Chimney Fire; Burning Process - Heatilator ECO CHOICE ECO-ADV-WS22 Owner's Manual

F. Chimney Fire
WARNING
Fire Risk.
Do not over-fire.
A chimney fire can permanently damage your
chimney system and nearby structures.
In the event of a chimney fire, Hearth & Home
Technologies Inc. recommends:
• Replacement of the chimney, and
• Inspection of the adjacent structure to the provisions
of NFPA Level III inspection criteria.
G. Burning Process
In recent years there has been an increasing concern
about air quality. Much of the blame for poor air quality
has been placed on the burning of wood for home heating.
In order to improve the situation, we at Quadra-Fire
have developed cleaner-burning wood appliances that
surpass the requirements for emissions established by our
governing agencies. These wood appliances, like any other
appliances, must be properly operated in order to insure
that they perform the way they are designed to perform.
Improper operation can turn most any wood appliance into
a smoldering environmental hazard.
NOTICE: Improper operation can turn any wood
appliance into a smoldering environmental
hazard.
1. Kindling or First Stage
It helps to know a little about the actual process of burning
in order to understand what goes on inside a appliance.
The first stage of burning is called the kindling stage. In this
stage, the wood is heated to a temperature high enough
to evaporate the moisture which is present in all wood.
The wood will reach the boiling point of water (212°F) and
will not get any hotter until the water is evaporated. This
process takes heat from the coals and tends to cool the
appliance.
Fire requires three things to burn - fuel, air and heat. So, if
heat is robbed from the appliance during the drying stage,
the new load of wood has reduced the chances for a good
clean burn. For this reason, it is always best to burn dry,
seasoned firewood. When the wood isn't dry, you must
open the air controls and burn at a high burn setting for a
longer time to start it burning. The heat generated from the
fire should be warming your home and establishing the flue
draft, not evaporating the moisture out of wet, unseasoned
wood, resulting in wasted heat.
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2. Second Stage
The next stage of burning, the secondary stage, is the
period when the wood gives off flammable gases which
burn above the fuel with bright flames. During this stage of
burning it is very important that the flames be maintained
and not allowed to go out. This will ensure the cleanest
possible fire. If the flames tend to go out, it is set too low for
your burning conditions. The air control located at the upper
right hand corner is used to adjust for burn rates. This is
called the Burn Rate Air Control (Figure 12.1 on page 12).
3. Final Stage
The final stage of burning is the charcoal stage. This occurs
when the flammable gases have been mostly burned and
only charcoal remains. This is a naturally clean portion of
the burn. The coals burn with hot blue flames.
It is very important to reload your appliance while enough
lively hot coals remain in order to provide the amount of
heat needed to dry and rekindle the next load of wood. It
is best to open the Burn Rate Air and Start-Up Air Controls
before reloading. This livens up the coal bed and reduces
excessive emissions (opacity/smoke). Open door slowly so
that ash or smoke does not exit appliance through opening.
You should also break up any large chunks and distribute
the coals so that the new wood is laid on hot coals.
Air quality is important to all of us, and if we choose to
use wood to heat our homes we should do so responsibly.
To do this we need to learn to burn our appliances in the
cleanest way possible. Doing this will allow us to continue
using our wood appliances for many years to come.
7057-128K • October 24, 2018
ECO-ADV-WS22
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