Hi from regional NSW Australia!! I’ve been doing the top down method for near on 4 yrs now, and I love it. It saves on wood and kindle use, and is quicker to get going and heat than the bottom up method - just have to make sure you get a roar to heat up your flue, then Bobs your mothers brother! 👍 Nice video dude! Thanks.
Something for people to consider when using this method is to not absolutely fill your fire box when starting your fire. Whether you use a catalytic stove or secondary air the danger with doing the top down method and overfilling the stove is that you will overheat your cat. and destroy it / damage the air tubes ruining the efficiency of modern stoves. And there is a very fine line between too high and just fine. I went back to the bottom up method because I start a fire once every 2 weeks and never let it go out except for when I need to clean the ash out. And when I do that and start a new fire I let the stove burn full open with the bypass open for the first 45 minutes with a fire that maybe fills 1/4 of the fire box. This isn't just to heat up my cat but its to clean creosote that builds up inside the stove (not the chimney) out of the stove. I then close the bypass and let it draft at 60% open (dial at the 4:30 position) for another 45 minutes. After which point I should have a bed of coals that are all glowing orange to yellow hot and I fill the whole firebox and set the draft to about 30% open (just past the 3:00 position). I only burn spruce where I live, we do not have good hardwood(s) birch is basically the same quality. And using this method I haven't damaged a cat. and when I sweep my chimney using the drill attachment hardly any creosote comes out of the chimney. The top down method is a great method to use, if you have an old style stove it gets the draft going fast. Where I don't see the benefit is with the newer more efficient stoves, yes it gets your cat warmed up and in the active range faster, it does the same for your secondary air stove as well. But to me the extra 10-15 minutes of time spent to get my cat warmed up means absolutely nothing the first 3 smaller logs I put in my stove get entirely wasted when I am restarting my fire anyway. And the true benefit behind these new stoves is in Never letting your fire go out / minimizing your restarts in the first place.
Top down works great for the first burn , but in order to keep it going throughout the day it becomes a bottom up. So unless you pull the coals and restack the wood, place coals on top this process isn't sustainable unless I'm missing something. Nice job on keeping the stove clean my glass tends to soot up.
Hi from regional NSW Australia!! I’ve been doing the top down method for near on 4 yrs now, and I love it. It saves on wood and kindle use, and is quicker to get going and heat than the bottom up method - just have to make sure you get a roar to heat up your flue, then Bobs your mothers brother! 👍 Nice video dude! Thanks.
Something for people to consider when using this method is to not absolutely fill your fire box when starting your fire. Whether you use a catalytic stove or secondary air the danger with doing the top down method and overfilling the stove is that you will overheat your cat. and destroy it / damage the air tubes ruining the efficiency of modern stoves. And there is a very fine line between too high and just fine.
I went back to the bottom up method because I start a fire once every 2 weeks and never let it go out except for when I need to clean the ash out. And when I do that and start a new fire I let the stove burn full open with the bypass open for the first 45 minutes with a fire that maybe fills 1/4 of the fire box. This isn't just to heat up my cat but its to clean creosote that builds up inside the stove (not the chimney) out of the stove. I then close the bypass and let it draft at 60% open (dial at the 4:30 position) for another 45 minutes. After which point I should have a bed of coals that are all glowing orange to yellow hot and I fill the whole firebox and set the draft to about 30% open (just past the 3:00 position).
I only burn spruce where I live, we do not have good hardwood(s) birch is basically the same quality. And using this method I haven't damaged a cat. and when I sweep my chimney using the drill attachment hardly any creosote comes out of the chimney.
The top down method is a great method to use, if you have an old style stove it gets the draft going fast. Where I don't see the benefit is with the newer more efficient stoves, yes it gets your cat warmed up and in the active range faster, it does the same for your secondary air stove as well. But to me the extra 10-15 minutes of time spent to get my cat warmed up means absolutely nothing the first 3 smaller logs I put in my stove get entirely wasted when I am restarting my fire anyway. And the true benefit behind these new stoves is in Never letting your fire go out / minimizing your restarts in the first place.
I have used the top down this year for the first time & I like it a lot. Works great!
Sure does! Glad it’s working for you too.
I would use a little fat wood under the log to restart the fire ... small pine kindling soaked in bacon grease or used oil.
Primary/secondary air .open or shut or pertially open..also amwhat about the damper?
Only one air adjustment to the stove and to start it’s wide open then closed about 60% while running.
Top down works great for the first burn , but in order to keep it going throughout the day it becomes a bottom up. So unless you pull the coals and restack the wood, place coals on top this process isn't sustainable unless I'm missing something. Nice job on keeping the stove clean my glass tends to soot up.
Yeah after initially starting I then add a log here and there when needed. Thanks! And thanks for the comment!
Top down is just to start. It’s the most efficient way. When everything is established and the firebox is up to temp put some more logs on.
Them fire logs is cheating 😂 but if you use them save the money and buy the full size one then just whack off a small chunk for starting.
Yeah they are but they help a lot!! Good idea though I have seen the large ones!