On Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:25:01 +0100, David WE Roberts wrote:
If your stove is properly installed and you are using good quality dry
seasoned wood then it should stay in overnight with everything closed down
and then come back to life when you open the draught.

This suggests that it should also stay in at 'tickover' during the day and
then come back to life when you get home.

Agreed - I would think it possible to tend to it in the morning and have
it in a state where it can be quickly brought up to temperature when
arriving home, with enough heat supplied during the day to take the chill
off things (and that's speking from experience of wood stoves in an area
where the outside temp can easily be -30).

This seems a far more sensible approach than a potentially expensive and
dangerous combination of highly inflamable fire lighting substances and
a timer to ignite them.

Yes, leaving them unattended is a little risky anyway - and unattended
with some sort of homebrewed lighting mechanism sounds like a good way to
end up with no house :-)

cheers

Jules