Hearthstone GM 60 - 3 days installed

[cabinwarmer]

Good Day, been burning for 3 days so far. Coming from my small Waterford from many years ago, this stove is great. I am learning the cold start routine a little better each day. Begreens thread "starting a fire" east/west has been very helpful. I just can't bring myself to fully pack the firebox just yet. But I am adding a little each day. The draft is fantastic. Upon start up, fully open until a good flame is going. Then 50% open for 15 minutes, then I am running the stove at 1/8 open for the main burn hours. The radiant heat is definitely different then the baked enamel cast iron of the Waterford. The internal stones really seem to make a longer but more consistent heat. Sitting close to the stove is very easily done. So far I am very impressed with this unit. It seems to like 400 surface temp. See attached.

Dave

 

[SOheat]

Wow...polar opposite from my experience with this stove. Our starting draft is terrible but once stove is warmed up it heats very well. Our main issue is the amount of smoke when opening the door...at all.

Do you have a smoking issue when opening the door? Even with solid coals and fire rolling, t's like a race to get the wood in there before smoke escapes the firebox.

I was going back and forth between "Is it bad draft or our house is too tight, or is it our stove?" I have to lean towards our stove.

 

[cabinwarmer]

I have very good draft with 20+ feet of straight 6 inch pipe. When I open the door I disengage the CAT first, crack the door 1/8 of an inch, wait a few seconds and the I am fine to add wood, etc. When starting, I use the top down method to heat the flue faster and keeps smoke way down compared to the traditional starting way.