I just went down and did a big mid-day load... Now I'm waiting for my alert to come on my phone for my UP TO TEMP so I can run back down and shut down the air for a 5 or 6 hour burn.
LOL You're way past my pocketbook... Just a simple timer on my phone so I don't walk off and forget the air on the stove is wide open and one of those magnetic thermometers on the stovepipe. I would love to add a nice wood furnace to the system that I could load up, punch a button and walk away till tomorrow, but it's not in the budget for now... I'm thinking about a couple actuators on timers for overnite burns, but just haven't gotten around to it yet... I do have some DIY skills, but never seem to find the time...
Very small splits akin to kindling. With a thickness under 2" and small for the entire load of the stove. They burn too fast and too hot and are difficult- to- impossible to throttle, especially in a cat. stove (though this is too small for any stove). Better to use splits between 3 and 5", leaning toward the 5" for general firewood use. A few really 'meaty' splits also go a long way to having a stove go overnight. Chopped up, left over lumber is the worst because 1) it is almost always thin (most are 1 1/2" thick), 2) it is pine or Douglas fir at best but still softwood and 3) it is extremely dry. All this conspires to make for a fast, intense fire that is not easily controlled without a number of 'back puffs' which no one likes and are basically bad manners for a wood stove in a building. As to the Absolute Steel, supposed to be a nice stove but as I have an Ideal Steel, I cannot help regarding specific draft settings and so forth. More general suggestions but that is about it. I believe there are quite a few A.S. owners by now and probably quite a few on this site so hopefully some will join in with more specific ideas and suggestions.
Ok, thank you for clarifying. As for members with an AS, I have a list of who to bug when I really start with the questions. And I try to read all the AS threads.
Got the new glasses and am sorta' side- stepping as the world warps, ebbs and flows before my eyes! But seriously, they are actually working quite well- they are transition lenses so I am getting used to tipping my head up and down to find the best focus but really that takes very little time and works surprisingly well. I was using three sets of reading glasses (one for ~20 inches, one for ~10 inches and another for ~6 inches) which I was always swapping when doing some tasks such as reloading. But with these bad boys, I can tip my head slightly and find the 'right' spot in the lens transition. Not sure if I look any better with them but others seem to look better at least sometimes.
I tried transitions once and hated them. No doubt I would hate them even more now since changing the mechanics in my neck because having to constantly move your head to be able to see clearly would put me down fast. it is much easier on the neck to move your eyes than to turn or bob your head.
OPPS and OFFTOPIC: I said transition lenses when I really meant progressive. My glasses are also transition lenses (darken when outside) but it is the progressive part (different focus lengths along the center of the lens) that we were speaking about.
My ears musta been burning. I was just thinking about this today as I was splitting some wood. I think I will be at around 4-4.5 cord. That’s down from my average of 5.5-6 cord. So at minimum a full cord and possibly more if March is mild. Next year I’ll be able to get away with burning much more box elder, cottonwood, pine, insert shoulder season wood of choice here: ________…
Regarding the whole thing with the coals and using a small hole/intake for air through the ash door/grate. I'm convinced that some of the design features of the off-the-shelf product are driven by EPA mandates and zero-emission goals. Mods like the hole in the ash door are the equivalent of the huge$$ aftermarket for Harley-Davidson (and other brands too) for increased air/fuel intake/exhaust/fuel for increased performance. Turns out the bikes run cooler/stronger/louder with these mods. (when done right) Also reminds me of the mods done to many of your chainsaws to beef up the performance. I haven't needed to do it with the AS, but I would probably not need to keep the door open quite as much on cold-start if I did.