High Valley 1600 Owner'S Manual Download Page 20

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Before ligh ng the

rst

re in your new wood heater, please

read the following informa  on outlining the basic elements
of clean wood combus  on. Space is limited here, but much
has been wri  en on the subject and is available elsewhere.

T C

Air, Fuel, and Heat (Ig-

ni  on) are required to establish and support combus  on
whether wood, coal, wood pellets, gas, oil, etc. is the fuel be-
ing burned. The correct propor  on of air and fuel will vary,
but the three basic ingredients are essen  ally the same.

Igni on in a wood heater is straigh orward.

Typically it involves a match, paper, and kindling wood.
Enough heat must be generated and sustained to get the
cord wood burning (@ 350°C to 500°C**). For compari-
son matches are es  mated to burn at 600°C to 800°C; a
standard butane lighter is somewhat ho  er at @ 800°C to
1100°C, paper will ignite at @225°C to 250°C and dry so
wood kindling at @350°C. You light the paper with a match
to ignite the kindling and,

nally, the cord wood.

NOTE:

There are any number of "

restarters" on the mar-

ket. They light easily with a match and eliminate the need
for newspaper. We recommend the clean burning "food
safe"

restarters.

Never use any type of

ammable liquid

to start or "freshen" the

re.

The Model 1600 is designed and approved for use

with solid natural wood. Use of any other fuel may create
excessive emissions and will void the warranty.
The cord wood that you will burn depends to a large de-
gree on what species of trees are abundant where you live.
Transpor  ng hardwood from its source to an area where
hardwood is scarce would be cost prohibi  ve. If you live
where only so  wood species are available, then that is
what you will likely use for fuel. In fact all cord wood, re-
gardless of species, has approximately the same poten  al
BTU's* in each pound of wood. A pound of so  wood has
the same poten  al @ 8600 BTU's (kiln dry) per pound as
a pound of hardwood. "Hardwood" is denser than "so  -
wood", varies in speci

c gravity, and is therefore heavier by

volume; and, of course, wood is sold by volume, not by the
pound. A cord of hardwood will take up the same space as
a cord of so wood but it will be heavier and contain more
poten al BTU's.

NOTE:

The common unit for the sale or purchase of

re-

wood is the cord. One cord equals 128 cubic feet (4' high x
4' wide x 8' long). Because cord wood is irregularly shaped
it would be impossible to achieve a solid 128 cu.   . block
of wood. Wood is supposed to be "well stacked" in a prop-
er cord but that is a subjec  ve measure. 85% wood and
15% air space is commonly accepted as the proper ra  o
but some sources cite 70% wood and 30% air space. That
represents signi

cant di

ﬀ

erence of @ 109 cu. . to @ 90

cu. . of usable wood.

Along with density, the other major variable in wood fuel
is moisture content. Unseasoned or "Green" wood will
contain 50% water or more. Good "air-dried" cord wood is
about 20% moisture. At 20% moisture the available BTU's
will be @ 6200 to 7000 per pound not 8600. At 50% mois-
ture "green" wood will have only @ 4000 BTU's per pound
or less. It follows that cord wood needs to be well sea-
soned. It may take 9 months for so woods and up to 24
months for hard woods to air dry thoroughly.

Clean, e

ﬃ

cient combus on in your wood

heater depends on burning well seasoned, good quality
fuel. Buying "seasoned" wood in the burning season is ex-
pensive and o en disappoin ng. The best advice is to get
"green" wood in early spring and air dry it yourself. If you
don't cut your own wood,

nd a reputable, reliable wood

seller. Well seasoned wood typically exhibits dark cut ends
with radial cracks, but spli ng a "dry" log and tes ng it with
a meter eliminates specula on. Home moisture meters
have become a

ﬀ

ordable and readily available. Follow the

instruc ons that come with the meter. Stack your wood o

ﬀ

the ground in a well ven lated area, preferably under cover
or with a tarp over the top of the stack. More informa on
on wood and wood species see Appendix - B on

Page 21

A :

The other leg of the combus on triangle is air. The

air needed to support combus on is drawn into the

rebox

by the dra of your chimney. See

Page 6

. Final air delivery

and metering required much research and engineering to
ensure clean combus  on but, the good news is, you regu-
late the combus  on air with a single Air Control. As long
as your chimney dra  s well, controlling combus  on air is
simpli

ed. It is against federal regula ons to alter the air

control se ngs or controls in any way.

Put the three elements of the

Combus on Triangle together in your wood heater and you
will have started a

re. The chemical and physical processes

taking place in that

re are complex, and scien

c papers on

the subject are lengthy and detailed. Three major stages are
worth no ng and will help the operator understand how to
achieve the cleanest burning

re.

Stage One:

Kindling & Moisture Evapora on:

Kindling the

re has been covered above under Igni on.

Provide enough heat to the wood for a long enough me
and it will begin to burn. Before the

re can reach full heat-

ing poten al moisture in the wood must be evaporated.
This is why dry fuel is so important. More than 1000 BTU
of poten al heat will be needed to drive o

ﬀ

each pound of

water. Un l the water present in the wood is boiled o

ﬀ

the

re will be rela vely cool, heat from the coal bed will be

used up, and

ue gas temperatures will be reduced. Burn-

ing green wood wastes a lot of energy.

Stage Two:

Gas Vaporiza on & Igni on:

A er moisture is driven o

ﬀ

, the temperature of the

builds and various hydrocarbons and other elements begin
to vaporize. At temperatures between 540°F and 1225°F
these gasses will ignite if oxygen is introduced. The stain-
less steel tubes at the top of the

rebox meter in air auto-

ma cally to ignite those gasses. Temperatures approaching
2000°F are possible, providing more heat to the home. A
blueish

ame at the top of the

rebox indicates the burning

ammable gasses. If the

ames disappear prematurely

increase the combus on Air Control se ng.

Stage Three:

Charcoal Burning:

A er

ammable gasses have been burned o

ﬀ

, only charcoal

remains. Charcoal burns cleanly at @ 1100°F in the pres-
ence of oxygen. Adjust the Air Control as needed to extend
the

re. If a con nuous

re is desired, add fresh fuel while

the charcoal bed is s ll hot enough to kindle the new wood.

A Bri sh Thermal Unit (BTU) is a measure of the amount of energy (heat)

required to raise one pound of water by 1°F at sea level.
**The temperatures are given in Celsius and the temperature ranges are
approximate as the values vary from source to source.