Owner`s manual

11
WARNING! Risk of Fire!
• DO NOTburnwetorgreenwood.
• Wet, unseasoned wood can cause accumulation of
creosote.
Softwoods Hardwoods
• DouglasFir • Oak
• Pine • Maple
• Spruce • Apple
• Cedar • Birch
• Poplar
• Aspen
• Alder
C. Fuel
1. Hardwood vs. Softwood
Yourreplace’sperformancedependsonthequalityof
therewoodyouuse.Onespeciesofwoodvariesvery
little to the other in terms of energy content.All sea-
soned wood contains about 8,000 BTU’s per pound.
Hardwoods have a greater density than softwoods; a
pieceofhardwoodwillcontainabout60%moreBTU’s
than an equal size piece of softwood.A cord of sea-
sonedoak(hardwood)wouldcontainabout60%more
potential energy than a cord of seasoned pine (soft-
wood).
Most softwoods are coniferous. These are trees with
needle-like leaves that stay green all year and carry
their seeds exposed in a cone. Examples of conifer-
oustreesareDouglasr,pine,spruceandcedar.Soft-
woods, being more porous, require less time to dry,
burn faster and are easier to ignite than hardwoods.
Hardwoods are deciduous trees, broadleaf trees that
lose their leaves in the fall. Their seeds are usually
foundwithina protective podor enclosure. Someex-
amplesofdeciduoustreesareoak,maple,apple,and
birch.However,itshouldbenotedthattherearesome
deciduoustreesthataredenitelynotconsideredhard-
woods such as poplar, aspen and alder. Hardwoods
requiremoretimetoseason,burnslowerandareusu-
allyhardertoignitethansoftwoods.Obviously,youwill
usethetype of woodthat is mostreadily available in
yourarea.However,ifatallpossiblethebestarrange-
mentistohaveamixofsoftwoodandhardwood.This
wayyoucanusethesoftwoodforstartingthere,giv-
ingoffquickheattobringthereplaceuptooperating
temperature.Addthehardwoodforslow,evenheatand
longerburntime.
2. Moisture content
The majority of the problems replace owners expe-
rienceare causedby tryingto burnwet, unseasoned
wood.Freshlycutwoodcanbeasmuchwaterasitis
wood,havingamoisturecontentofaround50%.Imag-
ineawoodenbucketthatweighsabout8pounds.Fillit
withagallonofwater,putitinthereboxandtrytoburn
it.Thissoundsridiculousbutthatisexactlywhatyou
are doing if you burn unseasoned wood. Dead wood
lyingontheforestoorshouldbeconsideredwet,and
requiresfullseasoningtime.Standingdeadwoodcan
beconsideredtobeabouttwo-thirdsseasoned,ifcutat
thedrytimeoftheyear.
Burningwet,unseasonedwoodwillproducelessheat
outputbecauseit requires energyinthe form ofheat
toevaporatethewatertrapped inside.Thisiswasted
energythatshouldbeusedforheatingyourhome.This
moisture evaporates in the form of steam which has
a cooling effect in your rebox and chimney system.
Whencombinedwithtarandotherorganicvaporsfrom
burningwooditwillformcreosotewhichcondensesin
therelativelycoolreboxandchimney.
Even dry wood contains at least 15% moisture by
weight,andshouldbeburnedhotenoughtokeepthe
chimneyhotforaslongasittakestodrythewoodout
-aboutonehour.Totellifwoodisdryenoughtoburn,
checktheendsofthelogs.Iftherearecracksradiating
inalldirectionsfromthecenter,itisdry.Ifyourwood
sizzlesinthere,eventhoughthesurfaceisdry,itmay
notbefullycured.
WARNING! For use with solid wood fuel only.
Otherfuelsmayoverreandgeneratepoisonousgases(i.e.
carbon monoxide).
Heatilator • A36/42C, A36/42CH Owners Manual • 4017-263 • Rev D • 05/01/14