If you draft is marginal and you can't easily extend the chimney outside you want to consider that. To go much higher outside, I would have had...
I haven't used them in a cat stove but I did go an entire winter once using them in a secondary burning stove (hearthstone). They worked best when...
[ATTACH] [ATTACH] Here are some pics of my new setup. This is the third stove setup I've done for my own IS and hopefully the last for some...
I went 56 hours without touching the stove and had enough left to start a fire without kindling. That's advertised on the WS website somewhere....
I think either of those stoves is your best bet. A little less "set and forget" than coal but not much. I run 10-12 HR cycles in VT and would be...
I ran the stove exactly the same last night and had the same burn times. I was a little lazy filling it and used some odd shaped pieces so I only...
Very true. I don't tend to run marathon reloads. I burn exclusively in 10-12 hour cycles- plus having run one for a year that I was supposed to...
The flaking thins the steel and makes it warp more. I never thought about it like that- makes sense. I never had much flaking for some reason.
Just for reference- I walked into the shop with my sled plate that looked about the same and they told me it wouldn't bother performance and not...
I'm usually one to try and make things work. In this case I honestly don't see any scenerio that makes it worth keeping this chimney. Certainly...
A lot of Woodstock fans here for good reason. Personally I would narrow it to a Woodstock (progress or IS), Blaze King, or NC30 and pick the one...
My experience with the bricks (not with the IS though) is that they burn awesome when the my are stacked tight. I found them to be a different...
This is a good strategy I use if I have the time- for instance if I start a fire 4 hours before bedtime.
I don't know a lot about how that decreases draft or how far away they need to be but I do know that can be a factor.
I wanted to isolate everything but honestly after seeing his woodpile I'd love to burn that in my IS. I went back and looked at the rest of the...
I probably missed this but can you elaborate on the wood you use? 1) what kind? 2) where did it come from? 3) how long has it been...
My two cents- I think you have some combination of marginal draft, marginal wood, and marginal weather. It's frustrating as hell, I know. The...
I'll say that I've never had great luck running the stove when the outside temps are above 40f. I rarely bother until it drops into the 30's-and...
Has the weather changed? Do you have a furnace or exhaust fan running? What if you crack a window nearby? The chimney sounds fine as long as...
This post is sponge worthy.
