Engaging the Catalytic Combustor
The catalytic combustor will start to burn the gases and particles in the smoke when the temperature of the smoke
reaches approximately 500ºF (internally) , or after about 5-15 minutes of establishing a strong fire. Each stove comes with
a magnetic thermometer. Use the thermometer to monitor your stove/pipe temperatures. The temperature of the single
wall pipe or the stove top is approximately 1/2 the temperature of the exhausting smoke, so when the thermometer on
the stove pipe reads 250ºF, it is approximately 500ºF inside. You will find that after the
combustor is engaged, the pipe temperature will often stabilize or lower, while the stove
surface temperature rises - evidence that the heat isn’t getting lost up the chimney!
Engage the combustor by lowering the bypass handle (front of the stove) down until it
closes completely. Then reduce the air damper setting to achieve the desired burn rate.
Make fine adjustments to your air control damper by moving it slightly left or right. You
may find that you can achieve the longest burn when the damper is only slightly open. In
the Ideal Steel Hybrid, allowance is made for a small amount of primary and secondary air
to enter the stove even when the damper is fully closed, and the stainless steel catalyst will
work efficiently at low to moderate firing rates, thus preventing creosote formation or
excessive smoke from your chimney.
Low & Overnight Burning
These instructions are intended as a guide to operating your wood stove. Your
timing and final damper settings will vary depending on chimney draft, type of
wood, moisture content of the wood and size of the splits. The Ideal Steel Hybrid
is simply designed and intended to be user friendly, but it will take some practice
to understand how the stove works best for you.
1.
Before you open the loading door, you must fully open the catalytic bypass
and the air damper. Wait a minute or so, before opening the loading door
slowly, for a strong draft to be established to prevent smoke from spilling
back into the room. The Ideal Steel is equipped with a smoke flap which
drops down when the loading door opens. The smoke flap will help keep
smoke from spilling out of the loading door.
2.
Wearing stove gloves, open the loading door and tip the andirons forward.
Stir up the hot coals. If necessary, excess ash should be removed before
reloading the firebox. If your stove has the optional ash pan, simply rake the
hot coals back and forth in the firebox to allow the loose ash to fall through the center grate into the ash pan. If
your stove does not have an ash pan, push the hot coals to one side and shovel the loose ash into a non-
combustible ash container with a tight fitting lid. Dispose of the ash properly.
Never put an ash container on a combustible surface, like a wood floor.
3.
Place several small splits on top of the hot coals and allow them to ignite.
4.
Load the firebox to capacity leaving roughly 2” of space for secondary combustion, with a mix of larger and smaller
splits. Tip the andirons to the upright position. Close the loading door.
5. Allow the temperature on the exterior of single wall pipe to come back up to 250°, this may only take 5-15 minutes
depending on the dryness of the wood.
6.
Adjust the air damper to a low setting, around the 1/4 open mark, by sliding the lever to the left.
7.
Close the catalytic bypass by lowering the lever until it stops.
8.
Initially the fire may appear to die out. This may cause a small amount of soot to collect on the glass. Any buildup
on the glass should go away with higher t emperature burns.
Never burn the stove with the air damper fully open except when kindling a fire or reloading the firebox.
Never build a roaring fire in a cold stove. It takes at least 30 minutes to heat the soapstone panels of the Ideal Steel,
if equipped. Attempts to reach high temperatures very quickly could result in damage to the steel or soapstone parts.
CAUTION
NEVER USE GASOLINE,
GASOLINE TYPE LANTERN
FUEL, KEROSENE, CHAR-
COAL LIGHTER FLUID OR
SIMILAR LIQUIDS TO
START OR “FRESHEN UP” A
FIRE IN THIS STOVE. KEEP
ALL SUCH LIQUIDS WELL
AWAY FROM THE STOVE
WHILE IT IS IN USE.
15
Door Open
Andiron Plate
In this picture, andirons have
been pulled forward for loading.
