One way to tell if you are running the stove too cold is if the glass in the door (if the stove has a window) gets fouled with brown-black gunk that is difficult to remove. A sufficiently hot fire will leave the glass clean, even burn off the gunk from a prior use with the temperature too low. Any thin film of ash is easily cleaned with a dampened piece of paper towel. Another indication of too low a stove temperature is visible smoke from the chimney well after starting the fire.
|