The Penn Royal wood stove is a fireplace insert made for burning wood. It is cast iron and quite heavy, but the weight of the iron holds heat evenly, keeping the room warm. This stove sits in the fireplace with the front almost flush with the front of the fireplace. It has two handles, one for opening the door and the other for opening the ash door. On the ash door are two knobs for controlling the air to the fire. Check with a chimney professional if this is your first time using the stove, to make sure the chimney flue is safe for the insert. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Open the vents at the bottom of the stove by turning the two knobs counterclockwise so that they open and let the maximum amount of air to the fire.
2. Start a small fire to warm the chimney and get the draft flowing. Keep an inch or so of ash in the bottom of the firebox, if there are remaining ashes from the previous fire. Crumple up five or six sheets of newspaper. Stack a dozen or more sticks of dry kindling over the paper, and light the paper. Leave the firebox door slightly open during this phase.
3. Add larger cuts of wood over the burning kindling. Once you see they are burning, slowly close the firebox door, still leaving the vents open at the bottom of the insert. Keep any stored wood at least 36 inches from the front of the stove.
4. Turn on the circulating fan, if you have one, to help spread the heat from the insert to the rest of the house. Wait until the front of the stove is hot to the touch before turning on the fan. You can hear the cast iron click and creak as it heats up.
5. Close the front vents to slow down the airflow if the fire gets too hot. Otherwise, keep the vents open to burn a hot fire and keep your chimney from accumulating creosote.
Tags: cast iron, firebox door, front stove, opening door, Penn Royal
