Wood Heating FAQ

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My woodheater wont burn all night. Why?

Firstly you have to have a clean flue.

Second you have to have dry redwood.

Three load your firebox up, not just 1 or 2 logs.

Four open up your airslide for 15 min then close down the airslide.

That should burn for about 8 hours.

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Which is better a catalytic converter or secondary combustian?

Catalytic converters burn more cleanly, but they need to be replaced after a certain number of hours of operation, and they can cost in excess of $150. Regency uses secondary combustion to achieve almost the same low levels of emissions, and our system is guaranteed for as long as you own the appliance. Secondary combustion systems require less maintenance and are more heavy-duty than catalytic converters

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What is the difference between catalytic converters and secondary combustion?

A catalytic converter is a device through which wood smoke is channeled. It lowers the combustion temperature of the gases, allowing them to be consumed at lower firing. Secondary combustion mixes air with the exhaust gases, causing them to re-ignite and burn before going up the chimney.

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Do I need an ash drawer?

Ash drawers make cleanup a lot easier and safer. Instead of scooping out the ashes, simply dump them into the drawer, and empty the drawer every few weeks. The drawer comes with a lid to prevent the ashes from flying out while they are being taken outside.

Good quality wood fires, only need cleaning out a few times a season.

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Will the glass door stay clean?

Most good quality wood heaters are designed with some sort of airwash system that forces cool air in front of the glass to keep the flames and exhaust away. This keeps your door looking clean and transparent a lot longer. Over the course of a winter, or if you underfire your appliance, you might need to clean the glass. This is easily done with fireplace glass cleaner, available at your local Heatworks shop.

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Do I need a fan?

Fans are an excellent way to spread the heat from your appliance throughout your home more quickly. They do not affect the combustion rate of the fire, since they move air around the outside of the firebox. If you are trying to heat a large room or several rooms, a fan is highly recommended.

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How to operate a wood heater

OPERATING HINTS

For clean burning and maximum heat output, use only wood that has been thoroughly air dried in a sheltered stack preferably for at least 12 months. If the use of moist fuel is unavoidable, add it only when the fire is really hot, mixing it with a large proportion of dry fuel.

Add fuel in small amounts reasonably frequently rather than in large quantities at infrequent intervals. A large fuel charge drops the fire temperature suddenly, causing inefficient combustion.

A small intense fire is much more efficient than a large smouldering one.

Do not bum timber which has been chemically treated because the chemicals can corrode the appliance and may create poisonous gases and dangerously toxic ash.

Do not bum salt water driftwood as salt will corrode the woodfire and flue.

In the interests of more efficient combustion, switch off the accessory circulating fan when the fire is burning at low heat outputs.

Move the heat output control to maximum briefly before opening the door on a slow burning fire. This will help clear away any smoke in the firebox.

Always open the door slowly. Do not leave it open unnecessarily as this lets the fire bum uncontrolled.

Always close the door firmly and latch it securely to ensure a good air seal. Minor air leakage around the door seal can be corrected by transferring a washer on the door latch mechanism. Serious leakage must be fixed by fitting a new seal.

REMEMBER, FOR THE FIRE TO DRAW PROPERLY, AIR MUST BE ABLE TO ENTER THE

ROOM WHERE YOUR WOODFIRE IS INSTALLED. YOU MAY HAVE TO LEAVE A DOOR

SLIGHTLY OPEN AND PERHAPS A WINDOW ELSEWHERE IN THE HOUSE IF YOUR HOME

IS OF MODERN AIRTIGHT CONSTRUCTION. LEAVING THE DOOR OPEN WILL HELP

SPREAD WARMTH THROUGH THE REST OF YOUR HOME.

SAFETY

Always keep children well away from the woodfire when it is alight

Do not put furniture, clothing, firewood or other combustibles near the woodfire. Theminimum safe distance is 400mm from the sides and 1 metre from the front

Do not leave the fire unattended with the door open.

