Fireplaces

• Recommended fuel: wooden logs 50 cm long.
• Substitute fuel: lignite blocks (not available in Bulgaria).
• Fuel NOT allowed: All other types of fuel.

Recommendations

The heat emitted by the fireplace through the fireproof glass necessitates a distance of 1.5 m between it and all objects and materials which the heat can damage.

The hearth is intended for burning wood only. The use of coal, gas oil, petrol, tyres and other easily flammable substances is not permitted.

It is allowed to burn lignite blocks (not more than 10 pieces can be placed). It is preferable to use dry broad-leaved wood (oak, hornbeam, chestnut, beech-tree), dry, having a maximum dampness of 20%. This means wood stored under a shed for 1 year.

Burning damp wood leads to bad combustion and early clogging with soot.

In comparison, 1 kg of wood, having 20% dampness, emits 4 kW energy when burning, while 1 kg of fresh-cut wood having dampness of 70-80%, emits only 1 kW. The difference is to the detriment of both the environment and your wallet.

Do not burn household wastes, plastic, bottles, greasy products, cloth wet with fat, etc., which pollute the environment and may cause fire because of a dirty and clogged-up chimney.

During the initial ignition, avoid glazed or thick paper (cardboard, corrugated cardboard). Good results can be achieved by using newspaper or a handful of straw, which should be laid over the grate in the hearth. Wigs and thin branches should be placed on them, and after that – kindlings of pine, fir or poplar. On top should be placed larger branches or logs approximately 3-5 cm in diameter.

Light the fire, close the door of the furnace, and leave open the inlets through which air is fed in. If it is difficult to get the fire burning, leave the door ajar for a while. When the fire starts burning, put a load of 8-12 kg of wood and close the air-regulating mechanism.

Never start or activate the fire with petrol, alcohol or any similar substances. To facilitate ignition, we advise you to leave some of the ashes on the grate without obstructing the air inlets.

ATTENTION! We advise you to wait for the wood to start burning well before closing the fireplace.
The action of the hearth depends a lot on the athmospheric cindotions. Be careful!
When there is strong wind, the draught is very strong, while when it is foggy, there is no draugh.

For the proper operation of your appliance, you should follow the instructions carefully:

It is preferable for the furnace to be loaded 3 times with a load of 6-8 kg of wood than to be loaded once with a load of 15-18 kg. After each loading, it has to burn with more flames for some time so that the condensed steam, which is emitted at the beginning of the burning, can be removed.

The “cold” operation of the fireplace (little oxygen and high dampness of wood) leads to the formation of tar, which is harmful for the cast iron and reduces the heat emission. Continuous operation at fully closed inlets of air is also to be avoided, especially at the beginning and the end of the heating season, because it causes incomplete combustion, leading to deposits of soot and tar on the glass and in the chimney.

Do not leave the fireplace with its door fully open for air to come in and with a full load. Do not leave the fireplace burning with an open ash-pan. In this way, you will avoid the progressive increase of temperature – up to 800 degrees Centigrade – which may lead to a risk of damage to the cast-iron elements of the appliance, the joining pipe and the smoke flue.

The heat emitted depends on the quantity of wood load, on the type and dampness of wood:

Logs 50 cm long and with a diameter:

• 6 cm weighs approximately 1 kg
• 10 cm weighs approximately 3 kg
• 15 cm weighs approximately 7 kg

For a stronger fire, use wood smaller in diameter but more in number (for example, 6 to 8 logs with a diameter of 6 cm placed on a larger area of ember).

For a more continuous heating, use logs larger in diameter, for example, 3 logs of 12 to 15 cm in diameter over an average amount of ember.

The main capacity of the appliance when loaded with 15 kg dry wood is approximately 3 hours. Slow operation of 8 hours can be achieved by a load of 15 kg logs, having a diameter of a minimum of 10 cm.

Avoid full burning of ember at the end. If needed, add some wood.

When the fireplace is burning, the door should be opened by turning or pulling the latch. Open slightly and carefully, wait until the fire calms down and open the door slowly.

