CARIBOU, Maine — Wood stoves and fireplaces are among the ways people in The County can keep warm during northern Maine’s frigid winters, but great care needs to be taken during and after their installation.
County Stove Shop owner Wil Labbe has nearly half a century of experience in wood stoves, and says he still makes it a point to learn something new every day. For Labbe, the two crucial steps to avoiding wood stove fires are checking the stoves clearance and avoiding creosote buildup.
Labbe said the clearance is the stove’s distance away from combustible materials in the home, such as wood or linoleum.
“Even with brick walls and floors, you need to have some clearance because the brick absorbs the heat,” Labbe said. “For some stoves, you may need around 18 inches; the brick could easily heat something combustible behind it.”
Labbe says it’s equally important to make sure there is no creosote buildup in the stove or chimney, as that could easily bring an entire home down in flames if not addressed.
Creosote, according to Labbe, can accumulate around “this time of year [late summer] when it’s not that cold and you smother your fire.”
Thankfully, there are numerous ways to reduce the amount of creosote in the home. Woodstove owners can buy powders and liquids, use a chimney cleaning drill attachment, or hire a chimney cleaner to do the job.
“You can strike a hot fire every morning for half an hour and let it modulate,” Labbe said. “It’s important to do this in the morning because the creosote will burn away, and it won’t accumulate.”
If allowed to accumulate, however, creosote could ignite, causing an eruption of flames from the chimney and potentially burning down an entire home, especially if the chimney is surrounded by combustible material.
All stoves sold via the County Stove Shop come bundled with manuals, and Labbe says it is crucial to thoroughly read all the instructions during installation.
“All stoves are different,” Labbe said. “One stove might only need sheet metal as a pad for clearance while others have a completely different heat resistance criteria. The manual will tell you what you need.”
Ignoring something such as the recommended pipe size for a stove could lead to serious problems, Labbe said.
“If you have an eight inch pipe requirement,” he said, “don’t go lower, but if it’s a six inch pipe requirement and you use an eight inch pipe, you should be fine. You can’t downsize, but you can use a larger pipe to an extent.”
Labbe said a small pipe will lead to weaker fires and more creosote.
“There’s a lot for one person to know if they’re installing their own stove,” Labbe said.
The County Stove Shop began 50 years ago in a Van Buren garage and later moved to Caribou. In addition to stoves, the shop offers furnaces, fireplaces, gas, oil, wood, and pellets. Labbe and his employees offer free estimates on their equipment and can be contacted by phone at 498-8572 or in person at the 1154 Presque Isle Road store in Caribou.
