2
Do not wrap the heater with plastic. This will
hold in moisture, not allow the heater to breath
and cure, and will cause the metal doors to rust.
B
REAK
IN
B
URN
OR
C
URING
F
IRE
:
A small fire is about a 10 lb. fire. When I do
“cures” with a new heater, I put in 5-10 lbs.
of dry kindling and start a fire. I keep the fire
going at about that size for a couple or more
hours until I feel some heat coming from various
parts of the heater. This is the curing process.
Others recommend two or three small curing
fires spaced a few hours apart. I prefer the small
continuous fire until warmth is felt. Then I wait
for another 8 to 12 hours to light the first full load
of 40-50 lbs. of dry split wood 3-4” in diameter.
The wood should be 3-5” away from the glass
and screen. In Finland, where the top down burn
does not come from, they typically lean their
wood vertically against one or both corners of the
back wall.
The firebox is self-cleaning. The glass doors will
start dirty then come relatively clean after a full
burn achieves its highest temperature. Some
build up of fly ash or creosote may occur on the
door. Putting a few fine ashes for the previous
fire on a moist paper towel and rubbing the glass
of the door using the ash as a fine abrasive easily
removes this. Using this technique, Cheryl’s
parents have kept their doors spotless for many
years. A full burn is likely to last 1-2.5 hours. A
very aggressive burn of 40-50 lbs. of wood can
be consumed in an hour, but much of that heat
is then lost up the chimney, since the brick can’t
absorb it as fast as it is being produced.
Fly ash building up in the channels can be
vacuumed out once or twice a year with a shop
vacuum inserted into the base of the channels
through the soot doors.
The bake oven can receive bread directly on the
floor tiles to the left and right of the center slot.
For 12” plus pizzas, add a pizza stone available
from gourmet kitchen supply houses and bake
on the stone. Be sure to remove the stone before
lighting the next fire.
The oven is “on” after each burn. Immediate use
of the oven may burn foods, until it cools down
a little. An infrared, hand held heat gun (about
$75) can be purchased from Science catalogs and
plumbing/heating supply houses. They have
a laser beam that is activated by a pistol grip
trigger. Point and shoot at any surface to get a
digital reading of the temperature.
Soft wood well dried is an acceptable fuel.
Most people in New England have hard wood
available, so prefer to use it because of its greater
density as compared to softwood. A moisture
content of 20% or less in the wood is preferred.
The heater will work best if you can cycle it once
or twice daily. If you fire it sporadically, it should
always be brought on line gradually to avoid
shocking the mass.
We hope this information is useful.
