
OPERATING&INSTALLATIONINSTRUCTIONSFORECOMAXXDECOZEROCLEARANCEWOODHEATER17
4.3.6.4 MaximumBurnCycleTimes
Theburncycletimeistheperiodbetweenloadingwoodonacoalbedandtheconsumptionofthatwood
backtoacoalbedofthesamesize.Theflamingphaseofthefirelastsforroughlythefirsthalfoftheburn
cycleandthesecondhalfisthecoalbedphaseduringwhichthereislittleornoflame.Thelengthofburn
youcanexpectfromyourzeroclearancewoodinbuilt,includingboththeflamingandcoalbedphases,will
beaffectedbyanumberofthings,suchas:
•fireboxsize,
•theamountofwoodloaded,
•thespeciesofwoodyouburn,
•thewoodmoisturecontent,
•thesizeofthespacetobeheated,
•theclimatezoneyoulivein,and
•thetimeofyear.
Thetablebelowprovidesaverygeneralindicationofthemaximumburncycletimesyouarelikelyto
experience,basedonfireboxvolume.
FIREBOXVOLUME MAXIMUM BURNTIME
<0.042cubicmeter 3to5hours
0.042m3to0.056m35to6hours
0.056m3to0.071m36to8hours
0.071m3to0.085m38to9hours
>0.085m39to10hours
Longburntimesarenotnecessarilyanindicationofefficientzeroclearancewoodinbuiltoperation.When
youarehomeduringthedayandabletotendthefire,itispreferabletobuildasmallerfirethatmight
providethreeorfourhoursofheatingthantofullyloadthefireboxforamuchlongerburn.Shorterburn
cyclesmakeiteasiertomatchtheheatoutputofthezeroclearancewoodinbuilttotheheatdemandof
thespace.
4.3.6.5 Howtoplacethelogs
Infireboxesthatareroughlysquare,woodcanbeloadedsothatlookingthroughtheglassdooryouseethe
endsofthelogs(north‐south)orthesidesofthelogs(east‐west).
East‐westloadsthatarebuiltcompactlybreakdownslowlywhenheated,buttheamountofwoodyoucan
loadislimitedbecauseifyouputintoomanypieces,onemayfallagainsttheglass.East‐westloadsare
excellentforlong,lowoutputfiresforrelativelymildweather.
North‐southloadsbreakdownmorequickly,butmuchmorewoodcanbeloadedatatime.Thismakes
north‐southloadinggoodforhighoutput,longlastingfiresforcoldweather.
5MAINTAININGYOURWOODHEATINGSYSTEM
5.1 ZeroclearancewoodinbuiltMaintenance
Yournewzeroclearancewoodinbuiltwillgivemanyyearsofreliableserviceifyouuseandmaintainit
correctly.Someoftheinternalcomponentsofthefirebox,suchasfirebricks,bafflesandairtubes,willwear
overtimeunderintenseheat.Youshouldalwaysreplacedefectivepartswithoriginalparts(seeAppendix
5:ExplodedDiagramandPartsList).Firingeachloadhottobeginacycleasdescribedabovewillnotcause
prematuredeteriorationofthezeroclearancewoodinbuilt.However,lettingthezeroclearancewood
inbuiltrunwiththeaircontrolfullyopenfortheentireburncyclescancausedamageovertime.Thehotter
yourunthezeroclearancewoodinbuiltthroughoutburncycles,themorequicklyitscomponentswill