Starting the fire with the Jotul Oslo Ash Pan door open

[osteotome]

New to the site as I just installed a Jotul 500. I admit I'm notorious to jump in and start playing with things then when I have time I'll go back and peruse the owners manual. I had noticed that the fire really takes off when I start it with the ash pan door open. When I get a good fire going (a few minutes with stove top temp <200 F) I close the ash pan. But to my amazement in the manual it states DO NOT start the fire with the ash pan door open as this will damage the stove. I could see that if one left it open long enough the temperature would rocket up towards the critical 900 F level but is this an over stated safty clause?

Other questions are how beneficial are the heat shields and a fan/blower in puting more heat out into the house?

Thanks

 

[begreen]

DDT - Don't do this. You can warp the grate and void the warranty. By opening the ash pan door you are turning the stove into a forge. It's not designed for this.

A far better approach is to start the fire and leave the side or front door slightly open, maybe 1/4" until the fire gets going. That will feed extra air into the fire without overheating the innards.

The heat shields do nothing to put more heat into the house. They are designed to reduce clearances in the back and bottom of the stove.

 

[downeast]

On the third winter heating 24/7 with the Oslo. Not to worry about using the open ash door TO START A FIRE only. Morning fires have the ash door open to get the fire going until around 400 F in the top rear corner of the top. We set an alarm just in case one of us forgets or stays out too long. This is burning in a colder temperate climate such as northern New England or Minnesota or non-Pacific Canada.
In 3 years of burning with an open ash door 1x/day the grate is not warped, the tubes solid, the insulation blanket whole. It is a customary practice to burn a very hot fire once each day ( usually morning ) to "burn off" any accumulated creosote in the stove and flue from the nightly banked fires. Yes, the warranty could be voided, that's it.
The grate on our cat VC Encore however has been replaced once since 2001.

 

[osteotome]

BeGreen and downeast: thanks for the replies. This morning was the first night that I had a good coal bed left over from the night before. I stoked it full around 11:30 pm with some Red (Douglas) Fir and turned the air valve to almost Max left (off) and this am around 7:15 I still had a pretty good base of coals; although, the stove top temp was <150 F The room temp on the wall across the room was 72 so I didn't need to start a fire. I think in the future I'll try and get by with just the side door open to jump start the start of the fire but if it needs a little kick start a few seconds of open ash door might not be too serious.

This wood burning thing is getting to be pretty addicting

Jotul Oslo
Stihl 056AV
WA DNR mixed forrest (Red Fir, Lodgepole, Tamarak)
1994 GMC Sierra
1998 Whippet

 

[Valhalla]

7 3/4 hours is a respectable burn. Yes, never operate your stove with any door or ash drawer open partially, unless it was designed for it. See your stove Owner's Manual for the details.

The manufacturer knows your stove best, they designed it.

 

[DAKSY]

Jotul has real heartburn about using this trick to get their units going.
It really causes an overfire condition...
I wouldn't worry so much about warping the grate
as I would in cracking the front casting...
I've seen the results of overfiring & the front castings crack at the lower corners,
inside the opening where you load the wood...
This cracking effectively turns your expensive wood burner into a very costly boat anchor...
They're junk unless you perform an entire rebuild...

 

[webby3650]

In my first season with the Oslo, I would open the ash pan door to get the fire going real good. This year I don't need to because I have well seasoned wood. Opening the side door for a bit does a real good job. Opening the ash pan door can be a real bad habit to get into, you only have to forget one time for a very short time and it's on like donky kong! :ahhh:

 

[begreen]

Warping the grate is not all Jotul has seen problems with. Rapid heating of the grate from room temperature can crack the grate and surrounding castings. I tried both ways with the F400 and found that I had no problem starting a fire with the door ajar. If you are having problems, get some nice dry kindling and if need be, get some SuperCedars. Replacing parts 3, or 5 or 7 years from now is just going to cost more. No point in it, it's not necessary.

 

[kork]

If you need to open the ash door for a cold start than your wood isn't dry enough. Like has been said you can crack the side or front door for a few if needed, but don't ever walk away with anything left open.
Hank