David Marin : With the wider gaps you
MAY get a little less heat
energy scrubbed off by your exhaust gases against the sides of your barrel, and a little more
heat transported to your Thermal Mass, this is hard to measure and
should not be a problem, just an observation !
Make sure that the Transitional Area is very generous and pretty smooth -where the Vertically falling gases turn at right angles to flow horizontally through your
Thermal Mass .
A very simple rule,
as soon as the barrel goes on, the vertical chimney MUST go up (4-5 feet about the highest peak/obstacle in your area, and never inside !)
Check your clean outs with a candle or a lit incense stick, there should be No movement of flame or smoke towards the clean outs ! Hope this helps and is timely !
Big AL
