Is it possible to heat a sauna with oak wood? What and how to properly heat an iron stove in a bathhouse? Preparing the stove for lighting

We introduced you to the intricacies of choosing firewood for cooking smoked meat and fish. In this material we will talk about firewood that is suitable for heating a bathhouse and can positively influence its microclimate.

Firewood that is better to avoid

Not all wood that can be obtained is suitable for heating a bathhouse. For these purposes, it is not recommended to use the following types:

Old logs due to the steam imparting heaviness and an unpleasant odor.
Rotten firewood is not capable of producing sufficient quantity heat, but are a source of large amounts of ash.
Wood impregnated with various bio- and fire-retardant compounds can be harmful to health.
Firewood harvested from young oak does not provide sufficient heat.
Firewood with knots is difficult to use. Firewood burns faster than knots.

Advice! To ensure complete combustion of the knots, wood chips are placed in the firebox.

Let's look at the best firewood for a bath - deciduous and coniferous.

Features of using coniferous firewood for a bath

Lighting the bathhouse with coniferous wood allows you to create a unique aroma in the steam room thanks to the essential oils contained in such wood. Coniferous firewood, due to its high resin content, has its own characteristics - it burns evenly, produces a lot of heat, crackles and sparks. This is especially true for pine firewood. Due to sparking, such fuel is a fire hazard and requires compliance with safety regulations.

Advice! Another reason why it is not advisable to use coniferous firewood for a bath, - a large number of soot settling on the sauna heater.

Firewood obtained from larch contains the least amount of resin, so it does not burn as hot. The disadvantage of this wood is the large amount of carbon monoxide CO released during combustion, which requires careful ventilation of the room between bathing procedures.

Firewood for saunas from deciduous trees

Deciduous wood is more often used to fire a bathhouse than coniferous firewood. Ash, alder, birch, and fruit trees are suitable for these purposes.

Let's consider brief characteristics firewood from several species of deciduous trees:

Aspen firewood is not very suitable for heating a bathhouse, since it is difficult to ignite, but burns quickly and produces little heat. Aspen firewood produces a long flame without soot, so they are used mainly for cleaning soot from chimneys. Additional component Potato peels increase cleaning efficiency. When burned together, aspen firewood and potato peelings loosen dense soot, which leaves the pipe due to draft.

Advice! Increase the efficiency of the firebox sauna stove You can use aspen firewood by loading it into a firebox in which wood of a different species is already burning.

Alder, numbering more than a dozen types, was used in Rus' to fire baths for the nobility. It is easy to dry such firewood without even creating special conditions. The main thing is that the logs were prepared from wood that grew on not very wet soil. Alder firewood for a long time do not lose their natural aroma. The advantages of alder firewood are rapid combustion, a large amount of heat, and no smoke due to the low resin content. The aroma of alder has a beneficial effect on health, helping to overcome colds, depression and fatigue. Like aspen, alder firewood is used to clean soot from chimneys. Alder firewood is considered an excellent option for cooking barbecue. You can read more about this in the article “Features of choosing firewood for barbecue.”
Linden firewood are slow to ignite but produce an effective, lasting heat. The steam from the linden tree is considered healing, especially if you add honey to the oven and smear it on the patient’s body. This firewood is considered the best for a bathhouse, but has one drawback - it can be stored for no more than two years.
Quality oak firewood, selected from middle-aged trees, are classified as prestigious types of fuel. The steam from oak logs is tart, smells like forest and helps against some chronic diseases; it is recommended for maintaining the health of children. Oak wood is ideal for burning fireplaces.
Birch firewood have antibacterial properties. The steam in a bathhouse, heated with birch firewood no older than two years, is light, aromatic, good for the respiratory system, and helps fight colds.

Attention! When birch logs burn, tar is formed, which lubricates the chimney and increases the fire safety of the bathhouse.

Birch wood is hard, and in terms of heat transfer it is second only to oak, significantly surpassing aspen and pine. To get rid of soot clogging the pipe, aspen logs are added to the stove after burning with birch firewood.

