My stove has a 'doghouse' air inlet below the door which burns thru any coals and wood that is in front of the air a little faster than the rest of the load. When I load softer wood and/or smaller splits I can sometimes see a trench cut thru the wood from the fron of the stove to the back. I think it is interesting so I took a picture. You can see how the doghouse air has cut the front pieces of wood in half and is working on a larger split toward the back of the stove. This load is mostly Black Walnut which is a little softer than oak or locust so the effect of the doghouse air is more dramatic. The bright flame in the center of the picture indicates where the doghouse air is working its way thru the next split.
