Lighting a Stove
Before you start using your Morsø stove, there are a few things which are useful to bear in mind. The first couple of times you use the stove, keep the fires small to allow the paint to cure before making larger fires.
The air control settings, lighting methods and the firing intervals will vary depending on the chimney draught, the wind direction and climatic conditions, the heating requirements and the fuel being used. Therefore, it may take a while before you are completely familiar with how to operate your stove correctly under various conditions.
Although you can use your Morsø stove with almost all kinds of wood, you should not use wet or green wood. Wood should be stored under cover for at least 1 year, and preferably 2 years, and open to the air. Wood should be chopped as soon as possible after felling if it is to dry quickly. Use wood with a maximum moisture content of 20%. Using a MORSO moisture meter will ensure your wood is of the correct moisture content. Never use driftwood as it usually has a high salt content, which damages both the stove and the chimney. Impregnated wood, laminate and chipboard may emit poisonous gases and fumes and should therefore not be used as fuel. Logs with a diameter exceeding 100mm should always be split. Logs should be short enough to lie flat over the layers of embers, with a min 1″ air gap at either end.
The most environment friendly way to ignite a fire is so-called “top-down” lighting. Such ignition is done by kindling the fire relatively high in the pile of firewood placed in the burn chamber. This way, the gasses burn gradually as the fire works its way down and catches on.
YOU WILL NEED:
As shown in the picture to the left you need the following:
2 fire lighthers (or 5-10 scrunched-up sheets of newspaper)
1 kg of dry kindling
Approx. 1-1½kg of chopped firewood
LIGHTING YOUR STOVE
As shown in the picture to the left you need the following:
2 fire lighthers (or 5-10 scrunched-up sheets of newspaper)
1 kg of dry kindling
Approx. 1-1½kg of chopped firewood
2. ARRANGE THE KINDLING
Place approximately 1kg of dry kindling wood on top of the logs.
Place some crumpled paper below the top layer of kindling wood.
3. LIGHT THE KINDLING
Light the paper
4. FULLY OPEN THE SECONDARY AIR SUPPLY
The flames work their way slowly downwards from the top.
5. LEAVE THE STOVE DOOR AJAR
After 5-10 minutes the heat will produce draught through the chimney, and the door can be shut.
6. EMBERS
After approximately 35-40 minutes, the last flames go out, and a good layer of embers has been formed. More wood should be added while there are still embers. Use a poker or ash scraper to spread the embers, but ensure that most of them are at the front of the stove.
7. RE-FUELLING
Place 2-3 pieces of wood of approx. 0.5kg each and approx. 25cm long over the embers in a single layer, with a distance of approx. 1 cm between each piece.
When the air controls are opened fully, and the door is closed, the wood will ignite within 2-3 minutes.
8. OPTIMAL COMBUSTION
Finally, adjust the air supply control to the required position to give optimal combustion. Maintaining a good fire box temperature will ensure secondary combustion of the smoke and gases giving a clean and efficient burn. The stove should be refuelled before only glowing embers remain.
