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f wood, and will provide steady heat for hours after the fire dies down. When the temperature on top of the stove drops
below 250º during an all-night burn, it is not necessary to disengage the combustor. Disengage the catalytic combustor when
you kindle a fire, or reload the stove. Once the catalyst is ignited, it will continue to function as long as there is smoke to burn.
This is true even if the surface temperature on top of the stove drops below 250º at the end of a long burn.
Your connector pipe and chimney, or chimney pipe, should be inspected at regular intervals (not less than once every
t
wo months). Examine the connector pipe for creosote, corrosion, loose seams, or excessive soot. Clean and replace as
necessary. The chimney, or chimney pipe, should be cleaned and checked by a certified specialist once a year. A small
mirror held at the cleanout door of a masonry chimney will be helpful. For a class A prefabricated metal pipe, some
disassembly is usually required.
The Fall-Away Handle
The metal “fall-away” handle, which comes with your stove, can be used to operate any of
the three controls on the stove: 1) The side door latch, 2) The draft damper control, and 3) The
catalytic bypass handle.
The FORK of the handle should be used to turn the latch, to push the door closed, or open
and close the damper.
The LEG of the handle should be used to pull the door open or to move the combustor
bypass into position.
The “fall-away” handle conforms to UL requirements and is made so that if you let go of it,
it will “fall-away” from the stove and not become too hot to handle.
Cooking
The soapstone top of your stove provides a good cooking surface for soups and stews or meals cooked in a Dutch
oven. The soapstone distributes heat evenly for long simmering, and the polished surface is a natural no-stick surface.
We do not recommend cooking directly on the stove top, as the surface will discolor. If the soapstone does discolor, it
can easily be restored by sanding lightly with 000 or 0000 steel wool. Soapstone griddles have been popular in New
England for years.
Firewood
Your Woodstock Soapstone Stove is designed to burn seasoned, natural cordwood only. Higher efficiency and lower emissions
generally result when burning air-dried hardwoods, as compared to soft woods or green, freshly cut hardwoods.
The moisture content of some trees may range as high as 50% – i.e., there is as much moisture in
the tree as there is wood. After wood has been stored for a year, the moisture content will usually
range from 15-25%. Splitting wood before it is stored will reduce drying time, result in more even
burning, and lessen the danger of water vapor condensing in the chimney, creosote formation, and
damage to the catalyst. It is safer and more efficient to burn dry or seasoned cordwood than green
or wet wood that smolders.
The advantages of burning dry wood are many. Dry wood is lighter, easier to split and easier to
carry. It is easier to light, produces more heat and generates less smoke. If you burn wet wood
some of the energy generated by the fire is used to drive moisture out of the wood, rather than
producing heat for you. Dry wood will maintain the highest combustor temperatures and burn the
most efficiently. Creosote is much less likely to form if you burn dry wood.
DO NOT BURN treated or painted wood, coal, garbage, cardboard, solvents, colored paper, or trash in your Woodstock
Soapstone Stove. Coal and artificial logs burn much hotter than wood and could cause damage, through overheating, to the
cast iron or the soapstone panels. Burning treated wood, garbage, solvents, colored paper or trash may result in the release of
toxic fumes and may poison or otherwise render the catalytic combustor ineffective.
Burning cardboard, loose paper, and trash will add significantly to ash and soot build-up, and it will not produce much heat.
Fly ash from improper fuel can also coat or plug the combustor, causing smoke spillage into the room.
Under normal operating conditions, the Woodstock Soapstone Stove is designed to last for generations. It is not, however,
designed for continuous over-firing, or firing with coal, artificial logs or trash.
DO NOT BURN
• Treated Wood
• Coal
• Garbage
• Cardboard
• Solvents
• Colored Paper
• Trash
The fall-away handle may be used
to operate the controls on your
stove when they are too hot to
handle safely.
CAUTION
NEVER USE GASOLINE, LANTERN FUEL, KEROSENE, CHARCOAL LIGHTER FLUID, OR SIMILAR LIQ-
UIDS, TO START OR ‘FRESHEN UP’ A FIRE IN THIS STOVE. KEEP ALL SUCH LIQUIDS WELL AWAY
FROM THE STOVE WHILE IT IS IN USE.
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