Air Wash for Hitzer 254/354?

New guy here again, asking all the dumb questions. I guess I’m not totally done with wood burning yet cause I’m sitting here, it’s christmas time, and I’m thinking to myself I’d really like to have the option to burn some nice seasoned wood I have leftover for ambiance. Problem is, it’s going to smoke the glass.
So, 3 or 4, 1/4” holes spaced evenly along top of the extruded lip should do it right? Could easily cover them with magnets when burning coal. Come on hitzer guys, I can’t be the first to think of this. Who’s with me?

Magnets wont work. The heat will fry them and they will fall off. Just my opinion but I think two 3/4" or 1" holes would work better. If you werent switching fuels all the time simple bolts and washers would plug the holes, or small swing doors.

So you know, four 1/4" holes do not equal one 1" hole for air intake. I dont have the formulas but you could google it.

Another thing that would help some is as simple as laying a piece of tin over your grate area with a lip on the front towards the glass. It will slow down the burn, build up some coals, and be slightly more efficient. Its still going to smoke the glass but not quite as fast. If you just want the ambiance, build a screen to go in front and leave the door open.

I can remember a post from years ago about someone adding over fire air to a Hitzer so possibly with some searching you can find it.

Thanks for the reply! I’m going to do some searching for over air fire and read up on it. I like the bolt idea.

I'll give you my opinion.... Don't get hung up on air wash keeping the glass clean. From what I've seen, the glass will still get dirty, almost just as quick as having NO air wash. In theory, air wash in front of glass sounds like a good idea. But, it really doesn't work for keeping glass clean. Any over fire air is mainly for diluting gasses. When starting a fresh fire, the best way to keep the glass clean is to actually crack the front load door open.

.......and to add to the above, leaving the front load door cracked open, also does a nice job of diluting gasses.

Thanks for the reply Oliver. I didn’t drill an air wash but I did take the advice from the other poster and made a steel pan with a lip on it facing the glass. I elevated the pan on cut pieces of firebrick so air can come up and around the pan to burn the wood. Glass still gets dirty quick but it seemed to slow the burn of the wood and the fire burns nicely.