I'm sure everyone has done this, I got up this morning and there were remnants of the big log I had put in last night, so I smoothed out the coals and put some 2-3 inch branches in. I had to leave suddenly and didn't have time to do the "start new wood" process of letting it get burning good and gradually turning down the air, I had to shut it down right away. I glanced at the chimney as I was leaving and there were just wisps of smoke, since it really didn't have time to get any draft going. When I cam back about 2 hours later I figured there would be a good amount of smoke coming out since I was sure that everything was just sitting there smoldering. I was surprised when I saw no smoke. I figured the fire just went out. When I got in the house I was really surprised to see the stove sitting there cruising along at 600 degrees all by itself. It had self started itself. Now I'm sure that in the process I created extra smoke while it was starting but it is very comforting to know that if needed you can load this stove up and shut it down right away if necessary and it will take care of itself. Almost makes me fell like I'm not needed.