5
Your new High Valley Model 1600 has been designed to give you years of clean, e
ffi
cient service. Take me to consider
carefully where your new wood heater will be installed in your home. If you are planning to use an exis ng chimney and/
or hearth, many of the decisions have been made for you. Consult with your High Valley dealer before commi ng to a
fi
nal
loca on and take full advantage of their experience. Consider how you plan to use your wood heater, your expecta ons, and
the physical layout of your home. Once the wood heater has been installed it would require signi
fi
cant e
ff
ort and expense
to change its loca on. Perhaps, a er considering all factors, you may come to the conclusion that the loca on of an exis ng
chimney may not be the best place for your new wood heater. Evaluate all of your op ons fully before making a
fi
nal deci-
sion.
L
:
The wood heater should be located in a place where it will be convenient to fuel and maintain the
fi
re, but
well away from human tra
ffi
c
fl
ow, and clear of hallways and doors. It must be possible to maintain the minimum clearances
to combus bles which were determined by safety tes ng. See
Page 9
. Ensure that furniture, window treatments (draper-
ies and curtains, wood materials including wood fuel, and any other combus ble materials will be no closer than 36" to the
wood heater. If children reside in the home, or visit regularly, consider how the area immediately around the heater can be
closed o
ff
to keep the children safely away from hot surfaces. Consult your High Valley dealer for advice on safety gates and
other safety products.
H
C
:
Ideally the wood heater will be centrally located in the area that you wish to heat. A
wood heater is an excellent area heater or space heater. Properly sized and operated it will heat the area where it is located
and heated air will naturally move throughout the home. Keep in mind that a wood heater does not have the advantage of
a distribu on system to deliver the heat around your home like a central hea ng boiler or furnace. Don't expect the type of
even heat distribu on that a central hea ng system can deliver. If your goal is to heat a family room, an addi on, or a por-
on of the main house, the wood heater should be sized and operated to create a warm, comfortable space with the surplus
heat allowed to travel around the home on natural convec on (air) currents. A large wood heater with the capacity to heat
a home will typically overheat the area where it is located unless the home is constructed with an open
fl
oor plan. If hea ng
a typical par oned home with wood as a primary heat source is truly the goal, then it would be wise to consider installing a
number of smaller sized wood heaters throughout the space to be heated rather than a single large wood heater. The num-
ber would depend on the size and layout of the home. We do not recommend installing your wood heater in an uninsulated
basement. Much of the heat produced will be lost to the uninsulated walls of the basement. Never cut holes or vents in a
ceiling/
fl
oor in an a empt to get warm air to rise to the rooms above. You will be compromising a
fi
rebreak in your home
and could, should a
fi
re ensue, jeopardize your homeowner's insurance coverage. Contact your local Fire O
ffi
cials or Building
O
ffi
cial, or other Authority Having Jurisdic on for guidance.
C
L
:
Once the best physical loca on for your wood heater from a hea ng perspec ve is agreed upon,
the feasibility of providing a safe and e
ff
ec ve chimney in that loca on must be considered. If the chimney is to run up
through the ceiling and/or the roof then the space above must be clear. The layout and loca on of
fl
oor joists and/or roof
ra ers must be ascertained. Most factory-built chimney components are designed to
fi
t into standard construc on without
the need for cu ng and boxing frame members. A factory-built chimney can also exit through the sidewall of the house and
up the side of the home. Another alterna ve would be to construct a new masonry chimney speci
fi
cally for the wood heater.
In any case, the wood heater must not be vented into a chimney
fl
ue serving any other appliance. Once again, we strongly
recommend that the chimney installa on be performed by a cer
fi
ed professional installer who is thoroughly familiar with
the requirements of modern wood heaters.
Your High Valley Model 1600 is approved for installa on into either a masonry chimney or a Type HT factory-built chimney
listed to UL-103-HT or ULC-S629 standards. A masonry chimney is a permanent installa on requiring a load bearing foo ng
to support the mass of the chimney. Factory-built chimneys o
ff
er
fl
exible installa on op ons and use proprietary support
systems for through-the-roof or sidewall installa on. A properly constructed chimney that provides adequate dra is es-
sen al for the safe and e
ffi
cient opera on of your wood heater. More speci
fi
c informa on about dra and various chimney
installa ons and material will follow, but lets begin at the beginning. Look back to a me when
fi
replaces, woodstoves, and
later, solid fuel central hea ng were relied on as the only source of heat in cold weather. Proper chimney construc on and
loca on could spell the di
ff
erence between keeping warm in the winter and not. Those chimneys had to work. Life revolved
around the
fi
replace and, later, the cook stove and parlor stove. The chimney was typically built in the center of the home
where it helped warm the home and it, in turn, was kept warm by the home. The central loca on ensured that the chimney
would exit near the peak of the roof and therefore be as tall as possible. Our ancestors knew from experience that a tall,
warm chimney would dra be er and was less likely to be a
ff
ected by wind and weather. The same principals apply today.
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