New here and new to wood stoves, many questions!

HI all!
As the title says iv'e got several questions. From browsing the FAQs, i'm confident someone here will be able to answer them.

First off a little background. I live in the high desert of so cal. My son bought this used stove to heat his game room and the work shop, which is an over sized detached 3 car garage. The stove is a 1995 Trailblazer 1300/1306. EPA approved. I'm assuming it's a non cat, as i see none and there are tubes with holes in them at the front and rear. It is installed 18" off the floor with 5' single wall stove pipe to the ceiling, then 9' of triple wall chimney. It exits the roof just off the ridge line and is 25" above the ridge. As i said, we're on 2 1/2 acres in the high desert, so there is no obstructions anywhere near the chimney.

The installation was done by an "experienced professional" and seemed to have been done well, until i read the installation instructions and took a closer look. there is no attic insulation shield so the support box is open to the attic space ( no insulation in the attic). chimney is only 30" above where it exits the roof (code is 36"). the stove is against the center wall with a reduced clearance of 9", so the stove pipe should have been double wall as it is only 12" from the wall (18" for single wall). Obviously he needs to come back and install the attic shield or i will have to fully enclose the chimney. and add another foot to the top.

The stove seems to have plenty of draft, however i sometimes wonder if it could be better. when i put what appears to be hardwood (red and heavy) it rarely burns well. usually starts burning good then slowly dwindles till there are barely flames. this is with the air wide open. i have attributed this to the fact i have no idea how dry my wood is. so on to the questions!

Will double wall stove help draft? I have two choices. either put a shield on the wall to reduce the clearance, or install double wall.

Does the chimney height cause soot to build faster? After about a cord and a half i have a coat of soot in the chimney.

Is it normal to have large variations in the outside surface temperatures of the stove? With an IR gun the right side of the top is consistently 100-150 degrees hotter. same with the sides. i rarely see the left side of the air tubes burning and the right side seems to burn only when the flames are roaring.

And finally, are there any pros or cons (other than embers popping out) to leaving the door open while sitting in front of the fire? my daughter does this all the time in the house.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and if it's too much rambling, please let me know!

Thanks for the quick replies! Yes i am well aware of using the screen when the doors are open but thanks for the reminder anyway. One can never overstate any safety issue! was more curious if open doors caused more build up in the chimney. I also know the importance of meeting the code and all applicable clearance specs. My first real job, back in the 70's, was as a laborer for a general contractor who did insurance work. I have seen first hand what fire can do and have a deep respect for what it's capable of.

Thanks for the info on 16' being what the stove was tested with. I've done a quick search for an owners manual but haven't found one. was trying to find how the air flows through this thing. thought that might help figure why the temp differences side to side.

As i said in my post, i'm adding height to the chimney and correcting the clearance on the stove pipe. It's not a problem to add shields to reduce the clearance on the stove pipe, but if double wall will help the stoves performance than i would go that way.

I have not seen any shiny build up just a layer of black soot when looking down from the top of the chimney. that's why i was wondering if the short chimney caused soot to build up faster. After i talked to a manufactures rep about clearances i started reading online articles about chimney fires. now i think i'm a little paranoid!

Oh, yes i have definitely been looking at moisture meters.

Around 3000-3200'

Yeah it's frustrating. This is my sons house. I retired a few years back and he said why don't you come live with me, so here i am. I was going to do the install myself but he said no lets just pay someone, you have enough to do already. I thought, since i'd never done one before, the time i would spend on research for the install and locating parts could be better spent. not to mention the actual labor! I had already researched the building code requirements. so i said ok let a pro do it. now iv'e spent just as much time as i would have doing it myself.