Do you leave your door open on cold start?

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Firebox: Yes

Ash pan door: Never . . . well not now.
 
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Well, no need to rush. It's not like a monster is going to jump out and get you.

I never suggested a monster was going to jump out and get me. Popping embers however have jumped out to get me and that along with the fact that my draft is so very strong is why I close the door as quickly as possible. Different methods for different situations obviously. Thanks.
 
The Quad Isle Royale has separate start-up air controls for cold starts. Leaving the door open would be overkill.
 
Never need to though it's obvious there are a lot of factors. Those with poor draft start out at a disadvantage. If someone thinks they have dry wood etc. I find the top down method starts every time and we have no smoke problems. In fact my kindling has grown in size to 6" splits using this method. But my other factor is pine. Of course we do not start fires this time of year just add wood.
 
Hey guys

When I load my stove in the morning (after letting it go out the previous evening) I keep my door open for 10-15 minutes. It is only open about 1 inch or so. I leave it open until the probe temp says 400 and stove top is about 400. I then close it, wait a few minutes and then turn down the primary air. My instruction manual says it can stay open for up to 30 minutes.

What about you guys?

Andrew

Actually, I find with my stove, it starts faster and has better draw with the door closed and both draft controls wide open. Almost like a mini blast furnace. If I open the door, the fire actually drops a little. Once it is going, I close the bottom draft and regulate with the main draft control on the top.

edit: of course, I had put a big split in and it's not going all that great. So WTH, I just cracked open the door and it's taking off. Go ahead, make me a liar, you stupid pile of $#@!&*^!!! junk stove.
 
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Depends on outside air temp for me. With our mild winters, sometimes the daytime air temp with hit 50, but with my house always living in the shade, it's still cold as hell in here from the night time temp drops.

If its a little warmer outside, I'll leave it open to get a good solid draft. If its really cold outside, I shut it right away. This is on my quad insert.

On my little stove. Jotul f602, I never leave the door open. This little stove will take off like a rocket with the primary air all the way open..
 
Never need to leave the door open on the Fireview, load it and away it goes,,,in fact I have to watch that the flue temps don't take off.. stove has such a nice draft that I can keep adding wood if any is starting to ignite with no smoke issues out the door at all, in fact the stove has never to this date let any smoke out the open door ever.., even from a cold start.. since November I think I restarted the stove from cold once, other then that she's always going...
 
I did last year with wet wood. Now only to watch the kindling/newspaper catch on a cold start because that's fun.

On a cold start I learned here to burn some newspaper on top of the load, to get the flue warmed quickly.
 
I'll leave the ashpan door slightly open for a few mintutes from dead cold but does'nt take long at all to get a good flow going, less than 5 minuites, kinda like priming a pump. I use pine cones for starter and they spark off fast and hot.
 
Yeah i leave it cracked for about 5 minutes.
 
For me it all depends. Sometimes the draft is great and no need, other times like a few weeks ago where it was foggy, stubborn low pressure I had to. I usually try with the door closed if it does not get going in 10-15 minutes then I'll crack the door.
 
I've got a PE Super 27 and it starts much better with the door closed. I've tried leaving the door cracked and it just sits there and smokes. As soon as I close the door it takes off.
 
I usually don't on a cold start, just on a start where there's just a few coals left and I'm not using paper, etc-just putting wood on the coals. Then I'll leave it until it catches nice.
 
Interesting. I would have thought with more air it would take off and not smoke?!

I'm sure if I left the door open long enough it would catch.. Once the wood gets hot , as soon as I close the door it takes off.
 
To get the fire going in my Lopi Endeavor it seems the best way is to have the door just slightly open with the latch just barely holding the door closed.
 
I found with my older smaller stove, and my newer bigger stove (both epa secondary burn), once it was flaming and burning a bit, it was better to close the door. Leaving the door open wouldn't always result in a strong fire, as too much cool air was being pulled into the firebox, cooling the firebox and the chimney.

If I had to leave it open for a minute or two, that was it. I'd never leave the door open for 10 minutes!
 
I don't leave it open for a specific time or temperature, but do leave it open just until the flames are eating at the wood (not the firestarter) then can close it . It's usually just a few minutes. I've got a bypass damper that's there for that reason but often find it easier to just deal with the door for a couple min.
 
Open for a couple minutes on cold start - there's a sweet spot (door held so latch just touches) where it fires like mad. Once the kindling is crackling I close it. And avoid the temptation to walk away (go make coffee, etc) and come back to 1000 deg pipe.
 
I've got a PE Super 27 and it starts much better with the door closed. I've tried leaving the door cracked and it just sits there and smokes. As soon as I close the door it takes off.
Almost word-for-word what I was going to post until I saw this from westkywood. It seems to have to do with the way the air is directed into the fire with the door closed. With the door open more air goes straight up and less feeding the fire. It also seems to fluff and cool the fire. With door closed the fire begins to build right away. With a couple pieces of Super Cedar, even large splits start nicely that way as long as it's pretty dry.
 
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With the door open more air goes straight up and less feeding the fire

yeah - if I open the door any more than just a tiny crack (on the Osburn, on start up) this seems to be the effect too - things slow down quite a bit . But opening the door just that tiny crack - no more or no less - makes the fire take off like crazy.
 
On a cold start I leave the door open until I get a decent flame on the kindling then the door gets closed, this is after maybe 5 minutes. I do it this way because I believe this will heat the fire box faster and will kick the fan on faster, leaving the door open will just rush heat up the stack. My fan usually will take 20 minutes or so to kick on.
 
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