By Julia Purdy
The day after Christmas, in Vermont’s Washington County a woodstove ignited the wall behind it as the family was watching television, reported WPTZ.
The previous week, WCAX reported a pre-dawn, total house fire in Bethel that killed an elderly couple. The attached woodshed was “full of wood, so that was all fully engulfed,” said Bethel Fire Chief David Aldrighetti.
And the weekend before those two incidents, another pre-dawn fire at a home in the remote mountain town of Readsboro claimed the life of a lone occupant.
The 2021 Report of the State Fire Marshall states, “In 2021, Vermont experienced eight residential fire deaths, reported by the U.S. Fire Administration, next to the lowest rate of all the Northeast, where people typically burn wood for heating fuel. Most of those deaths occurred in Vermont in January, followed by September and November.”
Many winter house fires result from deferred maintenance, unsafe installation or careless operation of woodburning stoves and fireplaces. The report states, “A lead contributing factor to home heating fires is failure to clean creosote from solid-fueled heating equipment chimneys.”
Most long-time residents are keenly aware of the risks of living in brittle, century-old – or older – houses. The Daily Dispatch, on Dec. 22 this year, reported on a Wardsboro homeowner whose outside communication was blocked by a private plow truck that crashed into a utility pole. She had four fire extinguishers at the ready, and told the Dispatch, “My house is an 1840s carriage barn, and it would burn like kindling with any spark. A fire here would also take out a few other homes and barns close nearby.”
Maybe you found a cozy winter or holiday rental that features a woodburning stove as a centerpiece, or you have decided to scavenge a pre-owned model for your home because the prices on new models are out of reach. Maybe you know someone who knows someone who has an older woodburner in the barn they want to get rid of for a few bucks, or you see a deal on craigslist.
Either way, you will be using and depending on a secondhand woodstove that may or may not have received meticulous care. Don’t rely on a snapshot. You will want to see it in person; unlike buying a house sight-unseen, you will be depending on this equipment for warmth and also safety. Worn-out, poorly installed woodstoves are the proverbial tinderbox and can also leak smoke and odorless carbon monoxide into the room.
There is much sound advice online by folks who have long experience heating with wood. Here are some of their observations.
Even though Maryland is not exactly the frozen North, the University of Maryland Extension Service’s advice is consistent with recommendations from regions where burning wood is a winter-long practice. The service does urge buyers to look for the EPA certification tag. EPA-certified stoves “emit less smoke, are more efficient, produce more heat, and are safer. They also produce less creosote so your chimney will stay cleaner,” advises the extension service.
According to Hearth.com, prior to 1980, UL approval was not required. After 1990, the Environmental Protection Agency required certification for all new stoves, to reduce air pollution and raise efficiency. Certification is not a requirement in all states, and in any case you might not fall in love with a stove that predates the 1980s.
The new regs mean that stoves over 30 years old are better utilized as outdoor grills or nests for mice in the barn. Hearth.com notes that “cast iron box stoves that are not UL listed cannot be installed in habitable living spaces. Some have deceiving claims tested to UL standards but do not carry the UL label. … This information becomes critical to avoid purchasing a used wood stove that cannot be legally installed.” Installation requires a permit and the stove must show a UL rating; many homeowners insurance carriers require it.
But some folks fall in love with the rustic appeal of a still-functional vintage woodstove, so here are some questions several sites recommend asking a seller: What year is this stove? Does it have a UL or EPA label? How often, when and where was it used? Have you ever had a problem with it? When was the last maintenance done, and what was done? Do you have the manual? (This is useful for the tolerances required when installing it.)
As for the stove, here is a checklist of what to look for in a secondhand airtight, cast iron or sheet steel woodstove.
Trust your first impression. Inspect the outer jacket of the stove carefully. Flaking rust or a white discoloration somewhere indicate “over-firing” – the metal has been literally burned, either too hot or for too long, causing metal fatigue. You may see warping or buckling sides or top. Over-firing can also open seams. Shine a flashlight into the stove. If light leaks out anywhere, this stove is no longer airtight and you should pass it by.
If the jacket looks unharmed, check for a good seal around the loading doors. This is a necessary feature of the airtight stove. The gaskets should be intact all the way around and not frayed. They are made of fiberglass rope, impregnated with graphite. Hearth.com has an easy hack: shut the doors on a dollar bill; if you can pull it out easily, the gaskets need replacing. Parts are available from the manufacturer and should be inspected regularly.
While you are checking the loading doors, examine the firebrick lining of the fire chamber inside. Ask the seller to clean out any remaining layer of ash that conceals the floor. Is the firebrick broken, crumbling or reduced to powder? A few small hair line cracks are normal, says Hearth.com, but extensive damage is once again the result of over-firing. Does the grate show signs of over-firing? Is the ash pan missing or rusted through?
Do the hinges and latches work smoothly? Are they missing or loose when closed? If the stove has a front window, is the glass intact? Some discoloration is normal. Does the damper open and close easily, and stay that way?
Check the operation of the stove, if it is still connected to a flue. Light a small fire in it. If you don’t know how, ask the seller to show you. If the damper and the air intakes are working properly, a small amount of tinder should set fire quickly to a couple of sticks of kindling, and no smoke should leak into the room.
The seller should also be able to explain the features of the stove, such as baffles that recirculate the initial smoke to be reignited, thus achieving greater efficiency.
The condition of a secondhand woodstove is only one part of the picture. What kind of firewood do you have access to?
Hardwoods, kiln-dried or stored outdoors under cover for at least six months, are the ideal fuel. In the Northeast, maple, oak, and ash are the species of choice: dense woods, they burn steadily and evenly, produce very little creosote, and “more fuel is packed into each chunk of wood,” Rutland City Fire Chief Bill Lovett told the Mountain Times. The softwoods such as pine, birch and tamarack burn faster and less efficiently and coat the stove and flue with residual pitch, which is the culprit in most chimney fires.
Some say that burning a hot fire will keep the flue cleaner, but it’s a good way to start a chimney fire, he added.
“Green” (unseasoned) contains moisture and tends to smolder, requiring constant stoking and an open draft to keep it burning, while producing more residue than warmth. In addition, some woods such as tamarack throw showers of sparks. No smoke should be entering the living area.
Before heating season begins, has the woodstove been inspected? Has the chimney been swept professionally? Bird nests, bats, rodents, storm debris must be cleared out also.
Frequency of chimney cleaning is dictated by type of flue, type of stove, type of firewood, Chief Lovett explained.
Woodstoves must be serviced and checked over, esp. the older styles. A professional chimney sweep company is thorough, will also inspect the condition of the stove, and is a source of sound advice.
Preparing o heat with wood “is not the place to save a few dollars,” Lovett said. “Life hangs in the balance.”