Willow– affordable, rapidly renewable wood. It burns hot, burns out quickly, does not smoke, and requires significant supplies.
Wood fruit trees – cherries, pears, apple trees, plums– a fairly common option for heating a sauna. Such firewood is fragrant, burns hot and smokeless, especially apple wood. To enhance and change the aroma use essential oils. If you can use old fruit trees with rotten cores to heat a house, then this option is not suitable for a bathhouse.

After choosing the type of wood and cutting the logs, you need to take care of them proper drying and subsequent storage. To do this, arrange a woodpile on outdoors or in a barn near the bathhouse. Firewood is laid upside down and not directly on the ground, but on a stand made of beams and poles. You can read more about the methods and features of drying lumber and firewood in the article.

What is the best firewood? For baths

Of course, if you have bathhouse, then the question arises about choosing firewood. Interestingly, there are even a number folk signs, which communicate the importance of such a choice and indicate the consequences. For example, cedar and pine will go great on firewood for newlyweds, as the aroma of this wood promotes vigor. Aspen, cherry, rowan, elderberry and rosehip are not allowed at all, especially for a bath, as well as trees felled by a hurricane or damaged by lightning. It is believed that such firewood has an adverse effect on the health of the owners and has negative energy. So what is the best firewood for a bathhouse and sauna stove?? Now let's try to figure this out.

Oak firewood

Oak firewood best suited for bath furnaces. They are economical to use, burn for a long time and provide high heat transfer. It is especially important that when burning they emit medicinal steam, which perfectly strengthens children's health. Such wood also has one significant disadvantage - the price. Oak firewood, however, are not cheap, but, as already mentioned, they are used sparingly, which justifies the price-quality ratio. When choosing such firewood, it should be taken into account that old and young trees are not suitable for such purposes; it is better to choose logs of medium thickness.

Linden firewood

pros linden firewood The fact is that they also have excellent healing properties - they help cure colds and skin diseases. Such wood fits good for a bath: although they flare up slowly, they burn evenly and for a long time. The downside can be considered that are stored such firewood no more than two years, so you can’t prepare a lot of them.

Alder firewood

Alder firewood, like linden ones, are stored for a short period of time - for three years. But they not only have a wonderful aroma, which has medicinal properties, produce smoke that cleans the pipe from soot deposits, dry quickly and burn well, but also have a stunning appearance, which, if desired, will decorate your yard.

Aspen firewood

Despite the fact that this wood also helps clean pipes, it has very low heat transfer, which makes it completely uneconomical to use. Unless for purification purposes.

Firewood from fruit trees

Such firewood are also very good for a bath, and have similar properties oak firewood properties, but they are sold only in small quantities. More often firewood fruit trees are used for cooking over an open fire.

Firewood from poplar and willow

Firewood from poplar and willow not recommended for use for bath heating, since they are needed in large quantities to obtain the desired temperature. Although they are cheap, they burn out quickly and do not provide adequate heat. We have sorted out the most common breeds wood, which apply for a bath and the properties they have. We hope now you know what kind of firewood is best for a sauna?. It is worth noting that quite a few important role plays correctly firewood storage.

How to properly store firewood

It’s not enough just to choose the right wood; for the desired effect, you also need to store it correctly. Let's figure out what this means. After cutting down the tree, be sure to let it dry thoroughly. It is advisable that this lasts during the summer, but in the fall you can already chop wood. Main, chop wood, which can be purchased both in a specialized store and on the Internet, for example, at. Further yourself firewood you need to put it in a place where water does not get in, but air circulates freely. The most reliable way is, but if this is not possible, then you can stack the firewood in neat rows and cover it with the waterproof material you have on top. When the firewood is dry enough, you need to lay it out in the open air, and only then carefully stack it. It is necessary that they do not come into contact with the ground and do not absorb moisture from it.

Instructions on how to properly heat a sauna:

The hardest part is kindling. First of all, open the valve in the pipe, otherwise it will not come out carbon monoxide. Be sure to check that this condition is met before each kindling.
Chop some wood and prepare 4 logs. In addition, you will need newsprint.
Place 6-7 crumpled sheets of paper in the oven. Place wood chips on them, and mark 4 logs on top, preferably perfectly dry ones. Moreover, it is advisable to distribute the logs across the entire width of the stove, rather than stack them on top of each other.
Light the paper under each of the logs and quickly close the firebox, otherwise you will release smoke. Don't be afraid, 95% of the time the fire will flare up, so you don't have to watch it with the firebox open.