CAUTION!

• Never use water to extinguish the fire!
• Do not place furniture and objects sensitive to heat near the fireplace!
• The danger of fire is especially high when small children are playing with the fire!
• If burning wood or ember fall out and some objects near the fireplace catch on fire, extinguish with a standard fire-extinguisher, available in the shops.

A grill can be used in the hearth. It should be of a suitable size in view of its easy use. You can buy an original grill from us. It has to be placed on ember left after wood has burned. Do not place the food to be grilled over burning wood.

If your fireplace is equipped with one or two places for storing wood, they should not be overloaded so that air convection will be allowed. Easily flammable materials should not be placed in them.

Smoke released through the door

The firebox itself cannot smoke. Read about the safety measures when loading, check whether the access of cold air is sufficient, examine the integrity of the fireplace and the hearth, the transmittance of the chimney and the smoke flue. Consult a specialist about the length or condition of the chimney.

The main reason for smoking chimneys of the semi-closed type is the length of the chimney, its cross-section, the quality of materials it is made of and its insulation.

Slow heating, smoldering and dying fire

Load on a good bed of embers. If needed, use small wood to get it started.

Use dry wood (15-20% dampness). Check the condition of your fireplace – the transmittance of the chimney, the smoke flue, the hearth and the glass seal.

Significant humidity in the room or poor insulation can also cause this problem.

Slow heating with strong fire

Check the drought of the chimney. You can reduce the drought of the chimney by means of an automated control. It is offered by us. It is preferable to load with thick wood. Seal the windows and insulate the room.

Quick staining of the glass

Use dry wood and do not close the fireplace completely. Examine the transmittance of the chimney.

Note: The operation of the furnace depends on the atmospheric conditions – when there is strong wind, the drought is considerable. When it is foggy and the atmospheric pressure is low, the drought is insufficient.

The fireplace has to be mechanically cleaned twice a year, once during and once after the heating season (on hot days, it may smell unpleasantly of burned and tar). Cleaning is needed to maintain the good condition of the fireplace.

The reflector has to be dismantled so that the soot on it can be cleaned. The different elements of the fireplace are examined, and if needed, the faulty ones are substituted.

It is not allowed to use the appliance in case of faults occured. They have to be removed before it is put into operation again.

After the heating season is over, clean all cast-iron elements, scrape off any tar deposits and brush all accessible parts with a steel brush. Then apply suitable paste or paint. This will make your appliance shine and will protect it from rust. If needed, apply paste or paint once more. We advise you to leave the air inlets open during this period for the fireplace to be aired and the chimney ventilated.
For fireplaces with fixed grates, cleaning should be done by means of an aspirator (vacuum cleaner) in order to remove dust resulting from gas convection.

Empty the ash-pan regularly to avoid soot deposits, which may clog the fire-grate and damage it. Do not throw away hot ember carelessly because it may cause fire. Use only metal containers and instruments.

Cleaning the glass

The cold glass is scrubbed with a sponge or a cloth, wet with a special cleaning product (it can be bought from us) based on sodium hydroxide. Follow the instructions and recommendations for the use of the different cleaning substances. Use rubber gloves.

Accessories or brass parts should be periodically cleaned with a cleaning substance for brass and copper. Do not use for their cleaning the products intended for cleaning glass.

The hard broad-leaved types of trees (oak, beech-tree, ash-tree, chestnut, hornbeam, walnut-tree, fruit trees, etc.) offer wood material of the best quality which emits more heat and burns for a longer period compared to the coniferous trees. It is also important to note how damp the wood is since this directly affects the energy content. The difference between a dry, ready-for-use, piece of wood (less than 20 % dampness in proportion to the gross weight) and a fresh-cut piece of wood (45 % dampness in proportion to the gross weight), the emitted energy is two times less.

You should also know that the use of damp wood leads to an increase in emitted fumes. The fresh-cut wood, in logs of 1 m, should stay for 2 years in order to yield optimal burning capacity. Cut, chopped and stored in a ventilated room, the wood will dry faster, and this term will be shortened to 1 year.

