Keeping your chimney and stove pipe clean is the best in- surance against chimney fires. Note: Smoke detectors and fire extinguishers should always be a part of your equip- ment.
If you clean your own chimney and stove pipe, we recom- mended purchasing the equipment professionals use. Wire brushes are available in enough sizes and shapes to be a snug fit inside any common flue.
Once a week let your furnace burn with ash door open for a maximum of fifteen minutes while in attendance. This will help minimize creosote buildup. Also placing a surface magnetic thermometer on flue pipe is helpful to keep tem- peratures at 300 to 400 degrees. Duct temperatures should be 115 to 125 degrees at 12" above furnace.
BURNING COAL
Your furnace is capable of burning both Bituminous and Anthracite coal. Anthracite is perhaps the best coal fuel because its long even burn time, high heat output, and cleanliness make it a good choice for the home. However, keep in mind it is a much more difficult fuel to use, requires more care and patience, is not so widely available, and is usually much more expensive than bituminous.
SIZE OF COAL: Most sizes of Bituminous Coal will work in your New Furnace, for best results we recommend large nut coal to small egg coal (1-3/4" dia. to 4" dia.). When burning Anthracite, use egg or broken with sizes between 2-5/16" thru 4-3/8". Note that it is important to the long life of your furnace to buy coal which has been sized and cleaned. Cleaning insures removal of rocks and other materials. Never use coal smaller than 1" or larger than 5" in diameter. Small sized coal will smother the fire. Too large a size of coal will not burn well.
STOVE OPERATION: All coal fires should be started with wood which will allow the fire to get hot enough to ignite the coal. The best ignition fires utilize dry pine or other resinous soft woods as kindling, with hard wood (oak, hickory, ash) added to increase the heat prior to addition of the coal.
BURNING BITUMINOUS: Once your kindling and wood fire has produced a bed of well established coals, start adding coal in layers allowing each to ignite before adding more. Bituminous has a high volatile content and, as a result, should be fired with the "conical method" - with the highest portion of your firebed in the center of the fire- box. The first flames will be long and generally orange or yellow and produce quite a bit of smoke. As the gases burn off the flames become shorter, change color
and produce less smoke. Once the fire is WELL ESTAB- LISHED add coal to the center of the firebox forming the cone. Burning in this fashion allows heat to drive off the volatile gases, and turbulence created increases the burn efficiency. You will have to experiment with your particular setup as no two chimney's or installations are going to be the same. Just remember to allow enough secondary air to enter the firebox and keep your stove pipe damper open so that volatiles are properly burned. Before refueling, take the time to break up the cone a little with a poker, espe- cially if it has caked over or formed a crust. But, be careful not to mix the coal as this increases the chances of forming clinkers. When shaking the grate(s) be gentle. Just a few short movements is better than a lot of agitation. The ob- jective is to remove a small amount of the ashes without disturbing the fire. Stop when you see a glow in the ashes or the first red coals fall into the ash pan. Excessive shak- ing wastes fuel and can expose the grate(s) to very high temperatures which can cause warpage or burnout.
For overnight operation (long duration burn time) shake the fire and add coal, retaining your center cone. Once the volatiles are burned off, close the feed door and adjust your stove pipe damper. Then adjust your thermostat to the desired heat level.
You will have more MAINTENANCE with bituminous than with anthracite coal as more soot will collect on heating surfaces and in pipes, requiring more frequent cleaning.
ANTHRACITE: Before starting the fire open - the stove pipe damper, open the ash pit door and feed door, place newspaper, finely split kindling on the grate, and light the paper. Add larger hard wood after kindling is burning brightly. CAUTION: Never use gasoline, lantern fuel, kerosene, charcoal lighter fluid, or other flammable liquids to start or freshen up a fire in this heater. Place the larger pieces of wood on the fire so that they are slightly separated and form a level for the addition of coal. It will take 10 to 20 minutes before this wood is thoroughly ignited. Adding coal too soon will cut the air supply and smother the fire.
Add a thin layer of coal (preferably smaller chunks) to the wood fire, being careful not to disturb it too much or cut off the draft. Then, add a second heavier layer after the coal is ignited and burning well. If necessary, add a third layer to bring the coal up to the top of the front liner (not above!). Be sure you have closed your ash door.
Before adding further fuel, be sure you leave a red spot of glowing coals in the center of the firebox to insure that you have not smothered the fire and to help ignite the
