18
Dutchwest Seneca
2006063
hardwood is not available, tamarack, yellow pine, white
pine, Eastern red cedar, fir, and redwood are softwoods
that are commonly burned. They too should be prop-
erly dried. The length of the wood should be the same
as that specified for your particular stove. Avoid using
wood that has been dried more than two years. Often
gray in color, this wood burns very quickly, resulting in
short burn time and diminished stove performance. If
you must burn it, mix it in with greener wood to slow the
burn.
The length of the wood should be 16” - 18” (410-
460mm).
Store your firewood under cover to keep it dry. Even for
short-term storage, keep wood a safe distance from the
heater and keep it clear of the areas around the heater
used for refueling and ash removal.
Use the Air Control Settings
that Work Best for You
No single combination of control settings will fit every
situation. Each installation will differ depending on the
quality of the fuel, the amount of heat desired, and how
long you wish the fire to burn.
Control settings also depend on your particular
installation’s “draft," or the force that moves air from the
stove up through the chimney. Draft is affected by such
things as the height, type, and location of the chimney,
local geography, nearby obstructions, and other factors.
Too much draft may cause excessive temperatures in
the stove. On the other hand, too little draft can cause
backpuffing into the room and/or the “plugging” of the
chimney and catalytic burner.
How do you know if your draft is excessively high or
low? Symptoms of too much draft include an uncontrol-
lable burn or a glowing-red part of the stove or chimney
connector. A sign of inadequate draft is smoke leaking
into the room through the stove or chimney connector
joints.
In some newer homes that are well-insulated and
weather-tight, poor draft may result from insufficient air
in the house. In such instances, an open window near
the stove on the windward side of the house will
provide the fresh air needed.
Another option for getting more combustion air to the
stove is to duct air directly from the outside to the stove.
In fact, in some areas provisions for outside combustion
air are required in all new construction.
Your Seneca is designed to incorporate outside com-
bustion air, and directions for installing an outside air
duct may be found in the Assembly section.
When first using the stove, keep a record of the results
you achieve from different control settings. You will find
that specific control settings will give you a fixed
amount of heat. It may take a week or two to determine
the amount of heat and the length of burn you should
expect from various control settings.
Most installations do not require a large amount of
combustion air, especially if adequate draft is available.
Do not for any reason attempt to increase the firing of
your heater by altering the air control adjustment range
outlined in these directions.
Use the following air control settings as a starting point
to help determine the best settings for your installation:
NOTE: To make the settings for these directions as
clear as possible, imagine that the face of a clock is
mounted behind the primary air control lever. Then,
follow the directions to set the lever at the correct
“time”. (Fig. 23)
Seneca Control Settings
Burn Rate
Primary Air
Combustor Air
Low
5:00
3/4 turns
Medium
6:00
1
¹⁄₄
turns
High
7:30
Fully open (4
¹⁄₂
turns)
12
6
3
9
1
2
4
5
7
8
10
11
Low
Medium
High
ST742
Fig. 23 Seneca control settings.
If your stove is equipped with an optional blower, it is
important to follow these guidelines as well for best
results:
At low-to-medium heat outputs, (a control setting of
5:00 to 6:00) the optional convection blower switch
should be set on the “low” position, never on “high”.
At higher heat outputs, (above 6:00) the blower can be
set on high if desired.
DO NOT OPERATE THE STOVE WITH THE ASH
DOOR OPEN. OPERATION WITH THE ASH DOOR
OPEN CAN CAUSE AN OVERFIRING CONDITION
TO OCCUR. OVERFIRING THE STOVE IS DANGER-
OUS AND CAN RESULT IN PROPERTY DAMAGE,
INJURY, OR LOSS OF LIFE.
