How to replace your stove glass

Changing The Glass On Your Stove.

One of my favourite things about a stove is the fact that you can maintain the cosy ambience that you get from an open fire. From time to time however, accidents can happen. Many of us will find that we need to replace cracked, or cloudy glass. Luckily changing the glass on your stove is relatively straight forward and simple. Cloudy glass is often caused by burning fuel with a high moisture content, or paper, cardboard or plastics that contain chemicals. Only ever burn trusted fuel in your stove. One of the main causes for cracked glass is overloading the fire box. A stray log can crack the glass as the door is closed, or as logs shift during a burn they can fall against the door. Being careful loading fuel and cleaning your glass regularly will help to ensure that your glass will last for years.

In this handy guide, 'Changing The Glass On Your Stove', we will walk you through the simple process of removing your old glass and then fitting the new glass. This is a very simple process and should take no longer than 30 minutes.

We can do it for you if required, just drop off the door to our showroom in Thurles.

1. Remove The Door Of Your Stove (depending on stove model/brand)

You should begin by removing the door of your stove. This will make removing the old glass and fitting the new glass much easier. Wearing tough gloves, open the door and ensure that any loose pieces of glass are removed before removing your door. The door of your Stove can then be removed very easily by lifting it off the hinges (not possible on all models). Ensure you have a suitable surface to place the door on to work without damaging it.

2. Remove The Broken Glass

You should remove the nuts holding the glass clips in place. A lubricant such as WD-40 can help to loosen sticking nuts, then fully remove the clips. You should then be able to safely remove any remaining glass [Fig 5]. You should now remove the existing rope seal that may be left behind after removing the glass. Once removed, be sure clean the area where the old seal was placed to remove any dust or debris.

3. Check the Rope Seal

Ensure the rope seal behind the glass is not frayed or hardened. This is crucial as your stove won't operate correctly if drawing air through the rope. This can be easily changed, tell us the brand and model and we can supply the seal.

4. Fitting The New Glass

You can now sit the glass into place, be careful to align your glass correctly before making contact with the prepared seal. Apply a very small amount of pressure around the edges of the glass to ensure a tight seal. You should now replace your clips, if any clips or nuts are damaged or missing, you should be able to obtain these from Inspired Interiors. Once the clips are in place, you should tighten the nut into place. The nuts should be finger tightened only. Be very careful not to over tighten the nuts, if in doubt, err on the side of caution. The glass is fragile and concentrated pressure can easily crack the glass, the glass is heat resistant, not impact resistant. With the glass now fitted you can hang the door back onto your stove.

How often to check glass and seals?

The glass on a stove is a part that is commonly replaced, similar to the windscreen on a car. Many factors can affect the life of glass in a stove, and accidents do happen. If there is damage to the glass on your stove, or the seal has degraded to allow air in, this will affect the performance of your stove. To ensure your stove is operating safely and at optimum efficiency, you should check the glass and seals on your stove once every six months. If in doubt, replace the glass, it is relatively inexpensive and with just a small amount of DIY you should be able to ensure that your stove operates efficiently and safely for many years to come.

If you have any questions with regards to this procedure, or if you are having problems finding replacement parts, please contact us here at Inspired Interiors and we will be happy to help.

Inspired Interiors offer full door maintenance services from glass to ropes, you can drop off your door and we'll look after the rest..