Accidental fires can be caused by wrapping seemingly cold ashes in paper. It is much safer to place ashes outside in a metal container with a close fitting lid.

If a fire is burning up inside the flue, slide the heat output control to the low heat positionand call the Fire Service. DO NOT OPEN THE WOODFIRE DOOR.

If you have had a flue fire, inspect your flue for damage before lighting another fire.

Do not modify your woodfire in any way without obtaining written permission from theManufacturers.

Do not use the woodfire if the glass is broken. Replace it only with the correct ceramic glass.

At Heatworks, we carry glass for most makes and models.

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I don't want to see too much stove pipe inside my home. What are my options?

With Regency, your options are several. First, you can install a rear vent direct vent stove, which vents directly out the back with no vertical pipe whatsoever. If this is not possible, you can minimize the amount of visible pipe with either the 2-foot or 4-foot AstroCap horizontal termination kits for DV stoves. These kits use the minimum required height for our stoves, and then turn 90 degrees to go out your wall instead of up through the ceiling.

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Why do I need a hearth or floor protector?

Wood heaters have various ways of projecting their heat, depending on the make, model and type of heater. Very hot temperatures can come from the heater via the heater itself, the body of the heater, underneath, tops, sides, back, front and flues.

All of the wood heaters we sell have minimum hearth sizes published by the manufacturers. We generally sell 2 size hearths (floor protector) which will suit the majority of the heaters in our store, these being 1000mm x 1000mm or 1200mm x 1200mm.

Having additional hearth space around your wood heater makes for easier cleaning, gives a convenient place to put your fire tools and in our experience tends to confine the spread of wood/ash to a limited area.

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Flues & Flueing - Pipe casings or outer flues?

Flueing beyond walls or ceiling penetrations need to be double cased generally and extend outside the building. It is for this reason that we sell triple flue kits standard with our wood heaters and not the common cheaper double flue kits. In layman terms a triple flue (also known as double cased) flue has an active inner pipe (usually stainless steel), an outer flue casing (galvanised) and yet another larger outer casing (again galvanised). For example a 6 triple (or double cased) might have a 6 inch inner, an 8 inch outer and a 10inch outer - see what I mean - triple meaning 3 flues altogether or double meaning 2 outer casings and 1 inner

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How far does my flue pipe need to come out of my roof?

Flue pipes must be no less than 4.6m above the top of the floor protector (hearth)

How far your flue pipe must extend out of your roof depends upon

a) the minimum height of a flue system within 3m from the highest point of the roof shall be 600mm above that point

b) the minimum height of a flue system further than 3m from the highest point of the roof shall be 1000mm above roof penetrations

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What is a downdraft and why does smoke come back down my chimney?

A downdraft is where products of combustion (smoke, unburnt gasses or particles) enter the home instead of being exhausted outside. Sometimes even with a correct and proper wood installation a downdraft can still happen.

Common causes of this include:

- negative air pressures within the home which may be caused by air exhaust systems, air conditioning systems and windows away from the wind direction

- termination of the flue in a high pressure zone such as on the downstream side of airflow obstruction ie hills, trees, parts of buildings either where the appliance is installed or adjacent

- homes which are too airtight not providing enough combustion air for the heater wind direction at the time

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How can I stop smoke coming back down the flue?

Most often the cause of smoke coming back through the flue is downdraft, other reasons may be fitting the wrong size flue to the heater, during reloading of the fire box, opening of the heater door too quickly causing a vortex of air into the fire chamber these are usually not continuously bothersome.

If downdraft occurs other than on an intermittent basis then some of these ideas may be of help:

Extend the flue system into an unrestricted airflow space not hampered by hills, trees, parts of buildings either where the appliance is installed or adjacent to

- provide further airflow into air tight homes allowing for an additional combustion source

- removing any sources of the homes negative air pressure

- fitting the flue with an anti downdraft cowl (our flue kits come standard with this)

- making sure the right size flue system is fitted for the heater make and model

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