Quadra-Fire 7100FP Owner's Manual - page 10
4/12
433-1390K
Page10
WARNING! RIsk OF Fire!
•
DO NOT bURN WET OR GREEN WOOD.
•
WET, UNsEAsONED WOOD CAN CAUsE ACCUmUlATION OF CREOsOTE.
Softwoods
Hardwoods
• DouglasFir
• Oak
• Pine
• Maple
• Spruce
• Apple
• Cedar
• Birch
• Poplar
• Aspen
• Alder
E. Wood Fuel
Hardwood vs. Softwood
Yourfireplace’sperformancedependsagreatdealonthe
qualityofthefirewoodyouuse.Contrarytopopularbelief,
onespeciesofwoodvariesverylittletotheotherintermsof
energycontent.Allseasonedwood,regardlessofspecies,
containsabout8,000BTU’sperpound.Theimportantfactor
isthathardwoodshaveagreaterdensitythansoftwoods.
Therefore,apieceofhardwoodwillcontainabout60%more
BTU’sthananequalsizepieceofsoftwood.Sincefirewood
iscommonlysoldbythecord(128cu.ft)avolumemeasure-
ment, a cord of seasoned oak (hardwood) would contain
about60%morepotentialenergythanacordofseasoned
pine(softwood).
There are many definitions of hardwood and softwood.
Although not true in every case, one of the most reliable
istoclassifythemasconiferousordeciduous.Softwoods
areconsideredconiferous.Thesearetreeswithneedle-like
leavesthatstaygreenallyearandcarrytheirseedsexposed
inacone.ExamplesofsoftwoodtreesareDouglasfir,pine,
spruceandcedar.Softwoods,beingmoreporous,require
less time to dry, burn faster and are easier to ignite than
hardwoods. Deciduous trees are broadleaf trees that lose
theirleavesinthefall.Theirseedsareusuallyfoundwithina
protectivepodorenclosure.Hardwoodsfallintothiscategory.
Someexamplesofdeciduoustreesareoak,maple,apple,
andbirch.However,itshouldbenotedthattherearesome
deciduoustreesthataredefinitelynotconsideredhardwoods
suchaspoplar,aspenandalder.Hardwoodsrequiremore
timetoseason,burnslowerandareusuallyhardertoignite
thansoftwoods.Obviously,youwillusethetypeofwoodthat
ismostreadilyavailableinyourarea.However,ifatallpos-
siblethebestarrangementistohaveamixofsoftwoodand
hardwood.Thiswayyoucanusethesoftwoodforstartingthe
firegivingoffquickheattobringtheapplianceuptooperat-
ingtemperature.Thenaddthehardwoodforslow,evenheat
andlongerburntime.
Moisture content
Regardlessofwhichspeciesofwoodyouburn,thesingle
most important factor that affects the way your fireplace
operatesistheamountofmoistureinthewood.Themajority
oftheproblemsfireplaceownersexperiencearecausedby
tryingtoburnwet,unseasonedwood.Freshlycutwoodcan
beasmuchwaterasitiswood,havingamoisturecontentof
around50%.Imagineawoodenbucketthatweighsabout8
pounds.Fillitwithagallonofwater,putitinthefireboxand
trytoburnit.Thissoundsridiculousbutthatisexactlywhat
youaredoingifyouburnunseasonedwood.Deadwoodlying
ontheforestfloorshouldbeconsideredwet,andrequiresfull
seasoningtime.Standingdeadwoodcanbeconsideredtobe
abouttwo-thirdsseasoned,ifcutatthedrytimeoftheyear.
Theproblemswithburningwet,unseasonedwoodaretwo
fold.First,youwillreceivelessheatoutputfromwetwood
becauseitrequiresenergyintheformofheattoevaporate
thewatertrappedinside.Thisiswastedenergythatshouldbe
usedforheatingyourhome.Secondly,thismoistureevapo-
ratesintheformofsteamwhichhasacoolingeffectinyour
fireboxandchimneysystem.Whencombinedwithtarand
otherorganicvaporsfromburningwooditwillformcreosote
whichcondensesintherelativelycoolfireboxandchimney.
Seethemaintenancesectionofthismanualformoreinfor-
mationregardingcreosoteformationandneedforremoval.
Evendrywoodcontainsatleast15%moisturebyweight,
andshouldbeburnedhotenoughtokeepthechimneyhot
foraslongasittakestodrythewoodout-aboutonehour.
Totellifwoodisdryenoughtoburn,checktheendsofthe
logs.Iftherearecracksradiatinginalldirectionsfromthe
center,itisdry.Ifyourwoodsizzlesinthefire,eventhough
thesurfaceisdry,itmaynotbefullycured.
Seasoning
Seasonedfirewoodisnothingmorethanwoodthatiscut
tosize,splitandairdriedtoamoisturecontentofaround
20%.Thetimeittakestoseasonwoodvariesfromaround
ninemonthsforsoftwoodstoaslongaseighteenmonths
forhardwoods.Thekeytoseasoningwoodistobesureit
hasbeensplit,exposingthewetinteriorandincreasingthe
surfaceareaofeachpiece.Atreethatwascutdownayear
agoandnotsplitislikelytohavealmostashighamoisture
contentnowasitdidwhenitwascut.