Ashley 1440E, Owner'S Installation And Operation Manual

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NOTICE: 

To minimize the risk of smoke spillage when opening the door with a fire in your furnace, crack 

the door open no more than 1” and wait for at least 10 seconds before opening it more to allow pressure 

stabilization inside the furnace.

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 elements but not the sides.

TESTING YOUR WOOD

When the furnace is thoroughly warmed, place one piece of split wood (about five inches in diameter) parallel 

to the door on the bed of red embers.

Adjust all air controls to there maximum settings and close the door. If ignition of the piece is accomplished 

within 90 seconds from the time if was placed in the furnace, your wood is correctly dried. If ignition takes longer, 

your wood is damp.

If your wood hisses and water or vapor escapes at the ends of the piece, your wood is soaked or freshly cut. 

Do not use this wood in your furnace. Large amounts of creosote could be deposited in your chimney, creating 

potential conditions for a chimney fire.

THE FIRST FIRES

The fresh paint on your furnace needs to be cured to preserve its quality. Once the fuel charge is properly 

ignited, only burn small fires in your furnace for the first four hours of operation. Never open the air control’s more 

than necessary to achieve a medium burn rate.

Make sure that there’s enough air circulation while curing the furnace. DO NOT connect your furnace to the 

duct work during this curing process. The odors could be smelled during the 3 or 4 first fires. Never start your 

furnace outside. You will not be able to see if you are over heating.

LIGHTING YOUR WOOD FURNACE

1.  Make sure that your furnace has been installed as per the instructions outlined in this manual and the proper 

power is supplied to it.

2.  Open the fuel loading door.

3. 

Note: If there already is a bed of hot/glowing coals in the combustion chamber, proceed directly to the 

Preheating step.

4.  Place several pieces of small dry kindling in the front of the combustion chamber directly on the firebricks.

5. 

Lay a few twists of newspaper over the kindling.

6. 

Lay more dry kindling (crisscrossing) on top of the previous layers and possibly a few more twists of newspaper 

if needed.

7. 

Light the lowest newspaper in the stack.

Note: In some draft situation you may be required to leave the door cracked no more than ½” only till a fire is 

established in the stack

 No chemical product should be used to light the fire.

PREHEATING YOUR WOOD FURNACE

1. 

Once the kindling is burning well or the glowing coal bed is stirred up, lay 2 or 3 pieces of well-seasoned 

cordwood down so that the flame from the kindling fire can circulate around the logs and close the door.

Note: You may need to add more kindling to help ignite the cordwood.

2. 

Before  loading  your  furnace  fully  you  will  want  a  well-established  fire  in  the  combustion  chamber.  This 

typically takes 15-20 minutes.

HEATING WITH YOUR WOOD FURNACE

1. 

Spread  the  fire  and  coals  evenly  towards  the  center  of  the  combustion  chamber  before  loading  your 

furnace fully or adding more wood.

2. 

Avoid overfilling the combustion chamber. Air must be allowed to circulate freely through the upper portion 

of the combustion chamber for the stove to perform best. Typically this would mean not to load your furnace 

more than ¾ of the way up the door opening.

CAUTION: Never alter the “damper slide” or the adjustment range to increase firing for any reason. Doing so 

could result in heater damage and will void your warranty.