This is my fourth winter using this 6" RMH.
I use a firestarter to start the fire. We make them using small paper cups (a little larger than cupcake size, but those should work), melting old bulk candles, mixing the melted wax with sawdust we scrape from the workshop floor.
When the system is cold I might need to blow hard or use a small fan. When it is warm the draft is already there so I don't need to. Lately, it has been so cold outside that I couldn't light the firestarter inside the feed tube because the draft is so strong.
One thing to watch out for is that cleaning it out with a vacuum can cause the draft to reverse. Whenever I clean out the ash I have to blow harder to restore the proper draft direction.
But I ALWAYS have a small fan, with metal blades and metal body, that fits over the feed tube. Even when it is pulling well I will find times where for some unknown reason it starts burning too high up the feed tube or smoking back. Or if I need to step out of the room for a few minutes I'll use the fan just to be sure.
It took me a while to get used to the system, so the walls all have these small round grey spots where the soot hit the colder spots on the wall where the drywall screws are; from the thermal bridging. I could paint over it but it does mean I don't need a stud finder.
