Buck 91

I guess you just have to experiment with the air control setting and see how the stove burns. I like to leave my air control cracked maybe 1/4 inch on both sides but the shotgun is closed all the way after the fire is established. The cat should pretty much keep your chimney clean but since it's a new stove I would check it after a month just to be sure. Steel wool #0000 is my choice for cleaning the glass but you could use oven cleaner (per Buck manual) if the glass is gunked up real bad.

If you are getting dirty glass a hotter fire will help clean it. When I run a little cooler and get dirty I clean mine with the oven cleaner as bluefrier suggested.

When you are burning a hot fire, lots of flames, what kind of temps do you get? When I have a strong fire I get temps up to 1800. I have a straight chimney run about 15 ft.

I have not packed my 91 out with wood yet and am getting all night burns. I usually put 3 to 4 splits and don't stack on top of those.
This morning it was 22 degrees and the inside temp was 72.

I have about an 1800 SF Ranch style with a 900 SF open area where the stove is located in the middle of the house and love this stove.

You should have no problem packing that stove tight and letting the cat do it's thing. Try cleaning your glass by taking a damp paper towel and dipping it into some fine ash, works great.

Fly,

I will second everything Slippy noted above. We do not do a baking pan, but a cast iron pot from Plow and Hearth - same principal...but moisture back in the air. We also run ours with both left and right air closed completely nearly all the time once we get things going. It is a must for us with any softer fast burning woods like pine or poplar. If we don't dampen it all the way, we will hit 1800 really fast. It usually settles after a spike, but I learned after lining this year that our draft is strong and with those types of woods if the air is open, the temps max out quickly. Now if it is full of oak (4 years seasoned) I need to have the right air about 1/4 or 1/8 and inch out. That gives me a periodic lazy flame. No smoke from the chimney (meaning the cat is working) and when running that way, we settle about 1200-1400 degrees. As for packing it full...yes, we do. But as noted, with the softer woods ours gets too hot very fast. The weekend I was home it got out of control fast...hand to open the dampener and let it settle. So, that means that since lining the chimney this year, we have not packed it full with softwood (actually my wife since I am not there). But she does if it is oak.

The only time I think we ran with both air controls out was when I let it settle to a bed of coals and then placed a large part of a knotty stump into the stove. It was bone dry, but a huge piece of wood. I literally had to angle and manipulate it to get it in - probably less than a 1/2" clearance and took up almost the entire cavity. I was curious what would happen. Well, short is it burned all day...but I did need to open the air to keep it going. It turned into one big coal - and because it was so large it messed up the flow of air...so I have to give it some help. Wish I took photos.