After 15 minutes, add more firewood. How often to add them in the future depends on their dryness, but in the first hour of the fire, the main thing is not to miss the moment - to add them when the old firewood, which has turned into coals, begins to break into several parts. After about 1.5-2 hours, the temperature in the firebox will rise significantly, and it will be possible to add fuel even when there are only coals left in the stove.
Place new firewood as close to the door and as far from the chimney as possible. This way you will increase the area of contact between the fire and the pipe, thereby reducing the time it takes to heat the bathhouse.
If there is good draft (this is evidenced by bright red, as if swollen, coals in the firebox), after 2 hours you can close the valve halfway. This will also reduce the time you spend heating the sauna and save fuel.
It is better to steam brooms directly in the steam room, when it has reached at least 60°C.
Do not start heating the sauna if there are wooden containers in the steam room (for example, a bucket from which you throw it) that are not filled with water. This will lead to their rapid drying out.
If the sauna is new, heats well, and you are happy with the temperature, then you can start steaming. The valve can only be closed when all the carbon monoxide has left the firebox. If, after stirring the coals in the firebox, you see a bluish-greenish flame appear, then carbon monoxide is still present. In a bathhouse that is difficult to light and quickly loses temperature, it is necessary to remove all the coals from the firebox and completely close the valve.

In order for the bathhouse to always smell good and have good heat, you need to take care of the quality of the firewood. Bad firewood can cause fire to appear in the bathhouse. unpleasant odors, such as mold or swamps, and, in addition, to heat the steam room you may need much more firewood than usual.

What is the best way to heat a bathhouse?

Oak firewood

The oak must be middle aged. Young oak does not provide the necessary heat, but fills the bathhouse with smell charcoal. An old oak tree contains a lot of decayed wood, which produces more ash than heat. The air in a bathhouse heated with old oak will be heavy. Good firewood fill the bathhouse with heat and the aroma of forest and freshness.

Birch firewood

The most common firewood is birch. They light up easily and burn with a long, even flame. The heat from the stove heated with birch wood disinfects the bathhouse, filling it with a light fragrant aroma. However, birch firewood becomes less fragrant after two years of storage. In addition, if the air dosage in the stove is incorrect, when the wood burns smoky, tar and birch resin are sublimated along with the smoke. It settles quite abundantly on the walls of the pipe, and sometimes flows down if the pipe is thin-walled and cools easily. The abundance of tar on the pipe walls is a fire hazard.

Linden firewood

Since ancient times, linden firewood has been used in special cases. For warriors who were wounded in battles with enemies, hot baths were heated with linden wood, and they were given a decoction of linden blossom with linden honey. Linden spirit in the bath is healing for the skin and respiratory system. Linden is quite difficult to light, it flares up slowly, but its fire is long and persistent. Linden firewood should not be stored for more than two years.

Alder firewood

In Russia, alder firewood is considered royal firewood. Along the end and the chip, they turn reddish in air and are sharply different from other logs. Alder wood burns hot and produces almost no smoke. For firewood, it is better to choose alder on soils with the least moisture. A sauna heated with alder wood has an anti-cold effect. Alder firewood dries quickly enough and retains its unique smell for a long time. Even after three years, alder firewood retains its specific aroma.

Aspen firewood

In the villages they say: aspen does not burn without kerosene. This is because aspen wood is quite difficult to light. If aspen is placed in an already heated stove, it burns quite hot and holds the heat for a long time. In villages they also believe that aspen wood, when burned, cleans the chimney. Aspen firewood is usually cheaper than others. As a rule, aspen is a clumsy tree and is not fully used; there is a lot of waste, which is used for firewood.

Coniferous firewood

The most common firewood is softwood, spruce and pine. Pine, due to its higher resin content, burns hotter than spruce. It should be remembered that in resinous wood, when burning, a sharp increase in temperature, the resin sinuses burst, small cavities in the wood where resin accumulates.
and this causes a characteristic crackling sound and sparks fly in all directions. Including through the open oven door. When you add firewood or mix it with a poker, it is better to wear glasses to protect your eyes. And when the stove door is closed, look carefully at the floor near the stove to see if a spark has flown somewhere. It is better to prevent a fire than to put it out.

