Osburn Soho Installation and Operation Manual
10 ______________________________________________________________________________
2.2
ZONE HEATING AND HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU
Your new Osburn Soho wood fire is a space heater, which means it is intended to heat the area it is
installed in, as well as spaces that connect to that area, although to a lower temperature. This is
called zone heating and it is an increasingly popular way to heat homes or spaces within homes.
Zone heating can be used to supplement another heating system by heating a particular space
within a home, such as a basement family room or an addition that lacks another heat source.
Although the wood fire may be able to heat the main living areas of your house to an adequate
temperature, we strongly recommend that you also have a conventional oil, gas or electric heating
system to provide backup heating.
Your success with zone heating will depend on several factors, including the correct sizing and
location of the wood fire, the size, layout and age of your home and your climate zone. Three-
season vacation homes can usually be heated with smaller wood fires than houses that are heated
all winter.
2.3
THE BENEFITS OF LOW EMISSIONS AND HIGH EFFICIENCY
The low smoke emissions produced by the special features inside the Osburn Soho firebox mean
that your household will release up to 90 percent less smoke into the outside environment than if
you used an older conventional wood fire. But there is more to the emission control technologies
than protecting the environment.
The smoke released from wood when it is heated contains about half of the energy content of the
fuel. By burning the wood completely, your wood fire releases all the heat energy from the wood
instead of wasting it as smoke up the flue system. Also, the features inside the firebox allow you to
reduce the air supply to control heat output, while maintaining clean and efficient flaming
combustion, which boosts the efficient delivery of heat to your home.
