28
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
(Continued)
Your First Fires
As the paint cures, some of the chemicals vaporize. The vapours are not poisonous, but they do
smell bad. Fresh paint fumes can also cause false alarms in smoke detectors. So, when you first
light your zero clearance wood inbuilt, be prepared by opening doors and/or windows to ventilate
the house.
As you burn hotter and hotter fires, more of the painted surfaces reach the curing temperature of
the paint. The smell of curing paint does not disappear until you have burned one or two very hot
fires.
Burn one or two small fires to begin the curing and conditioning process. Then build bigger and
hotter fires until there is no longer any paint smell from the zero clearance wood inbuilt.
Building a Fire
To start a fire, place several crumpled up balls of newspaper in the firebox behind the andiron.
Place small dry pieces of kindling on top of the paper, criss-crossing the kindling so that there are
air spaces in between. Open the chimney damper fully and light the newspaper. Once the
newspaper and the kindling are well ignited, you may close the glass door for a few minutes so
that the firebox and chimney of your fireplace can heat up enough for optimal operation. When this
heating period is done and the kindling fire is well established, you can operate the fireplace with
the fire screen or the glass door depending on your preference and add wood as needed.
The unit will burn best with 2-3 pieces of cordwood spaced 25 mm to 51 mm apart and allowing
air to get under the fuel. Criss-crossing or arranging the fuel so that air can get underneath, will
help the fire to get started easily.
Maintaining the Fire
Once the wood has been consumed (or partially consumed) and you have obtained a good bed of
embers, you can reload the unit. In order to do so, proceed by opening the glass door or the
screen door for you to have enough free space to reload safely.
Your BF16 will work best if a thick bed of hot embers is maintained in the bottom of the firebox and
a minimum of two large pieces of seasoned fuel are added. Combustion efficiency is largely
related to establishing a hot ember bed, and hot firebox temperatures. The quicker the fireplace
and chimney (flue) get up to normal operating temperatures, the better. Use a poker to make an
air channel in the embers below the wood. This will allow air to flow under the wood for a more
efficient burn.
Ash Removal
Ashes should be placed in a tightly covered metal container, they should be taken outside
immediately. The closed container of ashes should be placed on a non-combustible floor or on the
ground well away from all combustible materials pending final disposal. Ashes normally contain
some live charcoal that can stay hot for several days. If the ashes are disposed of by burial in soil
or otherwise locally dispersed, they should be retained in the closed container until all cinders have
thoroughly cooled. Other waste should not be placed in this container.
WARNING
• NEVER PUT CORDWOOD IN
FRONT OF THE ANDIRONS.
CAUTION
• THE CHIMNEY DAMPER MUST BE
KEPT FULLY OPEN UNTIL THE WOOD
INBUILT HAS COOLED DOWN.