September 25, 2012
7075-166
Page 9
VOYAGEUR GRAND Wood Insert
R
F. 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.
Inordertoimprovethesituation,weatQuadra-Firehave
developed cleaner-burning wood appliances that surpass
the requirements for emissions established by our governing
agencies.
Thesewoodappliancesmustbeproperlyoperatedinorder
to ensure that they perform the way they are designed to
perform.
1. Kindling or First Stage
Ithelpstoknowalittleabouttheactualprocessofburningin
ordertounderstandwhatgoesoninsidetheappliance.The
rststageofburningiscalledthekindlingstage.
Inthisstage:
• Wood is heated to a temperature high enough to evapo-
rate the moisture present in all wood.
• Woodwillreachtheboilingpointofwater(212°F)andwill
not get any hotter until the water is evaporated.
Thisprocesstakesheatfromthecoalsandtendstocoolthe
appliance.
Firerequiresthreethingstoburn:
• Fuel
• Air
• Heat
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.
Itisalwaysbesttoburndry,seasonedrewood.Whenthe
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.
Theheatgeneratedfromthereshouldbewarmingyour
homeandestablishingtheuedraft,notevaporatingthe
moisture out of wet, unseasoned wood, resulting in wasted
heat.
2. Second Stage
Inthesecondarystagewoodgivesoffammablegaseswhich
burnabovethefuelwithbrightames.
Duringthisstageofburning:
• Theamesmustbemaintainedandnotallowedtogoout
toensurethecleanestpossiblere.
•Iftheamestendtogoout,itissettoolowforyourburn-
ing conditions.
Theaircontrollocatedattheupperrighthandcornerisusedto
adjustforburnrates.ThisiscalledtheBurnRateAirControl.
Figure 10.1 on page 10.
3. Final Stage
Thenalstageofburningisthecharcoalstage.Thisoccurs
whentheammablegaseshavebeenmostlyburnedand
onlycharcoalremains.Thisisanaturallycleanportionof
theburn.Thecoalsburnwithhotblueames.
• It is very important to reload your appliance while enough
lively hot coals remain in order to provide the amount of
heatneededtodryandrekindlethenextloadofwood.
•ItisbesttoopentheBurnRateAirandStart-UpAirCon-
trols before reloading.Thislivensupthecoalbedand
reducesexcessiveemissions(opacity/smoke).
• Opendoorslowlysothatashorsmokedoesnotexitap-
pliance through opening.
• Breakupany largechunksanddistributethecoalsso
that the new wood is laid on hot coals.
Airqualityisimportanttoallofus,andifwechoosetouse
wood to heat our homes we should do so responsibly.
We need to learn to burn in the cleanest way possible al-
lowing us to continue using our wood appliances for many
years to come.
NOTICE: Improper operation can turn any wood appli-
anceintoasmolderingenvironmentalhazard.