What's the warmest outside temp at which I should try to light my stove?

I installed a new Ideal Steel stove on Saturday and it's my first woodstove so I'm not an expert burner. I'd like to get the break-in burns out of the way so it'll stop stinking (and then I can close the windows) but the weather isn't fully cooperating. The stove is fed by an OAK, the flue is connected to the top, and has 12' of double wall topped by 5' of Class-A in a straight shot on top of it.

Given the stove install and my lack of experience, what's the warmest outdoor temperature at which I should attempt to light the stove?

 

50 degrees outside is my rule of thumb. Above that, if the stove is cold then the flue doesn't draw well and I end up with smoke in my living room.

 

I've started fires in mine in the 60s OAT.
A little smokage out the door.
I'd wait until it gets a little cooler than that though.

 

Every setup is different. Between location of the house, placement of stove in the house and obstructions (or lack of) like trees adjacent roofs etc. temp alone is not enough to predict. Any given day can change things too. My buddy is seasoning a new install today, around 60 deg with probably about 15' chimney. Drafted a bit slow at first then OK. Now he's got the windows open cause it's getting hot. Start a small fire and see if she drafts.

 

Light your stove whenever you feel the need.
If it doesn't vent well enough because of the warm ambient temps, you'll be the first to know!

 

Yep light the stove when you need it, never had the outside temp cause smoke to come back in the house, slower to start but no smoke in house.

 

So the answer, for my install, is that 57-58F is pretty darned marginal but it'll do it. Ends up needing a long time to get going and needing the air pretty well open most of the time. It performs very differently by the time the temps drop to 40F in the evenings.

 

Open a window and turn off any exhaust fans.
Throw lots of newspaper in and get everything situated.
light it up and close the door to about 1/2 inch.

 

Did you fire it up ?
I have started fires at 60 °F

 

Short chimney over all, and about +10 C (50 ish F) and dropping is the absolute warmest I can expect a fire to go.

 

Yeah, we've lit it several times with starting temps from the mid-50s to the low-40s. You can read in the "Production IS" thread about the difficulties I'm having.