If the glass in your wood-burning stove is sooting, there can be several reasons:
► The wood is not sufficiently dry (maximum moisture content is 12-20% water). You can measure the moisture in your wood with a moisture meter, which can be purchased at your local hardware store. In the video here ► you can see how to do it.
► The airwash system is not active (check this on the control lever at the front of the stove).
► The airwash system is malfunctioning (if the soot is unevenly distributed on the glass, this may be the case, and the door should be checked for loose gaskets or if it is skewed).
► Low chimney. This can be due to the chimney needing cleaning, being too low in relation to the roof ridge, or the chimney being sheltered, requiring assistance to achieve proper draught. You can have the draught in your chimney measured by a chimney sweep, who can also provide advice on how to remedy the problem.
► The combustion temperature is too low. This problem can be solved by adding more air to the combustion through the primary air supply. Sufficiently high combustion temperature is achieved when the vermiculite plates are completely clean.
If you still cannot get your wood-burning stove to work properly, you can check if you are lighting it in the optimal way.