Drolet HEATPRO DF03000, Installation And Operating Instructions Manual

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HeatPro Furnace Installation and Operation Manual
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• softwoods take less time to dry than hardwood
•
softwoods like pine, spruce, and poplar/aspen can be dry enough to burn after being
stacked in the open for only the summer months
• hardwoods like oak, maple and ash can take one, or even two years to dry fully,
especially if the pieces are big
•
firewood dries more quickly when stacked in the open where it is exposed to sun and
wind; it takes much longer to dry when stacked in a wood shed
• firewood that is ready to burn has a moisture content between 15 and 20% by weight
and will allow your furnace to produce its highest possible efficiency
7.5.6 Judging firewood moisture content
You can find out if some firewood is dry enough to burn by using these guidelines:
• cracks form at the ends of logs as they dry
• as it dries in the sun, the wood turns from white or cream coloured to grey or yellow,
•
bang two pieces of wood together; seasoned wood sounds hollow and wet wood
sounds dull,
• dry wood is much lighter in weight than wet wood,
•
split a piece, and if the fresh face feels warm and dry it is dry enough to burn; if it feels
damp, it is too wet,
• burn a piece; wet wood hisses and sizzles in the fire and dry wood does not.
You could buy a wood moisture meter to test your
firewood.
8 Operating your furnace
8.1 Your first fires
Two things will happen as you burn your first few fires; the paint cures and the internal
components of the furnace are conditioned.
As the paint cures, some of the chemicals vaporize. The vapours are not poisonous, but
they do smell bad. Fresh paint fumes can also cause false alarms in smoke detectors. So,
when you first light your furnace, be prepared by opening doors and/or windows to
ventilate the house. As you burn hotter and hotter fires, more of the painted surfaces reach
the curing temperature of the paint. The smell of curing paint does not disappear until you
have burned one or two very hot fires.
It is recommended to burn it at high rate and ventilate the building until the odours
disappear. Once the paint smell disappears, your furnace is ready for serious heating.