Stove Maintenance

Wood Burner & Multi Fuel Stove Maintenance

Maintaining and servicing your stove is critically important if you want to keep it operating efficiently and safely. None of it is 'rocket science' so any handy stove owner can easily undertake the basic essentials. The only caveat to this is that if your extended stove warranty terms and conditions stipulate that the service and maintenance of the stove must be carried out by a Hetas registered installer or other approved competent person. 

Stove Service Intervals

Your stove should be serviced at least once a year at the end or beginning of the heating season or as determined by the manufacturer. We strongly recommend that you do this at the end of the heating season as it will allow you plenty of time before the new heating season starts should you need to acquire some hard-to-get components. Many people leave replacing their critical stove parts until a couple of weeks before Christmas, the industry's busiest period, only to be disappointed by unavailability or extended lead times. As it is also convenient to have your stove's chimney or flue system swept at the same time as the stove is serviced then doing this in late Spring or the Summer also means that you will have easier access to a good sweep and at a time that's also convenient to you.Please note that your annual stove service should not be at the expense of regular routine maintenance during the heating season as directed by the stove manufacturer, for example regularly cleaning the baffle plate and checking the flue way.

stove maintenance check-list   

Essential stove service / maintenance check-list       

  1. Check the the fire grate or grate bars / plates
  2. Check the the fire bricks
  3. Check the baffle plate and flue way
  4. Check the ash pan
  5. Check the door(s) rope seals
  6. Check the stove glass including its gasket / seal
  7. Check the stove bodywork
  8. Check the painted bodywork finish
  9. Check the flue pipe cement seals
  10. Check the register / closure plate
  11. Check the chimney cowl
  12. Check the carbon monoxide (CO) alarm
  13. Check air supply and 'air brick'

Boiler stoves

  1. Check the integral boiler and connections
  2. Check the boiler thermostat 
  3. Standing down at the end of the heating season
  4. Routine maintenance during the heating season

charnwood riddling grate

Charnwood Multi Fuel Riddling Grate

Stove Problems

  1. Crazed or cloudy stove glass

Geoff Royle

Geoff Royle is our Head of Marketing. He is heavily involved in the Stove Industry and represents WBS and The Stove Yard in the Stove Industry Alliance. Geoff also has recently joined the Hetas Technical Committee and is looking forward to discussing in detail all future stove, flue and installation legislation.