Wood stove best practices / best results experienced help please

[realunlucky]

is it better to run vents on bottom to draft better? Seems to work for me

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

is it better to run vents on bottom to draft better? Seems to work for me

I always thought it was better to run them on the bottom to draft through the coals but could be wrong. My tigoat smokes a little when firing it up and my chimney is way shorter. Once the fire gets going decent no issues.