I bought a wood stove for myself for Christmas (18Wx24Hx30D, with
firebrick lining) and now it's all installed per local fire codes.

There are two screw-cap type vents on the front of it, and I burned a
small fire in it on Tuesday as a kind of test drive. Armed with that
knowledge, I decided to burn a "real" fire in it tonight. I
understand the principles of operation of the wood burning stove.
However, I'm not sure I understand the 'nuts and bolts' of wood stove
use.

Do I light the fire and leave the door cracked until the wood (not
kindling) is burning well? I had my vents open all the way and the
door closed; the fire just smoldered. I opened the door, smoke got
all over the garage, I closed it. I opened it a crack and noticed
that the draft was drafting pretty hard, so I left the door open a
crack. About 2 minutes later, with a mild, uh, whoosh, flames
appeared. I let that burn for a while, then closed the door with the
vents wide open. By the way, she was a little warm at this point.

After that, I closed one vent completely and the other about half.
When things started to cool down, I started opening things up again,
until even leaving the door cracked open wouldn't revive the flames.
At this point, I choked it down all the way, and I've been checking on
it periodically to see what's happening with the fire. I suspect that
the fire will just go out completely (or very close to it) due to lack
of oxygen.

Did I do this right? I'm a little worried about creosote, but I'm
also worried that the stove is going to, I dunno, explode or something
if I burn it *too* hot. If any of you have some insight, I'd
appreciate it.

Thanks,

-Phil Crow


Am I doing this right?