
Notes on solid mineral fuel burning
Solid mineral fuel should be placed in the stove so that there is no more than a 30° incline of the
fuel bed from front to back. It should not be stacked above the level of the rear firebrick as this
may result in damage to the stove.
With a full load of fuel, the stove will need to be refuelled approximately once every 4 hours.
Solid mineral fuel burns most efficiently with the secondary air control in the closed position. The
primary air sliders can then be used to control the burn rate of the stove. For optimum
performance when burning only solid-mineral fuel, it may also be beneficial to close the tertiary
air cover plate on the back of the stove.
Always de-ash before refuelling and do not let the ash build up to the underside of the grate bars.
Solid mineral fuel produces ash, which if allowed to build up will stifle the airflow through the
Primary air sliders and grate. This will eventually cause the fire to die.
With some solid mineral fuels a residue of burnt fuel or clinker will accumulate on the grate, allow
the fire to go out periodically to remove this.
Important! - We cannot stress firmly enough how important it is to empty the ashpan regularly.
Air passing through the firebed cools the grate bars. Distortion or burning out the grate bars is
nearly always caused by ash being allowed to build up to the underside of the grate.
Notes on Wood burning
With a full load of wood, the stove will need to be refuelled approximately once every 1.5 hours.
Wood can be stacked higher in the stove than solid mineral fuel but care must be taken that logs do
not touch the brick baffle.
Wood burns most efficiently with the primary air sliders in the closed position and the secondary
control open. Moving the secondary control will control the burn rate of the stove.
Note - primary and secondary air is needed to light the stove, see section entitled ‘Lighting the
Stove’
Wood burns best on a bed of ash and it is therefore only necessary to remove surplus ash from the
stove occasionally.
Burn only dry, well-seasoned wood, which should have been cut, split and stacked for at least 12
months, with free air movement around the sides of the stack to enable it to dry out. Burning wet
or unseasoned wood will create tar deposits in the stove and chimney and will not produce a
satisfactory heat output.
Lighting the Stove
We recommend that you have two or three small fires before you operate your stove to its maximum
heat output. This is to allow the paint to cure in steadily and to give a long service life of the paint
finish. During this curing in process you may notice an unpleasant smell. It is non-toxic, but for your
comfort we would suggest that during this period you leave all doors and windows open.
First, load the fire with starting fuel, i.e. paper, dry sticks and/or firelighters in the mode chosen, either
wood or solid mineral fuel.
Light the fire at the base leaving all air controls open. Allow the fuel to reach a steady glow and build
the fire up gradually. Once you have a good fire established across the grate bed, further fuel can be
added as required.