Not really sure that I'm operating it correctly. Am I supposed to leave the front door open? The instructions say to use the drawer at the bottom to increase or decrease the draft intensity, and I'm assuming that door open = more draft and faster burning fire, but it doesn't say anything about the door.
I also just used two logs on top of some kindling on top of some charcoal starter blocks. The landlord says that this stove is very powerful and really heats up the whole house, but so far I'm not feelin' it. Wonder if I should have used more wood?
I'm so not good at fires. Happy that my new place has a gas heater instead of a stove, although I do like the rusticity of the idea of the fire.
2 comments:
Hi Kyrstyn welcome to your first winter in Crete. Stick with the wood burner, it will give you the best and cheapest heat you can find (without the nasty fumes you can get from the gas) it just takes a little practice and getting to know your burner. As a general rule you will need a flow of air to get the fire started which is why you open the tray at the bottom, just experiment with how far and how long it needs to be open, just by looking at the flames in the fire. Keep the door closed otherwise you will get an incredibly fast burn where the heat goes straight out of the chimney. Keep feeding it with wood, when you have enough heat you can add much larger pieces. You don't need to use those stinky firelighters just pour a small amount of old olive oil (carefully!) on the kindling, or old newspapers. Good luck, it really is worth the effort, get your landlord to talk you through it, they should also be able to let you know where to buy a load of wood. Your cats will also love you even more.
Thanks for the tips!! Will definitely try the olive oil on the paper...
Unfortunately the place I'm moving into at the end of November doesn't have a wood-burning stove, and since I'm just renting and not buying I won't have the option of installing one:-( Oh well, I'll just have to make good use of the one I've got here for the rest of November!
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