To start a fire, you need three things: heat, fuel, and air. The heat is provided by a match or lighter. For the fuel, you should use plenty of fire starter, such as crumpled newspaper and 1″ x 1″ dry kindling. Add wood starting with small splits, gradually building to larger pieces of wood as a coal bed builds. The force in the chimney called draft supplies the air. Opening the draft control fully will allow the maximum amount of primary air to be drawn into the appliance by the draft, which is supplied by the chimney. Note: Never open an ash pan door to start a fire. You will damage your stove. If additional start-up air is required, slightly open a load door during initial startup. Some chimney systems have little or no draft when static (no fire in the appliance). Even worse, some chimney systems have a reverse draft when static. Appliances vented into chimney systems with inadequate or reverse draft will be difficult to start and may emit smoke into the building. Good fire starting technique and a basic understanding of house pressurization and its effect on chimney systems is required when inadequate or reverse draft is present. Not all negative pressure situations are easily corrected.
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Please refer to the silver rating plate or owner ’s manual for this procedure. It is helpful to familiarize yourself with the location of the controls and pilot assembly before attempting to light your stove. Locate the on-pilot-off knob and notice a small white arrow positioned at 3 o’clock on the base (some stoves have the valve mounted upside down which results in the white arrow being at 9 o’clock). Locate the Piezo igniter button (black or red button that may have a spark painted on the end) and position your field of vision so you can look through the glass at the pilot assembly while lighting. *Note: some gas stoves and fireplaces have electronic spark modules that will start sparking when the on-off-pilot knob is depressed which eliminates the need to repeated push on a piezo button. When you are sure there is gas pressure to the stove, rotate the on-pilot-off knob so the word pilot is aligned with the white arrow at 3 o’clock(or 9 o’clock). Push in and hold. While looking at the pilot assembly, push the Piezo igniter button once per second until a blue flame appears. Keep holding the on-pilot-off knob for 10 to 30 seconds (when you release the knob, the pilot flame should stay lit.) Rotate the on-pilot-off knob counter-clockwise one-quarter turn. Your stove is now ready for operation!

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Many operating problems can be traced to remote control issues. On this page we will try to help answer questions regarding remote control systems, or direct you to sites that can walk you through specific system operation.

The remote controls on our products, although made by several different companies, all function in the same basic way. The remote is made up of a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter is the part that we all recognize. It’s the thing you hold and push buttons on. Most people believe this is all there is to a remote, since many of the products we use them on, like TV’s or sterios, don’t seem to have any other parts. They do. All remotes have receivers, most are just built into the appliance. Gas or pellet stoves don’t come pre-equipped, so the receiver is installed at the time of installation.

Receivers and transmitters need electrical power to operate. All transmitters use batteries, but receivers can use either batteries or be plugged into wall power. Since most people want to be able to use their heaters when the power’s out, the idea of using the remote without power seems logical, so most of the remotes we sell have batteries in the receiver as well. This fact is probably the most common problem we run into. Folks just don’t know there’s more batteries to change. So, look for a small black box about 1-1/2″ tall by 3″ wide, somewhere under the fireplace or insert, or around back if it’s a stove. It will have 2 wires coming out of it connecting it to the heater somewhere. On this box will be some indication of a battery compartment. Once opened you’ll probably find 4 AA batteries that need attention.

Once fresh batteries are in both components some systems need to be re-calibrated. I would refer you to the manufacturers instructions for that step. Once re-calibration is done (if necessary) the remote should work. If not check the switch on the receiver box. It should have 3 positions, off/remote/on. For proper remote operation it should always be in the remote position. If it is and still doesn’t work try switching it to the on position. At this point the stove should come on. If it does then there’s either still something wrong with your batteries (try testing them), or your calibration (try again) or maybe the darn thing is busted (call us). If it doesn’t come on then check to see if there’s a switch on the stove that says on/off/stat. It may need to be in the stat mode which is essentially there as an auxiliary switch position. It doesn’t need to be a thermostat. If that fixes it, great! If not try turning that switch to on, if the stove doesn’t come on then, well, you’ve got some other problem not related to the remote.

Some remotes have more complicated features like thermostatic mode, or programmable tstat mode. Some also can turn the blower on and off or up and down, or control the flame height. If your having trouble with these features you’d be better off watching a manufacturers specific tutorial or reading their instructions. We have some links below and will add more when they become available.

A lot of folks have trouble distinguishing between a fireplace and a fireplace insert(insert). Fireplaces can be metal or masonry and have a chimney for ventilation. An insert is an appliance that fits inside of a fireplace that already exists. Inserts vent using a liner that fits inside the existing chimney. Inserts are usually used in a situation when a person has a brick fireplace that they would like to make more efficient or to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.

Print this pdf file and complete the form before coming in to discuss products to fit your fireplace.
Fireplace Dimension Worksheet

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