Use and Care Manual

FuelSelection:Onceyourwoodburningapplianceisproperlyinstalled,buildingan
effectivefirerequiresgoodfirewood(usingtherightwoodintherightamount)andgood
firebuildingpractices.Thefollowingpracticalstepswillhelpyouobtainthebest
efficiencyfromyourwoodstoveorfireplace.
Seasonwoodoutdoorsthroughthesummerforatleast6monthsbeforeburningit.
Properlyseasonedwoodisdarker,hascracksintheendgrain,andsoundshollowwhen
smackedagainstanotherpieceofwood.
Storewoodoutdoors,stackedneatlyoffthegroundwiththetopcovered.
Burnonlydry,wellseasonedwoodthathasbeensplitproperly.
Startfireswithnewspaperanddrykindlingasdiscussedearlierinthemanual.
Burnhotfires.
Tomaintainproperairflow,regularlyremoveashesfromyourwoodburningappliance
intoametalcontainerwithacoverandstoreoutdoors.
MoistureMeterInformation
Firewoodisreadyat1025%moisturecontent.
Newlycutlogscanhaveamoisturecontent(MC)of80%ormore,dependingonspecies.
Sincewoodshrinks,andcanalsosplit,twistorotherwisechangeshapeasitdries,most
woodisdriedbeforebeingused.Airdrying,or‘seasoning,’isthemostcommonmethod
usedforcordwood.InmostpartsoftheUnitedStates,theminimummoisturecontent
thatcanbegenerallyobtainedinairdryingisabout12to15percent.Mostairdried
materialisusuallycloserto20percentmoisturecontentwhenused
Totestyourfirewood,simplypushthepinsintothewoodandwaitforareading.
Remember,don'tjuststickthemeterintotheendsofyourfirewood.Togetthemost
accuratereading,splitthewoodandtestthecenter.Thecenterofthelogwillcontain
themostmoisture.
HowFarShouldIDriveNonInsulatedPinsintoWood?
Tofulldepthifpossible.However,atmoisturelevelsbelow10%,itisusuallysufficientto
makegood,positivecontactwiththewood.Athigherlevelsofmoistureandespeciallyif
youhaveasteepgradient,fullpenetrationisamust.
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