The stove gets its air through slots the go across the stove right above the door, and it air washes the door. I experimented last year with a bar that i could adjust how much of those slots were exposed to control air intake, but it didnt work out like i planned, maybe due to my damper situation at the time (read below).
I actually moved the damper prior to this season. Prior the damper rod ran though the stove's cast collar and was restricted from closing more than 60% due to the mounting bolts for the collar being in the way. So i moved it up about 4" and mounted it through the stove pipe giving me the ability to close it all the way. I know last year i probably burned it a little too hot some times due to the lack of not being able to close the damper, i could just smell it. But this year ive sort of got a system down, now i dont know what the stove top and flue temps should be because no where in the manual does it say what it should be. I ran all last year without guages. I got 2 guages this year, one for the stove top and one for the flue. I just got two of the same guage, because when i ordered them online it didnt say if they were for one or the other. But after getting them it looks like they are for the flue because of a certain part of the guage says burn zone and creosote zone and over fire zone. They are magnetic so im thinking they should be close on both points.
Now what i do it leave the flue damper all the way open, and start the fire with the door opened a crack until it gets going, then i shut the door and let it go, i wait until the flue temps get right into the "Burn Zone" according to the guage which seems to be right around 250-300* (i think) by that time my stove is getting up to 400-500*. At that point i have a decent fire going and i throw a couple decent splits in, shut the door and close the flue the whole way (Now there are open spots on the damper and some space around the edges of the damper, so its not truely completely shut) Now what happens now is what i feel as a more controlled burn. After i load it and shut the flue the whole way the flames calm down nicely and look like a nice calm slow fire. The flue temps hold at the 250-300* mark and the stove top will run between 500-600*. This will cruise like this depending on the splits, maybe 2 hours, even when the wood is almost burned up, as long as there are really light almost invisable blue flames, the stove top and flue will still hold close to those temps but slowly drop off. Now all of that is based off those guages.
Now i dont know if that is where im supposed to be, but thats where it seems the stove runs good, produces some good heat, burns the longest, and constant. I feel alot better about the way im burning this year than last year. And i dont have a problem with the burn times cause we only burn for a max of 6 hrs in the evenings, and 12 hours a day on the weekends. This is due to the stove being on a finished porch that is connected to the house through our main doorway which is where our dead bolt locks are, so i cant leave that door open all night cause the outside door to get on the porch is just a storm door. So those burn times are good enough for me.
Now last year we burned from Oct 1st through basically the end of April and used about 3 cords. Now i dont care if i would go through 6 cords because what i pay for a cord of slab wood that i use greatly out-weighs the price of oil. I can burn all i want all winter for under $100 in wood. So even if i doubled that i would still be saving a boat load of money.
