Osburn 1600 Installation and Operation Manual
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them near where most of the combustion air enters the firebox and where they can ignite the new
load quickly, and second, the charcoal will not be smothered by the new load of wood. If you were
to simply spread the charcoal out, the new load will smoulder for a long time before igniting.
Remove ash first, and then rake charcoal towards the front of the firebox before loading so that it
will ignite the new load.
4.3.4
FIRING EACH NEW LOAD HOT
Place the new load of wood on and behind the charcoal, and not too close to the glass. Close the
door and open the air control fully. Leave the air control fully open until the firebox is full of
flames, the wood has charred to black and its edges are glowing red. Firing each load of wood hot
accomplishes a few things:
•
drives the surface moisture from the wood,
•
creates a layer of char on the wood, which slows down its release of smoke,
•
heats the firebox components so they reflect heat back to the fire, and
•
heats the chimney so it can produce strong, steady draft for the rest of the cycle.
Although it is important to fire each new load hot to prepare for a clean burn, do not allow the fire
to burn at full intensity for more than a few minutes.
DO NOT LEAVE THE STOVE UNATTENDED WHILE A NEW LOAD IS BEING FIRED HOT.
When you burn a new load of wood hot to heat up the wood, the stove and the chimney, the
result will be a surge of heat from the stove. This heat surge is welcome when the room
temperature is a little lower than desirable, but not welcome if the space is already warm.
Therefore, allow each load of wood to burn down so that the space begins to cool off a little
before loading. Letting the space cool before loading is one of the secrets to clean burning and
effective zone heating.
4.3.5
TURNING DOWN THE AIR SUPPLY
Once the firewood, firebox and chimney are hot, you can begin to reduce the air supply for a
steady burn.
As you reduce the air supply to the fire, two important things happen. First, the firing rate slows
down to spread the heat energy in the fuel over a longer period of time. Second, the flow rate of
