FIREPLACE OPERATION
BUILDING AND TENDING A FIRE
The first three fires should be of moderate size to allow the fireplace to adjust and cure before being subjected to larger fires.
First, make sure your room is well ventilated, your damper open and the flue is unobstructed. Then make sure your wood is dry and seasoned. Unseasoned wood burns poorly. If you use unseasoned wood with poor ventilation or an obstructed chimney, smoking could occur.
Open the outside combustion air damper by pushing upward on its control lever located above the firebrick on the left side of the firebox. This damper should be open while the fireplace is in use. See Figure 5, page 7.
The flue damper control lever is located just below the upper grille of the fireplace. You can reach the control lever through the front opening of the fireplace. The damper is operated by simply unlocking up to open or pulling and locking down to close.
WARNING | The flue damper is counterweighted |
to maintain the fully open position. | |
is completely out and all smoking has | |
| The flue damper must be fully pen |
| while the fireplace is in use. The flue |
| damper must be open unless the fire |
| stopped. |
|
|
WOOD VS. FOSSIL FUELS
Compared to fossil fuels, a full cord of dry hickory weighs about two tons and is approximately equal in heating value to a ton of hard coal. On a per pound basis, heavy hardwoods have about half the heating value of coal. The table below shows the relative densities and heat values of a variety of dry woods. Varieties at the top of the list (Dogwood) burn longer and those near the bottom (White Pine) ignite and burn quicker. A combination of both light and heavy wood is desired.
SPECIES VALUE | DENSITY | HEAT |
Dogwood | ||
Hickory | 100 | |
Oak | ||
Black Locust | ||
Beech | ||
Hard Maple | ||
Birch | ||
Apple | ||
Ash | ||
Southern Pine | ||
Elm | ||
Cherry | 70 | |
Douglas Fir | ||
Spruce | 59 | |
Redwood | ||
White Pine | 50 | |
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WARNING
Never use gasoline,
28 | 61D0087 |
