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OPERATION GUIDELINES
As wood is burned in the fireplace, room air enters the air slot on the lower front edge and circulates around the
firebox.
The air circulation around the firebox serves to cool the fireplace and must not be blocked in any manner.
Blocking of the inlet slot or outlet louver will cause the firebox to reach hazardous temperatures.
When an OAC4 combustion air assembly and a combustion air duct are attached to the connecting point on
the side of the fireplace, combustion air may enter the firebox through a dampered opening behind the side
panel. This feature is designed for your benefit to reduce the room air used for combustion and to prevent
excessive loss of heat from the room. When the fireplace is in use, this damper should be open. When the
fireplace is not in use, the damper should be closed to prevent cold air from entering the firebox. The combustion
air damper is open when the lever located on the side of the firebox is up and closed when the lever is down.
Outside air for combustion is optional unless required by federal, state or local building codes. See the section
of this manual providing the instructions for installation of the combustion air assembly for additional information.
Glass doors should be installed to receive the maximum benefit from your fireplace. For large fires, the
maximum heating benefit from the fireplace will be obtained with the doors open due to the high amount of
radiant heat being emitted out of the front opening of the fireplace. With a small fire, or before retiring in the
evenings, it is best to operate the fireplace with the doors closed to prevent excessive room air from being
drawn up the chimney. When the doors are open, the mesh screens should be closed to help keep burning
embers from popping out of the firebox.
The unique design of the fireplace allows the routing of the combustion air duct downward, horizontally or
upward to obtain the outside combustion air. This permits maximum flexibility in planning your installation. See
figure 22 for typical installation methods. Be sure to review the precautions and recommendations in the
section of this manual pertaining to outside combustion air assembly.
The fireplace also is equipped with a flue damper, which must be open when the fireplace is in use. The flue
damper control lever is located inside the fireplace. The counterweighted damper is operated by simply
pushing up to open or pulling down to close the damper. When the fireplace is not in use, the damper should
be closed to prevent cold air form entering the chimney as well as preventing warm air in the room from
escaping up the chimney. NOTE: It is normal for a small amount of smoke to be released from the upper
portion of the fireplace the first few times you use your new Monessen Hearth Systems fireplace. This results
from an oil residue on the metal. Open a door or window to allow the smoke to escape.
WARNING: Fireplaces equipped with glass doors should be operated only with the glass doors fully open or
fully closed. If doors are left partly open, gas and flame may be drawn out of the fireplace opening, creating
risks of both fire and smoke.
All fireplace chimneys are in direct contact with cold air on the exterior of the structure. Consequently, when
the fireplace is not in use, cold air can fall down the chimney of the fireplace to cool off the fireplace chase.
Therefore, the fireplace chase must be insulated to minimize the risk of cold air infiltration to the home. Even
if the fireplace chase is adequately insulated, this cannot completely ensure that cold air infiltration into the
structure will be eliminated. Cold air infiltration is a possibility with any fireplace or device that freely
communicates with the air on the outside of the structure. Today’s homes are more energy-efficient and,
therefore, better insulated and tightly constructed. Unfortunately, when air is removed from the house, as by a
bathroom fan, or consumed by a furnace, additional air is needed to replace the air consumed. Unless the
additional air is supplied, this can cause a negative pressure in the home. When this happens, the house will
draw in outside air from the cracks in the windows, down the fireplace flue or other locations of air leakage in
the home. Because cold air infiltration may be unavoidable in some structures, Monessen Hearth Systems is
not responsible for heat loss or air infiltration through or around the fireplace.
53D9051. Rev 1 03/03