WOODSTOVE UTILIZATION
Your heating unit was designed to burn wood only; no other materials should be burned. Waste and other flammable materials should not be burned in your stove. Any type of wood may be used in your stove, but specific varieties have better energy yields than others. Please consult the following table in order to make the best possible choice.
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| TYPE | WEIGHT | PER CORD | EFFICIENCY | SPLITS | MILLIONS |
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| BTU’s/CORD |
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| Hickory | 63 | 4500 | 1.0 | Well | 31.5 |
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| White Oak | 48 | 4100 | .9 | Fair | 28.6 |
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| Red Oak | 46 | 3900 | .8 | Fair | 27.4 |
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| Beech | 45 | 3800 | .7 | Hard | 26.8 |
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| Sugar Maple | 44 | 3700 | .6 | Fair | 26.2 |
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| Black Oak | 43 | 3700 | .6 | Fair | 25.6 |
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| Ash | 42 | 3600 | .5 | Well | 25.0 |
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| Yellow Birch | 40 | 3400 | .4 | Hard | 23.8 |
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| Red Maple | 38 | 3200 | .3 | Fair | 22.6 |
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| Paper Birch | 37 | 3100 | .3 | Easy | 22.1 |
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| Elm/Sycamore | 34 | 2900 | .2 | Very Difficult | 20.1 |
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| Red Spruce | 29 | 1800 | .1 | Easy | 16.1 |
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It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you use DRY WOOD only in your wood stove. The wood should have dried for 9 to 15 months, such that the humidity content (in weight) is reduced below 20% of the weight of the log. It is very important to keep in mind that even if the wood has been cut for one, two or even more years, it is not necessarily dry, if it has been stored in poor conditions. Under extreme conditions it may rot instead of drying. This point cannot be over stressed; the vast majority of the problems related to the operation of a wood stove is caused by the fact that the wood used was too damp or had dried in poor conditions. These problems can be:
-ignition problems
-creosote
-low energy yield
-blackened windows
-incomplete log combustion
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 if 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 vapor 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.
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