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Installation and Operation Manual - Escape 1800
2.3 Zone Heating and How to Make it Work for You
Your new Escape 1800 wood fire is a space heater, which means it is intended to heat the area
it is installed in, as well as spaces that connect to that area, although to a lower temperature.
This is called zone heating and it is an increasingly popular way to heat homes or spaces within
homes.
Zone heating can be used to supplement another heating system by heating a particular space
within a home, such as a basement family room or an addition that lacks another heat source.
Although the wood fire may be able to heat the main living areas of your house to an adequate
temperature, we strongly recommend that you also have a conventional oil, gas or electric
heating system to provide backup heating.
Your success with zone heating will depend on several factors, including the correct sizing and
location of the wood fire, the size, layout and age of your home and your climate zone. Three-
season vacation homes can usually be heated with smaller wood fires than houses that are
heated all winter.
2.4 The Benefits of Low Emissions and High Efficiency
The low smoke emissions produced by the special features inside the Escape 1800 firebox mean
that your household will release up to 90 percent less smoke into the outside environment than if
you used an older conventional wood fire. But there is more to the emission control technologies
than protecting the environment.
The smoke released from wood when it is heated contains about half of the energy content of
the fuel. By burning the wood completely, your wood fire releases all the heat energy from the
wood instead of wasting it as smoke up the flue system. Also, the features inside the firebox
allow you to reduce the air supply to control heat output, while maintaining clean and efficient
flaming combustion, which boosts the efficient delivery of heat to your home.
The emission control and advanced combustion features of your wood fire can only work properly
if your fuel is in the correct moisture content range of 15 to 20 percent. See Section 3 of this
manual for suggestions on preparing fuelwood and judging its moisture.
2.5 Drolet’s Commitment to You and the Environment
The Drolet team is committed to protecting the environment, so we do everything we can to use
only materials in our products that will have no lasting negative impact on the environment.
2.5.1 What is This Wood fire Made Of?
The
body
of your wood fire, which is most of its weight, is carbon steel. Should it ever become
necessary many years in the future, almost the entire wood fire can be recycled into new
products, thus eliminating the need to mine new materials.
The
paint coating
on your wood fire is very thin. Its VOC content (Volatile Organic Components)
is very low. VOCs can be responsible for smog, so all the paint used during the manufacturing
process meets the latest air quality requirements with regards to VOC reduction or elimination.
The
air tubes
are stainless steel, which can also be recycled.
