13
1 The Lighting Phase
For best results:
Primary Air (bottom control) – fully open
Secondary Air (top control) – fully open
Thermostat Control – fully open (8)
Door – slightly ajar (optional)
Avoid trying to light the fire with excessive amounts
of paper as this has a very high ash content which can
‘smother’ the ash bed. If you have good dry kindling
or sticks then paper should not be needed at all.
The size of the logs used at each stage is also
important. If the kindling wood is too large this will
not light well and will be slow to get started. Two
handfuls of smaller pieces of kindling (equivalent to
the weight of typical log) layered criss-cross or ‘wig-
wam’ style and a small firelighter will get the fire well
established and up to operating temperature quickly.
If you feel you have a weak chimney draught, then
keeping the stove door slightly ajar for the first 5 – 10
minutes will assist, after which it should be closed.
This will also help prevent the build-up of
condensation on the door glass until the glass warms
up, especially if you have not used the stove for a few
days.
During the lighting phase the Primary and
Secondary Air settings, as well as the Thermostat
Control, on the stove should be fully open.
2 The First Refuel Phase
For best results: After 10 minutes...
Primary Air (bottom control) – close completely
Secondary Air (top control) – fully open
Thermostat Control – fully open (8)
Door – closed
Once the embers are starting to glow and the flames
start to calm down, the first refuelling can take place.
For this stage use slightly larger pieces of wood than
the lighting wood – but smaller than the main
refuelling wood in the next phase. The reason for this
is that the embers from the kindling wood are small
and will not hold a high temperature for too long.
If unnecessarily large pieces of wood are placed on
the embers at this stage and do not ignite well there
is a risk that the firebox will quickly cool down and the
wood start to smoke. When the first refuelling wood
is burning well (say, after about 10 minutes from the
start) the Primary Air can be completely shut off.
3 The Main Firing Phase
For best results: After 17 or 18 minutes...
Secondary Air (top control) – remains open
Primary Air (bottom control) – remains closed
Thermostat Control – remains fully open (8)
Door – remains closed
Once the embers of the first refuel phase are glowing
then these can be evenly spread with a poker or
companion tool and the main larger refuelling wood
can be quickly set.
Wood burns best if the flames have other wood to
‘play off’. For example a single dense piece of wood
or log will not burn as well as 2 or 3 smaller logs of
equivalent mass. The more contact the wood has with
each other piece, the hotter the embers will be. 3 or 4
logs tightly packed to each other will burn longer but
at a lower temperature than loosely criss-crossed logs.
Approximately 1.5kg to 2.5kg of wood logs can be
added at this stage. Be careful not to add too many
logs as they may ‘smother’ the fire or cause the stove
to over-fire.
Try to avoid setting the ends of the logs pointing
towards the glass as this is where some of the gases
and moisture from the logs escapes and this can
cause staining which the Airwash may find difficult to
remove.
Only reduce the Secondary Air control when the wood
has ‘carbonised’ and the fire is burning at a high
temperature. This is when the ash on the burning
wood looks light grey and virtually covers all of the
wood. You will be able to tell when the stove is at this
stage by studying the colour of the burning surfaces
– the ‘lighter’ they are the better the wood is burning.
If the log surface is predominately black and / or the
flames are a dull orange then there is still some time
to go before the fire is operating at full temperature.
Avoid leaving the stove unattended after refuelling
until the flames are well established on the new logs.
Always load onto a bed of hot embers.
Once the fire is established the flame pattern can
then be adjusted to your requirements with the top
Secondary Air (Airwash) control.
Getting the balance right between a gently burning
stove and one that is burning too slowly, creating
smoke and causing the Airwash to fail and
consequently the glass to stain, is very much a matter
of trial and error. If you are burning well-seasoned
wood then a quick ‘blast’ of the stove operating at
‘full throttle’, with Secondary and Primary Air fully
open, should quickly burn off any deposits left from
any slower burning phase.
If you are lighting the stove to firstly provide hot water
and heat into your central heating, rather than heat
into the room, you should not need to adjust the
Secondary Air or Thermostat Control until you are
satisfied that both of these have been achieved. This
could take as long as two hours and will probably
require at least one full refuel.
4 Refuelling
For best results: Just before you refuel...
Primary Air (bottom control) – fully open
Secondary Air (top control) – fully open
Thermostat Control – fully open (8)
After loading and when new fuel is burning well...
Primary Air – close completely
Secondary Air– adjust to suit
Thermostat Control – adjust to suit (0 – 8)
Alpha III Boiler Handbook.indd 13
16/7/13 10:59:09