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Installation and Operation Manual - Escape 1800
4.3 Your first fires
Two things will happen as you burn your first few fires; the paint cures and the internal components
of the wood fire are conditioned.
As the paint cures, some of the chemicals vaporize. The vapors 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 wood fire, 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.
Burn one or two small fires to begin the curing and conditioning process. Then build bigger
and hotter fires until there is no longer any paint smell from the wood fire. Once the paint smell
disappears, your wood fire is ready for serious heating.
4.4 Lighting fires
Each person who heats with wood develops their own favorite way to light fires. Whatever
method you choose, your goal should be to get a hot fire burning quickly. A fire that starts fast
produces less smoke and deposits less creosote in the flue system. Here are three popular and
effective ways to start wood fires.
4.4.1 Conventional fire starting
The conventional way to build a wood fire is to bunch
up 5 to 10 sheets of plain newspaper and place
them in the firebox. Next, place 10 or so pieces of
fine kindling on the newspaper. This kindling should
be very thin; less than 25 mm (1"). Next, place some
larger kindling pieces on the fine kindling. Open the
air control fully and light the newspaper. If you have a
tall, straight flue system you should be able to close
the door immediately and the fire will ignite. If your flue
has elbows or an outside flue system, you may need to
leave the door closed but unlatched for a few minutes
as the newspaper ignites and heat in the flue system
produces some draft. Once the fire has ignited, close the
door and leave the air control fully open.
DO NOT LEAVE THE HEATER UNATTENDED WHEN
THE DOOR IS SLIGHTLY OPEN. ALWAYS CLOSE
AND LATCH THE DOOR AFTER THE FIRE IGNITES.
A conventional kindling fire with
paper under finely split wood.
After the kindling fire has mostly burned, you can add standard firewood pieces until you have
a fire of the right size for the conditions.
