Help - have I ruined my wood burner?

[VamillaSugar]

We had a wood burner installed in Movember and have used logs and kindling from a reputable supplier (ie not felled trees from the garden).

I have regularly been clearing out the ash but today I found this crack on the bottom fire brick and it looks like some of it has come away as well. This looks like it has happened in the past 2-3 days.

Have I broken my lovely fire ?

Sorry. November

No you haven't broken it.
If you go back to your supplier they will be able to replace the brick

I’d speak to the people who installed it. I don’t know but if it’s damaged that shouldn’t happen so soon, and they should repair it.
I always leave a bed of ash in the bottom of mine. I find it burns better.

Most firebricks are made from compressed vermiculite and are fragile, they will still work with cracks. I replace ours every year or so. Nowt to worry about as they all crack at some point

Thank you. I normally do leave some ash in and only scoop out one scoop’s worth (of the little pan they gave me) when the ash bed is getting too full. This is why I only noticed it today when I raked over the ash and scooped out ash from the middle.

I’ll go back to the supplier tomorrow. In the meantime, do you think I can light a fire tonight? Or should I leave it to be on the safe side?

Admittedly our woodburner is a couple of decades' old, but we have a similar-sized crack in the back brick. Our chimney sweep says it is fine.
It is worth contacting the installer, though. It took years for ours to develop a crack.

More importantly invest about a tenner in a thermometer (you can tie it to the flue with some fuse wire if it isn't magnetic) to ensure that you are burning wood at the right sort of temperature. Oh, and don't forget to book the sweep each year (unless he advises otherwise).

We crack the back panel on ours when we are too enthusiastic about throwing a log in!
Our local wood burner fettling shop sold me a sheet of compressed vermiculite (which is what the panels are made of). When we stop using it in the spring, I take out the cracked panel(s), use them as a template and cut out replacements using an ordinary hand saw.

You have to change the fire bricks - one of ours broke after a year and we bought a new set of bricks. You have to be a bit careful not to bash them but they are made to be replaced

Our wood burner instructions suggested an inch of sand under the ash (and I leave the ash to build up)

I would be mildly annoyed it had broken that quickly but they always break eventually and are fine to use even when cracked. It's only when they completely crumble away that they need replacing.

they are easy to replace have you burnt anything different got too hot and cracked it.

The only thing different that we did was to keep the fire going during the day plus evening over Christmas.

Won’t the sand turn into glass if it gets too hot? I’ll go and buy a thermometer this week!

Thanks for your replies 🔥

If it turns to glass, your house is already on fire

Thanks. I think!

The wood burner shop is closed for Christmas hols so I shall just have to wait. Or contact another place. Or the stove manufacturer....