Can You Keep a Log Burner Going Overnight?

Why is it a bad idea to slumber a log burner overnight?

• It wastes fuel. Burnright says slumbering wastes large amounts of fuel, because smouldering wood gives off its energy as smoke rather than heat.
• It tars the chimney. Burnright says it clogs up the chimney and makes a damaging chimney fire more likely.
• It can be dangerous. HETAS says a low burn can lead to incomplete combustion, creosote build-up, and smoke, gases and carbon monoxide coming into the room.
• It's against official advice. Defra's guide to open fires and wood-burning stoves says to avoid slumbering your stove overnight.

Are some stoves designed to burn overnight?

HETAS says you should only slumber a stove if it is specifically designed to do so. Your manual will say whether yours is, and which fuel it is rated for. If it doesn't, assume it isn't.

How do I keep warm overnight without slumbering the stove?

1. Plan the last load. Add your last logs early enough that they burn down to embers before you go to bed. Burn them with the air set normally, not shut down.
2. Use dense hardwood for the evening. Oak burns slowly and leaves a good bed of embers, so a stove keeps giving off heat for longer after the flames die down.
3. Let it burn out with the door closed. HETAS says to turn the air controls to low once the fire is down to embers, keep the door shut, and never pour or throw water into the stove.
4. Relight in the morning. With dry kindling and the top-down method, a stove is hot again in minutes.

What safety checks should I make before bed?

• HETAS advises not leaving a fire unattended to burn out overnight, so make sure it has died down before you go to bed.
• Have a working carbon monoxide alarm in the room with the stove. Both HETAS and Burnright recommend one.
• Keep the stove door closed and anything that could burn well away from the stove.