type of wood burns slowly with calm flames.
Softwood contains more resins, burns faster and
gives off more sparks.
Use dried wood that contains no more than 20%
moisture. The wood must have dried for at least 2
years.
Saw the wood to size and split it when it is still
fresh. Fresh wood is easier to split, and split wood
dries more easily. Store the wood under a roof
where the wind has wind free access.
Do not use damp wood. Damp logs do not produce
heat as all of the energy is used in the evaporation
of the moisture. This will result in a lot of smoke
and soot deposits on the door of the appliance and
in the chimney. The water vapour will condense in
the appliance and can leak away through chinks in
the appliance, causing black stains on the floor. It
may also condense in the chimney and form
creosote. Creosote is a highly flammable
compound and may cause a chimney fire.
Lighting
You can check whether the flue has enough draught
by lighting a ball of paper above the baffle plate. A cold
flue often does not have enough draught and
consequently, some smoke may escape into the room
instead of up the chimney. By lighting the fire in the
way described here, you can avoid this problem.
1. Stack two layers of medium sized logs crosswise.
2. Stack two layers of kindling crosswise on top of
the logs.
3. Place a firelighter cube in the lower layer of
kindling and light the cube according to the
instructions on the packaging.
4. Close the door of the appliance and open the
primary air inlet and the secondary air inlet of the
appliance; see the following figure.
5. Let this fire develop into a good blaze until there is
glowing bed of charcoal. You can then add fuel
and adjust the appliance, see the chapter "Stoking
with wood".
o
= Open
l
= Closed
Subject to change because of technical improvements
9