If you burn “dirty” wood, i.e. wood treated or soaked in varnish, of woodworking wastes or old furniture, this is to the detriment of the life of your fireplace and causes contamination of air and toxic emissions, which are harmful to health.

In short: a good piece of firewood is a “clean” and dry piece of wood. FONTE FLAMME recommends you to use firewood certified under the Standard NF, which guarantees its type, length, dampness percentage and the quantity supplied for 1 m3.

Consult www.nfboisdechauffage.org to find out everything about the certification of firewood and the certified distributors under the Standard NF.

The pyrolitic glass is a treated glass-ceramic self-cleaning glass. A very thin and invisible coat of metal oxides is applied on its outside. The radiation resulting from burning is reflected on this side, thus causing an increase in the temperature of the glass, which leads to the pyrolysis of the soot on the inside.

This is why burnung should be increased to result in the pyrolysis of the soot. An insufficient flame, an abnormal draught (insufficient or excessive), poor quality of wood, and a high hydrometric percentage of wood (over 20 %) may lead to less efficient pyrolysis.

Each obstruction of the radiation, caused, for example, by big firedogs in the hearth, may lead to the accumulation of black soot on the glass.

The external side of the glass, i.?. The one which is treated should be cleaned only with soapy water. The inside of the glass can be cleaned with special substances for fireplaces (which can be found at your distributor).

Caution: Never use corrosive or abrasive substances. The sulphur they contain can harm the transparency of the glass. Never use fuel containing sulphur to start the fire.

Check the composition of fire lighters before use.

The power is a function of the volume which is heated, the quality of insulation and the climatic belt in which the house is located:

• For a non-insulated house located in a cold climatic belt, about 80 W/m3 will be needed.
• For a reasonably insulated house, located in a moderate climatic belt, about 50 W/m3 will be needed.
• For a very well-insulated house located in a warm climatic belt, about 40 W/m3 will be needed.

An example of a house of 85 m2, with walls 2,5 m high, reasonably insulated and located in a moderate climatic belt: 85 m2 x 2,5 m x 50 W = 10625 W = 10,625 kW.

We would like to ask you to visit our office or showroom. There you will be acquainted with the full range of fireboxes, which we import directly. You will be shown photos from our catalogue of stone facings. You will also be consulted about the prices offered. If you are seriously interested, one of our specialists will visit your home or office to take the dimensions and other technical details absolutely for free.

This is a complex question. The price depends on the model of the firebox, as well as on the facing that you will choose. In addition to that, the price also depends on the heating solution you are looking for – central or partial heating of the site. And yet, to give you a general idea – the price of a firebox starts from 1020 lv.

The installation of a standard fireplace takes up to 2 days.

The price of the facing also depends on the selected model and material.

Marmodom has available in stock quantities of the standard and most often wanted solutions for mantlepiece facings. This will allow you to make your choice immediately, in which case, only time for installation will be needed. I.?. If we talk about the choice of a traditional facing model – the total period from the order to its final fulfilment is 3 days.

When our specialist finishes the installation of the fireplace, they will advise you on what way to take care of it. There are special substances for cleaning the fireboxes and facings, which it is good to use. For more detailed information on the matter, see our useful tips.

The fireboxes of Fonte Flamme, whose direct importer is Marmodom, are under guarantee for 5 years. If a fireplace is operated properly, its life is very long.

Yes, there are, and we offer them. You can be acquainted with them in our office or show room.

At this stage, we DO NOT solve such problems. Marmodom is planning to offer this service in the near future. We have purchased the equipment and appliances for that purpose. A team is to be trained.

The glasses, offered by Marmodom, are laboratory tested at 750 degrees Centigrade. If used properly, they cannot crack or break. In case of the occurrence of such an event, the only possible reason would be a mechanical blow, in which case the company is not responsible. It is important to know that these glasses are fireproof, not hardened (shock-proof) and that no company gives a guarantee for problems of that kind.