12. Paper products, cardboard, plywood, or
particleboard. The prohibition against burning
these materials does not prohibit the use of fire
starters made from paper, cardboard, sawdust,
wax, and similar substances to start a fire in an
affected wood heater.
Burning these materials may result in the release
of toxic fumes or render the heater ineffective
and cause smoke. Deadwood lying on the forest
floor should be considered wet and requires full
seasoning time. Standing deadwood can usually
be considered to be about 2/3 seasoned. Smaller
pieces of wood will dry faster. All logs exceeding 6”
in diameter should be split. The wood should not be
stored directly on the ground. Air should circulate
through the logs. A 24” to 48” air space should be
left between each row of logs, which should be
placed in the sunniest location possible. The upper
layer of wood should be protected from the element
but not the sides. A good indicator of if the wood is
ready to burn is to check the piece ends. If cracks are
radiating in all directions from the center then the
wood should be dry enough to burn. If your wood
sizzles in the fire, even though the surface is dry,
it may not be fully cured and should be seasoned
longer. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you use
DRY WOOD only in your wood stove. The wood
should have dried for 9 to 15 months, such that
the humidity content (in weight) is reduced below
20% of the weight of the log. It is very important to
keep in mind that even if the wood has been cut
for one, two, or even more years, it is not necessarily
dry, if it has been stored in poor conditions. Under
extreme conditions, it may rot instead of drying.
This point cannot be overstressed; the vast majority
of the problems related to the operation of a wood
stove is caused by the fact that the wood used was
too damp or had dried in poor conditions. These
problems can be:
• ignition problems
•
creosote build-up causing chimney fires
• low energy yield
• blackened windows
• incomplete log combustion
Do not burn manufactured
logs made of wax impregnated
sawdust or logs with any chemical
additives.
Manufactured logs made
of 100% compressed sawdust can be
burned, but be careful burning too much of these
logs at the same time. Start with one manufactured
log and see how the stove reacts. You can increase
the number of logs burned at a time but make sure
the temperature never rises higher than 475 °F (246
°C) on a magnetic thermometer for installation on
single wall stove pipes or 900 °F (482 °C) on a probe
thermometer for installation on double wall stove
pipe. The thermometer should be placed about 18”
(457 mm) above the stove. Higher temperatures
can lead to overheat and damage your stove.
TESTING YOUR WOOD
• When the stove is thoroughly warmed, place one
piece of split wood (about five inches in diameter)
parallel to the door on the bed of red embers.
• Keep the air control fully open and close the
door. If the wood ignites within 90 seconds from
the time it was placed in the stove, your wood is
correctly dried. If ignition takes longer, your wood
is damp.
• If your wood hisses and water or vapor escapes
at the ends of the piece, your wood is soaked
or freshly cut (green). Do not use this wood in
your stove. Large amounts of creosote could be
deposited in your chimney, creating potential
conditions for a chimney fire.
TAMPER WARNING
This wood heater has a manufacturer-set minimum
low burn rate that must not be altered. It is against
federal regulations to alter this setting or otherwise
operate this wood heater in a manner inconsistent
with operating instructions in this manual.
EFFICIENCIES
Efficiencies can be based on either the lower
heating value (LHV) or the higher heating value
(HHV) of the fuel. The lower heating value is when
water leaves the combustion process as a vapor, in
the case of woodstoves the moisture in the wood
being burned leaves the stove as a vapor. The higher
heating value is when water leaves the combustion
process completely condensed. In the case of
woodstoves this would assume the exhaust gases
are room temperature when leaving the system,
and therefore calculations using this heating value
consider the heat going up the chimney as lost
energy. Therefore, efficiency calculated using the
lower heating value of wood will be higher than
efficiency calculated using the higher heating value.
The best way to achieve optimum efficiencies is to
OPERATION INSTRUCTIONS
12
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