My Stove Is Not Working Well

It can happen that your stove is not burning as well as it used to. Here are the reasons for this and what you can easily do to fix the problem.

Poor Combustion When Using the Pellet Burner

1. The burner is not properly cleaned.
   • After each firing, clean the grit of the burner with the supplied steel brush. The bottom must be clean: the combustion air must come through the ridges in this bottom. If there are still soot particles on and between them, the combustion will not proceed well. Sweeping for 20 seconds each time before refilling the burner is enough.
   • If you realize too late that you forgot to clean the burner, you can tap the grit from below with a small hammer. Enough ash will fall down so that the combustion can proceed fairly normally again. Do this through the cleaning hole (remove the round steel part from the stone). And after combustion, clean the burner thoroughly with the steel brush. See also ‘how to use your stove’.
2. The air for wood combustion is still open.
   • Make sure this is closed during the use of the pellet stove. If too much air is added to the combustion chamber because the wood combustion air is open, poor combustion will occur in the pellet burner. There will be fewer flames, a lot of soot particles will be left in the burner, and the smoke air will be too cold, which can cause condensation problems in the stove (condensation water can even creep out of the stove).
3. The air for the pellet burner has not been opened.
   • Make sure the air for the pellet burner is opened – the valve should be halfway open, as indicated on the handle (less than during wood burning).
4. Your stove’s flue channels are clogged.
   • If you also burn wood, and this wood has high moisture content, or it has been a long time since you cleaned the flue channels at the top of the stove, there may be a thick layer of soot on the inner walls of the stove. This then prevents the air from being properly drawn into the chimney.
5. Your chimney does not draw well enough.
   • Especially in soft and humid weather, when the outside and inside temperatures are the same, this can happen quite often. Combustion will start more slowly but will return to normal after 15 minutes.
   • It could also be that your chimney is ‘leaking’, drawing false air from, for example, the attic into the pipe, causing your stove not to work well.

Poor Combustion When Burning Wood

1. You forgot to draw out the handle under the firebox.
   • Open the air supply sufficiently, more than when burning pellets, as indicated on the handle.
2. You are using too large and/or wet pieces of wood.
   • Ensure the wood is well-split and dry.
3. Your stove’s flue channels are clogged.
   • If you burn wood with high moisture content, or it has been a long time since you cleaned the flue channels at the top of the stove, there may be a thick layer of soot on the inner walls of the stove. This prevents the chimney to work properly. It will also lead to a lesser heat output into your room.