John a wood burning stove isn't supposed to smoulder. When it burns efficiently it will have a temperature between i think 300f-400f this is identified by fitting a stove thermometer which just stick to the flue by a magnet.
It doesn't matter how much fuel you have on, the burning temp should be around that figure on the thermometer to tell you that your fuel is burning efficiently. Obviously if do not require much heat just put less fuel on but the burning temp should be in those figures.
If you burn below 300f on the thermometer you will start to produce soot and the stove glass goes black etc, if burning at the correct temp then the glass should be clear and the inside of the stove grey and not sooty.
You cant really use a wood burning stove correctly without a stove thermometer as you need it to set the stove air vents correctly, also your wood has to have a moisture content 20% and below.
Now all of you know by now that i am not at all 'technical'
So i need explanation please.
If you need less heat and put on less wood will you ever get up to the 300f you need
Surely if you only put a couple of logs on to start with they will burn away very quickly and you'll just have to keep adding other logs and never get any real heat out.
I find the real heat comes after the flames have settled down and the vents are closed or partially closed
We only have a magnetic thermometer on the front of our stove. I load it up well with kindling and logs, open both vents and let it roar away until the dial shows around 400 then close it down. It stays like that for a long time and we don't very often have to add any more logs for an evenings warmth. By the time the dial starts to drop we are thinking about bedtime anyway.
Its the less wood and getting up to temp. that i find puzzling.