11
WOOD FUEL
Good quality wood is the most important factor in your stove working efficiently and cleanly. Always use dry split hardwood
firewood (moisture content of 20% or less). The dryness of the firewood plays an important role since the use of wet wood
results in poor fuel economy and may cause a tarry sooty film on the internals of the stove.
Newly cut wood contains 60–70% water, making it totally unsuitable for use as firewood.
Newly cut wood should be stacked and air dried under cover for two years before being used as firewood.
Do not burn liquid fuels, drift wood, finished, sawn wood, pallet wood, chipboard/plywood, varnished wood or plastic
coated wood, wood treated with preservatives, or house hold waste.
SOLID SMOKELESS FUELS-
The Somerton model is not suitable for use with smokeless fuels and House coal.
HOUSE COAL AND PETROLEUM COKE ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR USE ON THIS STOVE; ITS USE WILL INVALIDATE THE GUARANTEE.
Overnight burning
Mendip stoves Ltd do not recommend burning wood in a slumbering position,this creates smoke and tac deposits. Mendip
stoves Somerton model is designed to burn wood . Wood burns more efficiently and cleanly if it is burnt hotter. Mendip
stoves do not recommend that their stoves are burnt overnight for this reason.
As a night time regime we recommend that the fire is loaded when hot and burnt for five minutes with the secondary air
control fully open until the new wood has taken and is burning, then close the secondary air valve to its operational position.
On returning to the stove in the morning the fire will have burn out, reload with some paper or firelighter and some kindling
and open UAC air slider to full primary position to relight quickly. Beware as the ash bed will have hot embers
.
BURNING WOOD IN A SMOKE CONTROL AREA
You must purchase a smoke control version of the Mendip stove which is modified slightly to comply with regulations. Any
change to this modification will invalidate the stoves compliance for smoke control areas.
The Clean Air Act 1993 and
Smoke Control Areas
Under the Clean Air Act local authorities may declare the whole or part of the district of the authority to be a smoke control
area. It is an offence to emit smoke from a chimney of a building, from a furnace or from any fixed boiler if located in a
designated smoke control area. It is also an offence to acquire an "unauthorised fuel" for use within a smoke control area
unless it is used in an "exempt" appliance ("exempted" from the controls which generally apply in the smoke control area).
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has powers under the Act to authorise smokeless fuels or
exempt appliances for use in smoke control areas in England. In Scotland and Wales this power rests with Ministers in the
devolved administrations for those countries. Separate legislation, the Clean Air (Northern Ireland) Order 1981, applies in
Northern Ireland. Therefore it is a requirement that fuels burnt or obtained for use in smoke control areas have been
"authorised" in Regulations and that appliances used to burn solid fuel in those areas (other than "authorised" fuels) have
been exempted by an Order made and signed by the Secretary of State or Minister in the devolved administrations.
Further information on the requirements of the Clean Air Act can be found here:
http://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/
Your
local authority is responsible for implementing the Clean Air Act 1993 including designation and supervision of smoke control
areas and you can contact them for details of Clean Air Act requirements.
Refuelling on to a low fire bed
If there is insufficient burning material in the firebed to light a new fuel charge, excessive smoke emission can occur. Refuelling
must be carried out onto a sufficient quantity of glowing embers and ash that the new fuel charge will ignite in a reasonable
period. If thereare too few embers in the fire bed, add suitable kindling to prevent excessive smoke
