in your appliance other than good firewood and dry kindling, newspaper or all-natural firestarters.

Household trash, including cardboard, plastics, foam and the colored ink on magazines, boxes, and wrappers
Coated, painted, and pressure-treated wood
Ocean driftwood, plywood, particle board, or any wood with glue on or in it
Wet, rotted, diseased, or moldy wood
Plastic, asbestos, rubber, manure and animal remains

Keep flammable items away from your appliance such as curtains, furniture, newspapers and books.
Only use newspaper, dry kindling and all-natural or organic fire starters. Never start a fire with gasoline, kerosene, or charcoal starter.
Do not burn wet or green (unseasoned) wood.
Many wax and sawdust logs are made for open hearth fireplaces only. Consult your appliance’s operating instructions before using artificial logs.
If you can use them in your appliance or you have an open-hearth fireplace, only burn manufactured logs made from 100% compressed sawdust.
Build hot fires. For most appliances, a smouldering fire is not safe or efficient.
Keep the doors of your woodburning appliance closed unless loading or stoking the live fire. Harmful chemicals, like carbon monoxide, can be released into your home.
Regularly remove ashes into a covered, metal container. Store the container outdoors on a non-flammable surface.
Keep a fire extinguisher handy.
Check your local air quality forecast before you burn.

When wood burns it should be flaming until only charcoal remains. If there are no flames, something is wrong.
If there are firebricks in the firebox, they should be tan in color, never black.
Steel or cast iron parts in the firebox should be light to dark brown, never black and shiny.
With seasoned wood, correct air settings and proper loading arrangement you should expect almost instant ignition of a new load of wood – a long delay before ignitions indicates that something is wrong.
If the appliance has a glass door with air wash, it should be clear.
If the appliance has a glass door without air wash, it will be hazy, but should never be totally black.
The exhaust coming from the top of the chimney should be clear or white. A plume of blue or gray smoke indicates smouldering, poor combustion, air pollution and probably low system operating temperatures.