Product Manual

Heat Commander Furnace Installation and Operation Manual

9.4 Your first fires

Two things will happen when burning the first few fires; the paint cures and the internal

components of the furnace are conditioned.

As the paint cures, some of the chemicals vaporize. The vapors are non-toxic, but they do

smell bad. Fresh paint fumes can also cause false alarms in smoke detectors.

So, when lighting the furnace, be prepared by opening doors or windows to ventilate the

house. Burn one or two small fires to begin the curing and conditioning process. Then build

bigger and hotter fires until there is no longer paint smell from the furnace.

As hotter and hotter fires are burnt, more of the painted surfaces reach the curing

temperature of the paint. The smell of curing paint does not disappear until one or two very

hot fires have been burnt.

9.5 Lighting fires

Each person who heats with wood develops their own favorite method to light fires.

Whatever method you choose, your goal should be to get a hot fire burning quickly. A fire

that starts fast produces less smoke and deposits less creosote in the chimney.

Here are three popular and effective ways to start wood fires.

9.5.1 Conventional fire starting

The conventional way to build a wood fire is to

bunch up 5 to 10 sheets of plain newspaper and

place them in the firebox. Next, place 10 or so

pieces of fine kindling on the newspaper. This

kindling should be very thin; less than 1” (25 mm).

Next, place some larger kindling pieces on the fine

kindling. Press the reload button, light the

newspaper. If you have a tall, straight venting

system you should be able to close the door

immediately. If your venting system has elbows or

an outside chimney, you may need to leave the

door ajar for a few minutes as the newspaper

ignites and heat in the chimney produces some

draft. Once the fire has ignited, close the door.

A conventional kindling fire with

paper under finely split wood.

DO NOT LEAVE THE FURNACE UNATTENDED WHEN THE DOOR IS SLIGHTLY

OPENED DURING LIGHTING. ALWAYS CLOSE THE DOOR AFTER LIGHTING.

After the kindling fire has mostly burned, you can add firewood pieces until you have a fire

of the right size for the conditions.