Keeping animals safe around wood-burning stoves
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Keeping animals safe around wood-burning stoves

Is your wood-burning stove safe for your pets? How can we protect our furry friends and avoid accidents? We’ve put together some practical tips for keeping your home cosy, safe and stylish.

Fireplaces, wood-burning stoves and pellet stoves are all about the pleasure of beautiful flames, but they also come with responsibilities. Here are some really easy tips to follow to make sure everyone under your roof is safe near fire!

Staying safe near your fireplace

When it’s freezing cold outside, your pets just love snuggling up near a warm fire. Here’s our quick guide, with four tips for avoiding accidents.

1. A really well-equipped fire

Closing your fireplace or wood-burning stove is the first step to take if you want to keep your pets safe. Embers and sparks can’t escape from the fire, and your adventure-loving pets are protected from flames. Remember to keep your wood-burning stove closed, even when it isn’t lit. This will make sure you avoid any accidents. Without protective glass, a cat or dog could poke their head into the fire and breathe in smoke.

Of course, it’s lovely to enjoy a wonderful open fire from time to time. For an indoor barbecue for example - we’re thinking of the stoves in the Stûv-30 family where you can have an open fire and an optional extra Stûv 30 barbecue kit can be fitted - but when you want to get warm, open fires aren’t as effective. If you choose a stove with a door, it’s not only safer, it’s also more efficient.

2. Prevention and education with a wood-burning insert

Our furry friends love lazing in front of a fire in the winter, or bathing in the warm reflection of the flames on tiles. Of course pets are welcome to enjoy the warmth, but it is a good idea to train them to avoid accidents caused by fire. Just like little children need to be taught about how dangerous it is to get too close to a fireplace or a wood-burning stove, whether it’s lit or not. For example, training your pets not to play near fire will help reduce the risk of them getting injured.

Avoid creating bad habits. Stop yourself playing with your pets near the fire. Make sure you have play areas far away from the fire, and don’t leave any toys next to it.

3. Follow the instructions for your wood-burning or pellet stove

To make the most of your indoor fire, you need to pay particular attention to a few basic safety rules. The products in many Stûv ranges are designed for a range of different functions, whether they are open or enclosed fires. Depending on the type of combustion used, each one comes with a user guide, which you must read and follow meticulously.

The glass and external walls can get hot, even if the heat is set to an optimum power mode. There is always a lot of radiation. To prevent the risk of burns, never leave your pets unsupervised for too long in the same room as a fire. You also need to make sure that the air inlets and outlets are always clear.

4. Animals are more instinctive than we are

Animals love warmth. They delight in recharging their batteries with energy from the sun, or in front of a burning stove. Because of their extreme sensitivity and the fact that their senses are much more highly developed than us adult humans, we mustn’t panic the second they get anywhere near a fire. We should trust them. Responsibly, of course.