W415-1112 / 06.12.12
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8.6 drAFT CONTrOL
draft is the force which moves air from the appliance up through the chimney. The amount of draft in your
chimney depends on the length of the chimney, local geography, nearby obstructions and other forces.
adjusting the draft control regulates the temperature. The draft can be adjusted via the thermostat from a low
burn rate with the air control on the low setting to a fast burn rate with the air control on the high setting.
inadequate draft may cause back-puffing into the room and may cause plugging of the chimney. Too much
draft may cause an excessive temperature in the appliance, glowing red appliance parts or an uncontrollable
burn which can all lead to a chimney fire or a permanent damage to the appliance.
ALWAYS OpERATE THIS AppLIANCE WITH THE FIRE BOx DOOR CLOSED AND LATCHED ExCEpT
DURINg START-Up AND RE-FUELINg.
roll up some newspaper, light it and place it near the appliance flue until the chimney begins to draw. When a
fire is burning, open the door slowly to avoid drawing smoke into the room.
a properly installed Continental® appliance should not smoke.
if yours does, check the following: Has the chimney had time to
get hot? are the air intake hoods blocked closed? is the smoke
passage blocked anywhere in the appliance or chimney? is the
smoke flow impeded by too long a horizontal pipe or too many
bends? is it a weak draft perhaps caused by a leaky chimney,
a cold outside chimney, too short a chimney, or a chimney too
close to trees or a higher roof?
NOTE
Differences in the chimney height
and draft may lower overall burn
times.
Tips:
When first lighting a fire, if the smoke is not quickly drawn into the chimney, there may be a downdraft or cold
air in the chimney. by first burning large amounts of crumpled newspaper, the chimney will get heated and the
smoke will quickly vent up the chimney.
• Create a large fire to heat up the appliance before adjusting to a slower burn.
• To create a large, quick burning fire, use small pieces of wood.
• for a lower, but extended burn, stack larger pieces of wood close together.
• for long burns, leave a 1-2” (25 mm - 51 mm) bed of coals (for best secondary burn performance, create a
channel in the ashes down to the fire bricks).
• This channel should be 1” to 2” (25 mm to 51 mm) wide and run from the front centre to the rear centre of
the fire box. This channel allows in rush air from the pilot at the front of the fire box to be heated in the coal
bead and then driven up the rear of the fire box, where it can keep the secondary burn process ignited.
• burn dry wood only.
•
Closing the door too quickly after refuelling will reduce the firebox temperature and may result in an
unsatisfactory burn.
• as soon as the door is closed, you may (if glass door is installed) observe a change in the flame pattern.
The flames will get smaller and lazier because less oxygen is getting into the combustion chamber. The
flames, however, are more efficient. The flames will remain lazy but become larger again as soon as the
firebricks have been heated thoroughly and the chimney becomes heated and provides a good draft.
• With the doors opened the fire is wastefully drawing heated room air up the chimney, certainly not desirable.
always operate with the doors fully closed once the medium sized logs have caught fire.
• you can now add larger pieces of wood and operate the appliance normally. once the appliance is
entirely hot, it will burn very efficiently with little smoke from the chimney. There will be a bed of hot
coals in the firebox so you can safely fill the firebox with wood to the bottom of the secondary air tubes.
• Can’t get the appliance operating?
use more kindling and paper. assuming the chimney and vent are
sized correctly and there is sufficient combustion air, the lack of sufficiently
dry
quantities of
small
kindling is
the problem.
Thumb size
is a good gauge for small kindling diameter.
• Can’t get heat out of the appliance?
one of two things may have happened. The appliance door may
have been closed prematurely and the appliance itself has not reached optimum temperature.
re-open the door and/or draft control to re-establish a brisk fire. The other problem may have been wet
wood. The typical symptom is sizzling wood and moisture being driven from the wood.