Coal

Often, instead of firewood, coal is used for kindling, which has both advantages and some disadvantages. First of all, the use of coal is more profitable, since it requires less wood to heat a bathhouse than firewood, and in addition, the heat from burnt coal remains for quite a long time. The disadvantages include high humidity, which appears during combustion, as well as the lack of aroma that burning wood gives.

In no case should you use old things, garbage, etc. for the firebox, as many materials are toxic and can harm those steaming.

It is known that 1 kilogram of dry firewood provides 2800 kcal. To get these calories when burning different types of wood, you need to take the appropriate amount (in kilograms) of firewood, depending on its volumetric weight.
Volumetric weight of firewood in kg/cubic meter. to get 2800 kcal:

An old-fashioned way to clean a chimney: wrap potato peelings in newspaper and stick them in the firebox. Carry out this procedure periodically, and the chimney will be clean for a long time.

It's not enough to just build good bath– you need to learn how to use it correctly. That is, not just to wash in it and somehow take a steam bath, but also to get a boost of energy, get rid of illnesses and fatigue. Just enjoy being in it. To do this, it is important to know how to properly heat a bathhouse.

This is real art that was born almost two thousand years ago.

All about firewood

To heat a bathhouse, you need firewood. Modern gas and electric ovens, of course, are convenient, do not require any effort and constant maintenance. But they also have disadvantages, including the high price of energy..

In principle, one could put up with them - the bathhouse is not heated so often. But the fact is that neither gas nor electricity will create in the steam room that unique spirit that comes from a burning tree.

Therefore, the question - how to heat a bathhouse - is far from idle. If you want to get true pleasure, there can be only one answer: firewood.

And not just any way.

Ash, oak - burn for a long time, give a lot of heat, but are too expensive;
Spruce and pine - burn quickly, releasing resins;
Poplar, aspen – have insufficient calorific value;
Birch, alder - perfect option. If you are thinking about what kind of wood is best to heat a sauna, feel free to buy birch wood - they burn for a long time and evenly, giving a lot of heat and filling the air with a special aroma.

For reference. Sometimes charcoal is used as fuel.
This must be done with caution, as when burned it emits toxic smoke.

There are certain requirements for firewood for a bath not only regarding the type of wood. Experienced bathhouse attendants will never heat the stove with poorly dried raw firewood. And they will definitely pay attention to how they are chopped. The logs must be of such length that they fit into the firebox as long as the grates, and of such thickness that they burn long enough and evenly to form hot coals.

So it doesn’t matter at all what kind of wood to heat the bathhouse with. What about using it as fuel? household waste or leftovers building materials there is no question.

Note. Experienced bathhouse attendants, when asked what is the best way to heat a bathhouse over black, recommend using firewood from the same species from which the bathhouse itself is built or decorated inside.

We heat the bathhouse correctly

You don’t have to ask yourself the question of how to properly heat a Russian bathhouse if you only need it to wash off the dirt and sweat after a hard day. working day. If you are a fan of quality and soulful steaming, then you should bother with following the traditional rules of the firebox.

Preparing the stove for lighting

Before heating the sauna, you need to wash it after previous use, sweep away the remains of the bath broom, and fill the hot water boiler.

After which you can start baking.

Rake out the coals and ash from the ash pit;
Open the smoke valve and use a lit match to check for draft in the pipe;
For kindling, prepare pieces of birch bark, large wood shavings, or chop thin short chips with an axe;

Select 4-6 thin logs and place them on the grate in a “well”: in pairs, perpendicular to each other. Place crumpled paper and kindling in the center of the “well” while laying it;
Close the blower door halfway.

The stove is ready for kindling; all that remains is to haul the supply of firewood for the lining closer to it and close it tightly.

Kindling and tossing

To avoid getting burned or getting dirty with soot, make a long rope of paper or newspaper, light it at one end and bring the fire to the kindling in the center of the “well.” As soon as she starts cooking, close the stove door to prevent smoke from escaping into the dressing room.

If after a couple of minutes the hum of the flame and the crackling of the wood are not heard, it means that the wood did not catch fire and you need to start all over again.

