So today I didn't plan on building a fire as I thought that the house was warm enough and the high is supposed to be over 60 etc... Then the wife asked why we weren't burning "It isn't cold in here, but it would be nicer if it was warmer" - parse that one out and it all comes to the same thing, get a fire going.
So I figured I'd do a small fire to please her yet not overheat the house - and of course as it is foggy and drizzling as well as over 40* outside the draft was very slow to get going. Lighting a smaller fire also slowed the process - bottom line I had to leave the house before the stove was up to temp (was tight timing wise anyway as I only had 30 mins before leaving given it was unplanned...).
Anyway - after coaching her on when to close the cat etc I headed out. The surprise for me was that even though the stove was still not warmed up (stovetop under 250, Cast around 220, stones around 140?) I didn't see any smoke out the chimney! I expected to see a steady stream of smoke flowing out given it wasn't really burning all that hot and the cat hadn't been engaged yet. I don't recall seeing any secondaries in the stove either - as mentioned it was a small fire (only 4 splits and a few pieces of kindling to boost it along).
Well, I'm happy to know this as I haven't looked during start up really and always assumed I was smoking the whole time - good to know. Of course it might have been a fluke too... will have to trudge out there and look some more if I decide I really care that much. Anyone else notice this?
So I figured I'd do a small fire to please her yet not overheat the house - and of course as it is foggy and drizzling as well as over 40* outside the draft was very slow to get going. Lighting a smaller fire also slowed the process - bottom line I had to leave the house before the stove was up to temp (was tight timing wise anyway as I only had 30 mins before leaving given it was unplanned...).
Anyway - after coaching her on when to close the cat etc I headed out. The surprise for me was that even though the stove was still not warmed up (stovetop under 250, Cast around 220, stones around 140?) I didn't see any smoke out the chimney! I expected to see a steady stream of smoke flowing out given it wasn't really burning all that hot and the cat hadn't been engaged yet. I don't recall seeing any secondaries in the stove either - as mentioned it was a small fire (only 4 splits and a few pieces of kindling to boost it along).
Well, I'm happy to know this as I haven't looked during start up really and always assumed I was smoking the whole time - good to know. Of course it might have been a fluke too... will have to trudge out there and look some more if I decide I really care that much. Anyone else notice this?
