Testing Your Wood, First Fires, Ignition

Smaller pieces of wood will dry faster. All logs exceeding 6" in diameter should be split. The wood should not be stored directly on the ground. Air should circulate through the cord. A 24" to 48" air space should be left between each row of logs, which should be placed in the sunniest location possible. The upper layer of wood should be protected from the element but not the sides.

TESTING YOUR WOOD

When the stove is thoroughly warmed, place one piece of split wood (about five inches in diameter) parallel to the door on the bed of red embers.

Keep the air control full open by pulling on it and close the door. If ignition of the piece is accomplished within 90 seconds from the time it was placed in the stove, your wood is correctly dried. If ignition takes longer, your wood is damp.

If your wood hisses and water or vapour escapes at the ends of the piece, your wood is soaked or freshly cut. Do not use this wood in your stove. Large amounts of creosote could be deposited in your chimney, creating potential conditions for a chimney fire.

THE FIRST FIRES

The fresh paint on your stove needs to be cured to preserve its quality. Once the fuel charge is properly ignited, only burn small fires in your stove for the first four hours of operation. Never open the air control more than necessary to achieve a medium burn rate.

Make sure that there’s enough air circulation while curing the stove. The odours could be smelled during the 3 or 4 first fires. Never start your stove outside. You will not be able to see if you are over heating.

IGNITION

After making sure that the stove air intake controls are fully open (completely pull-out towards you), place several rumpled sheets of paper in the centre of the combustion chamber. Place 8 to 10 pieces of small dry kindling wood over the paper in the form of a tent. You may also place a few pieces of heating wood, but choose the smaller ones. No chemical product should be used to light the fire.

Before igniting the paper and kindling wood, it is recommended that you warm up the chimney. This is done in order to avoid back draft problems often due to negative pressure in the house. If such is the case, open a window slightly near the stove and twist together a few sheets of newspaper into a torch. Light up this paper torch and hold it as close as possible to the mouth of the pipe inside the combustion chamber to warm up the chimney. Once the updraft movement is initiated, you are ready to ignite the stove by lighting the paper and kindling wood inside the combustion chamber.

We therefore advise you to leave the door slightly opened (1/4") for a 10 to 30 minutes period, under supervision, in order to allow for good combustion. After this time, you must close the door and progressively adjust the air control to obtain the desired temperature.