For reference. Sometimes in chimney due to the pressure difference, a airlock, which does not release smoke and interferes with normal draft, but it quickly breaks through with flame.
There may be no draft due to the pipe being clogged with soot or debris.
In this case, you should clean it yourself, using a “ruff” tied to a rope with a load.

When the fire burns well and the “well” settles, it is fashionable to put logs of normal thickness into the firebox. This also needs to be done correctly, since heating a bathhouse with wood is an entire art.

The firebox is not completely filled with logs, but about two-thirds, so that there is free space above them. It should also be between the logs;
Firewood is laid to such a depth that it lies on the grate and not flush against the door;

You should add logs on time, preventing the previous stack from burning completely and preventing the temperature in the firebox from decreasing;
After making sure that there is good draft and even combustion, the pipe valve needs to be closed a little. If these instructions are followed, the wood will burn more slowly, and the heat from it will not flow into the chimney.

The time for complete combustion depends on many factors - the type of firewood, the design of the stove, the size and degree of thermal insulation of the steam room, as well as the time of year and temperature. In winter, the sauna is usually heated twice as long as in summer. And a black sauna warms up much faster than a white sauna.

Note. There are important differences in how to heat a black sauna.
All windows and doors in it are kept open throughout the entire firebox, regardless of the time of year.
Then the fire is forcibly extinguished, the room is ventilated and only then closed tightly.

Closing events

When the last portion of firewood has burned out and the coals are covered with ash, close the firebox door tightly, open the ash pan wide, the door to the steam room and front door, fully extend the pipe valve and pour a full ladle of boiling water onto the heater. Be careful when doing this, do not get scalded!

After this, immediately close all the doors, close the valve, let the bath brew for a while - and you can go take a steam bath.

Conclusion

The recommendations given above and in the video in this article are very general. They will teach you how to properly heat a sauna, but you will become a real master yourself - over time, adapting to your stove and learning to use it as efficiently as possible.

The process of lighting a bathhouse is conventionally divided into two stages: preparation and the actual firing of the stove. Each stage is a set of rules that should be followed. We heat the sauna correctly - and enjoy the light steam!

Preparatory process

Cleaning the sauna chimney and preparing the stove

It is imperative to clean the grate and the vent from any remaining tar and soot. It is advisable to wash the stones first. We check the chimney for air draft so that combustion products do not linger in the room. To do this, open the valve in the chimney, the vent and the firebox and light a match. If the flame goes up, there is passability. If not, you should clean the chimney, since the lack of draft will lead to smoke in the steam room, and this is a risk of burning!

Firewood plays a role - what can and cannot be used to heat a steam room?

Heating a sauna with wood is an art. The quality of the heat and how quickly the steam room will melt depends on the firewood. Experienced bath attendants are increasingly saying “yes” to deciduous trees with high wood density (hardwood): oak, hornbeam, maple, ash, birch. Data tree species When burned, they release a large amount of heat. The level of heat release during combustion is slightly lower for pear, apple and cherry trees, but they only cost a little more than hardwood.

How to heat the stove correctly?

1.Form the basis

Two logs are placed on the grate so that the distance between them is no more than 20 m. A sheet of paper is placed between the firewood, onto which wood chips are sprinkled. Two more logs are laid on top - the so-called “seed” or base is formed.

2. We begin to kindle

First, the paper at the base is set on fire, the flame should gradually transfer to the wood. You wait until the fire engulfs the wood, close the firebox door and cover the vent (leaving a small gap). If the firewood is moderately dry and of good quality, the “seed” will quickly flare up.

Note! Do not use incendiary mixtures or flammable substances to activate the flame. All this is a direct road to toxic smoke. In extreme cases, bathhouse attendants use dry alcohol tablets to light a bathhouse with raw wood.

3.Final ritual

IN winter time The steam room is heated for about five hours, and in the summer - up to four hours. When the bathhouse heats up to the required temperature, the fire can be stopped. You wait until the last of the wood burns out, make sure that the coals have smoldered, close the firebox, the vent and the smoke damper. Next, open the window in the steam room and the door so that there is a supply of oxygen in the room. Afterwards, close the doors and leave the window open (when the bath procedures begin, you can close it). Give approximately 40 - 60 minutes for the steam room to “infuse”. Don't be afraid that the heat will come out. On the contrary, the atmosphere inside will be softer and the steam will be light.

