Viewing fire in woodstove

The woodstove in my house doesn't have glass doors. Every now and then I like watching a fire burn (I'm used to fireplaces), but don't have the money for a new stove with glass doors. If I buy a screen to put in front of the opening, can I open the doors and watch the fire in the stove for a while, or will the room fill with smoke or some other problem?

Thanks,

Beth

 

You can probably open up for viewing, but you will lose a lot of room heat up the chimney (which is what the stove/insert is for). I had a fireplace insert at previous residence in NC with glass in the doors. Waste of time (unless there's better technology now); glass for always covered over with soot. Tried a couple of different glass conditioners that were supposed to cure that - no help. Also the fire in a stove/insert generally burns at a much lower combustion rate than in an open fireplace, so there really would be no "roaring fire" to look at.

 

Ok, I guess if I want a crackling fire I'll have to build a campfire in my backyard (although they are probably illegal these days).

But thanks for the tip on sooty glass; I'll keep that in mind when I'm able to buy a new stove.

Beth

 

There may in fact be some stoves that you can actually view through the door. Some sort of double-pane arrangement or other technology might mitigate the sooting problem; you could do some research to see what the stove makers say (taken with a grain of salt!).

 

I just want to respond to the comment that woodstove fire viewing is waste of time. I've been using and enjoying an air-tight woodstove over 15 years now at this house. The large glass door is never covered with soot, only a very light coat white film will deposit on the door after few days burn. The coating does not affect the viewing of the fire and can be cleaned with paper towel moisten with water (when the door is not hot). I think the mentioned soot built-up is due to a fire burning too cold or quality of the firewood.

As for the intensity of the fire, it is adjustable from 'roaring' to 'simmer' depending on how much outside air is allowed to be in the combustion chamber. The fire is equally beautiful in a woodstove as in an inefficient open fireplace.

The only drawback of air tight woodstove fire viewing is that you can't hear the crackling of the fire, a small price to pay for the huge efficiency gain.

 

I have a Regency brand fireplace insert that I have used for about ten years, and the glass door has never been covered with soot. Every 2-3 days, I take a damp paper towell, dip in the ashes, and wipe the door, then wipe with clean paper towel. When the fire is first started, and burning hotly, you can see the smoke curling downward over-and cleaning- the glass. Admittedly the air tight inserts don't have the roaring fire old fireplaces had, but they put out 50-80 times the heat using 1/4 the wood. Regen-cy makes a free standing stove that looks the same as my insert from the front, but is finished on sides and back also. The damp towel and ashes work better (and much cheaper) than and glass cleaner you can buy.
Chuck