rocket stove hard to start.

Hi All,
Here is a picture of my rocket stove.
Trying to start my rocket stove without getting smoke coming back into the room. Any tips please.
Also when it is windy the wind goes down the chimney and then also blows smoke and flames into the room.
any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Warm regards in winter.
Cheers
Karl

We need a lot more detail on your installation to give the best answers.

For starters, if wind blows down your chimney, you probably don't have a tall enough chimney. It needs to be at least two feet taller than any roof within ten feet, by code, and if there is a big steep roof nearby, it might need to be taller than that - can't say without seeing it.

A couple of methods people use for cold starting are to have a cleanout at the base of the chimney, and put a small fire (paper or candles) in there to warm up the chimney, starting the draft. You can also put some burning paper in the burn tunnel and push it all the way to the back, to warm up the heat riser.

Are there any other chimneys or vents in the building.  Sounds like conflicting stack effect.   Also like Glenn said make sure your final chimney stack is taller than your roof peak.  I just included a cold start section into my latest thread titled Epic EZ 3-Block Rocket Stove BBQ.  Cold Starts are best done deep in the burn chamber as close to or directly under the riser stack.  As Glenn mentioned that preheats the riser and induces the convection flow direction.  Make sure you don't have conflicting stack effect before you worry about possible cold start issues.
 Good luck :)