How to heat a sauna with an iron stove?

The main rule when burning iron stove- frequent and small-volume laying of logs. Otherwise, you can provoke overheating and long cooling. For comparison, in the same brick stove you can safely make a large stack of logs and leave it to “reach” the required temperature.

Differences between an iron stove and a brick version:

the metal counterpart warms up faster. For example, after twenty minutes from the moment of kindling, it reaches the optimal operating mode. The room warms up faster and better;
wood consumption in iron stove an order of magnitude greater than in its brick counterpart;
a metal stove does not always keep the same temperature regime in the chimney and firebox.

How to balance all the “poles” and “cons” of an iron stove? There is an option to use a shield made of bricks in a metal stove or build brick chimney with the so-called “sleeve” made of of stainless steel for a metal stove. There is also the option of covering a metal stove with bricks to increase the heat transfer time.

Instructions for lighting an iron stove:

A small amount of paper is placed at the bottom of the firebox.
Logs are laid out on the paper, but so that there is a small gap between them. When the firebox is about two-thirds full, leave some free space on top and set fire to the logs.
When updating a batch of firewood, you still need to wait until the previous one burns out thoroughly.

Common mistakes when lighting an iron stove:

Too much wood in the stove;
The logs lie tightly in relation to each other - this is the first cause of smoke. Gases must circulate freely in the stove;
The stove vent closes too early, which also leads to disruption of the gas circulation process.
Powerful draft and too much fire do not mean that the stove is burning correctly. With the right approach, you can achieve good heat by slowly burning a small amount of logs.

To compare the quality of steam in a bathhouse with brick and metal stoves, as well as black bathhouses, select from the catalog of steam rooms in St. Petersburg, which presents all the bathhouse establishments in the city.

To what temperature should the stove be heated in a steam room?

After heating the first stack of firewood, if the flames are red (not blue) when mixing the coals, the firebox closes and the valves open. By this time, the steam room should warm up to a level of 50 - 60 degrees and about 60% humidity. Fans of “extreme” heat wait until the thermometer shows the limit of 70 - 80 degrees.

What is the best way to heat a new sauna for the first time?

How to efficiently heat a relaxation room in a bathhouse in winter?

Heating option No. 1 - simply open the doors in the sink, steam room and relaxation area while the stove is firing, and the room will warm up. For a period of bath procedures this amount of heat should be enough.

Option #2 - gas convector. Relatively easy to install, fits organically into the bath design.

Option No. 3 - an exclusive stove with a glass door similar to a fireplace. It costs more, but it looks stylish. Even when the stove in the steam room cools down, the relaxation room will be warm and cozy.

At the very beginning, open the blower to the maximum - for more efficient inflow fresh air;
Use firewood wisely. After about 5 - 8 kindlings you will understand how much wood is needed. In the future, simply cook this volume to avoid overheating.
To control temperature and humidity in the steam room there must be a thermometer and a hygrometer. Update them regularly.
If you have not heated the steam room for a long time, it will take a little longer to warm it up. With regular heating, it takes about a third less time to warm up the steam room.

We are sure that our tips will help you properly heat a wood-burning sauna. Good luck!

Is it possible to heat a sauna with oak wood? What and how to properly heat an iron stove in a bathhouse? Preparing the stove for lighting

Firewood that is better to avoid

Features of using coniferous firewood for a bath

Firewood for saunas from deciduous trees

Oak firewood

Linden firewood

Alder firewood

Aspen firewood

Firewood from fruit trees

Firewood from poplar and willow

How to properly store firewood

Instructions on how to properly heat a sauna:

What is the best way to heat a bathhouse?

Oak firewood

Birch firewood

Linden firewood

Alder firewood

Aspen firewood

Coniferous firewood

Coal

All about firewood

We heat the bathhouse correctly

Preparing the stove for lighting

Kindling and tossing

Closing events

Conclusion

Preparatory process

How to heat the stove correctly?

How to heat a sauna with an iron stove?

To what temperature should the stove be heated in a steam room?

What is the best way to heat a new sauna for the first time?

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