USSC 2015 Owner's Operation And Instruction Manual page 15

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.
TYPE
(LBS. CU. FT., DRY)
Hickory
White Oak
Red Oak
Beech
Sugar Maple
Black Oak
Ash
Yellow Birch
Red Maple
Paper Birch
Elm/Sycamore
Red Spruce
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 build-up causing chimney fires
- 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.
Ussc
WEIGHT PER CORD
63 4500
48 4100
46 3900
45 3800
44 3700
43 3700
42 3600
40 3400
38 3200
37 3100
34 2900
29 1800
EFFICIENCY SPLITS
RANKING
1.0
.9
.8
.7
.6
.6
.5
.4
.3
.3
.2 Very Difficult
.1
MILLIONS
BTU's/CORD
Well 31.5
Fair 28.6
Fair 27.4
Hard 26.8
Fair 26.2
Fair 25.6
Well 25.0
Hard 23.8
Fair 22.6
Easy 22.1
20.1
Easy 16.1
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