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BURN WOOD ONLY!
First Fire:
Set the wall thermostat to 90°F. Make sure the switch for the draft blower is in the ON position.
Place several crumpled newspapers on the grate with some dry kindling layered on top of the papers, then ignite the
newspaper. When the kindling is burning, add several small pieces of wood, allow wood to fully ignite. After about 20 minutes
the fire should be established, allowing you to add more wood – do not overload which would smother the fire. Add more wood
slowly, so the flames have time to engulf the fresh wood. Once the fire is burning and there is a glowing ember bed, set the wall
thermostat to the desired home temperature.
Do not over-fire the furnace. Over-firing by overloading/over fueling the furnace causes the metal to superheat and expand, then cool
rapidly, which causes cracking, therefore voiding the warranty. Over-firing or abuse can easily be determined upon inspection.
It will take about 40 minutes to establish a bed of hot embers. Once you have achieved the hot ember bed, add larger pieces of
firewood. Finally adjust the wall thermostat. Ash pan must remain out of furnace during operation.
NOTE: Your new Shelter Furnace is capable of producing a very high BTU output. Do not fuel your furnace to capacity upon initial firing.
It’s recommended that you become thoroughly familiar with your Fire Chief Furnace before operating at full capacity.
The new steel and metal components of the furnace have a protective coating or paint on the surface which could produce an odor
duringthe break in period. Adequate ventilation within the home and furnace room or area is recommended during the initial firing and
break in period to accommodate this possibility. Your new Shelter Furnace is classified as having airtight construction. This type of
design should enable you to experience an average burn time between 8 and 12 hours per full load of fuel (dry, seasoned hardwood).
However, abnormally cold weather may reduce the burn time somewhat, but if your burn cycle is significantly less, for instance, 2 to 4
hours, you are over-firing your furnace. This type of occurrence is usually symptomatic of heat demands in excess of furnace capacity.
Contact an authorized professional to determine if your Shelter Furnace has been improperly sized for your home. The heat output range,
according to B415.1-10 testing, is 25,000 to 75,000 BTUs per hour.
Loading Wood:
When opening the fuel door during operation, always wait 10 seconds after releasing the first latch, then open the door the rest of
the way. The dual latch system has been incorporated as a safety feature, designed to eliminate the possibility of gaseous ignition.
Laboratory testing has determined that when incomplete combustion occurs the partially spent fuel sometimes concentrates large
amounts of potentially hazardous gases within the fire chamber. If the door is opened suddenly under these conditions, the oxygen may
combine with these gases and cause ignition referred to as “back flash.” Use EXTREME CAUTION when opening the fuel door.
When reloading the furnace, spread embers evenly over the grate. Place smaller pieces of wood on the hot embers and layer larger
pieces on top of them. Finally, due to the wide variety of temperature ranges during the winter, you may experience periods when
it is not necessary to fully load the fire chamber in order to maintain an overnight burn. Your Shelter Furnace will operate at the
highest efficiency by adding fuel in amounts needed to maintain comfortable temperatures in your home.
BURN WOOD ONLY!
Disposal of Ashes:
Heat resistant gloves are recommended. In order to remove ashes from your Shelter Furnace, open the ash door and slide the ash
pan to the rear of the furnace. Remove the ash pan from the furnace and dump the ashes into a metal container with a tight fitting lid.
The closed container of ashes should be placed on a non-combustible floor or on the ground, well away from all combustible materials,
pending final disposal. If the ashes are disposed of by burial in soil or otherwise locally dispersed, they should be retained in the closed
metal container until all cinders have thoroughly cooled.
The ash pan must be removed from your Shelter Furnace during operation. This precautionary measure is recommended
