8
Boiler Operation and Maintenance
Fuel
Use dry firewood for burning. Using wet fi-
rewood will absorb energy during evaporation
and remove most of it through the stack as
unburnt flue gases, thus uselessly loosing part
of energy and resulting in soot formation in
the stack.
Firewood is considered dry when the moisture
content is 20 %. Such wood is lighter in
weight and smashing logs against each other
produces a clearer sound.
ECONATURE-40 is mainly designed for
birch firewood which has a length of 50 cm, a
diameter of 12 cm, and a weight of 1.5 to 1.9
kg.
Other foliferous and coniferous woods are
also suitable for combustion but coniferous
woods cause more contamination to the boi-
ler. Different woods burn differently. Lighter
woods with a smaller wood diameter will
burn better.
Start-up
Check that:
•
The flue is open and there is no installa-
tion or other waste at its base.
•
The boiler and the heating system are fil-
led with water and circulation is working.
•
Piping connections are tight.
•
The system is under pressure.
•
The safety relief valve is working, i.e.
water runs from the drain line during val-
ve testing.
Use a small amount of firewood for the first
burning to avoid bar splitting by boiling water
that could soak in the ceramic fire bar.
If the system is filled for the first time the air
dissolved in water will penetrate into the sys-
tem but will be removed from the boiler water
when the temperature exceeds 90 ºC. When
used for the first time, the system should be
deaerated.
