Any tips for "Ashley" type stove use?

[Hankster]

I have an older stove called a "Heatwave"..it's an Ashley type clone....it tends to creosote up the 6" flue out back 4 *or more times as much as the "Napoleon" gasification type (8 inch flue) In the front room. I clean out the pipe every 2 or 3 weeks during the heating season.....compared to once a season for the Napoleon. Is it because we stack it and try to damp it down?? Should it burn less of a load but be filled more often?? Anyone know the best way to maximize efficiency with one of these??? Same wood is used in both stoves, but the creosote in the back one is ridiculous!!!!

[Suzy]

Is there any differance in how the stove pipes are run? does the one in back have a "crook" or elbow in it that the one in front doesn't???

We've had (I think) three different wood-burning heaters in our years of burning wood and they all burned differently.

The one we have now is an Ashley and we have to put wadded up tin foil in the three little vent holes over the firebox door to get it to hold a fire at night....if we don't it just burns up all the wood because it's sucking in too much air...we've been having to do this for about six years....

So it may just be that all heaters are different, or it may be because that was is older....does anybody else have any ideas on this????

[MadTripper]

Make sure you are using seasoned wood (sorry if I'm stating the obvious). Also, avoid loading it and then immediately dampen it down. I always let the fire get going good for about 20 minutes before applying the dampeners. You should still be able to maintain some decent burn times, probably 8 or so hours I would imagine.

Tripper