When I hear someone talking about having to keep the stove door open for a while to get a fire started, I know they have a poorly designed stove.
I believe near everyone here knows I ain't gonna' defend EPA certified stoves, but...
Over the years I've owned close to a dozen wood-burning apparatuses, and at one-time-or-another used maybe three times that many... none (until now) were EPA certified and several were home/self-built. I gotta' say, this EPA thing I have now (and I hate it) is the easiest lighting of any and all I have experience with. Although the primary air comes in from the top, there is a small amount of air coming in along the bottom front blowing directly on the fire (Pacific Energy calls it boost air). I pack the firebox to maximum capacity with full-size splits, shove a small wad of dryer lint between a couple of them, squirt lint with a bit of liquid fire accelerant, light and immediately close door... presto, fire.
And while I'm in the mood to say good things about my new-fangled excuse for a wood-fired heater...
Even though I'm running it with a (not recommended) flue damper to control draft, not once, not one single time has there been even the slightest whiff of wood smoke in the house... even when barometric conditions have rapidly/dramatically changed. And, after burning 5-6 cord in it this winter the flue damper still spins free... indicating (to me, anyway) the flue pipe is whistle clean.
And to the OP... It's been my experience that smoke in the house is caused by one-of-two things...
- Poor Draft... can be caused by several things, such as plugged/restricted flue, wind direction, improper chimney, cold chimney, just to name a few (I've heard of the house being too tight, not allowing air to make-up the difference, but I've never experienced that).
- Operator Error... the most common being the closing of the flue damper a bit too far for the conditions (see Poor Draft above).