Something new today

Bigsby said:

Watching this thread since I've had the occasional fire that's given me fits but not as severe as the OP is describing. I would think with the colder temps along with the brisk wind, a strong draft would be easier to attain than with the fires he's had in warmer temps so just scratching my head why this weather would be an issue. Not doubting you just curious as to why?

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A lot of reasons. Woodheat.org has some nice diagrams and explanations of the possible effects of wind etc. I personally don't suffer much from wind issues except brief pulses of down drafting in high winds but my long chimney seems to resist excessive wind problems.

In my case I do suffer periodically to some degree to the stack effect. Certain days and under certain atmospheric conditions I get an inversion just contributes to sluggish draft. Some times on a cold start I open the door and the draft just flows right at me. Now and then even after establishing draft I still have to keep the air well open. Other days the draft just takes off. The primary air just whistles through the stove and I can hardly shut it down enough. That's the extremes, mostly it's pretty predictable but it's not only just about temp.

As far as wind goes it can work for you or against. They sell wind caps specifically to correct some of these problems for a reason. Of course there's literally an infinite number of combinations of all the different factors that effect stove performance.

If your cap is partially blocked on your usual downwind side and you say today the wind was blowing from the opposite direction it sounds like the blocked side of the cap could be acting as a deflector forcing the wind down the flue instead of blowing straight through the cap. In my experience it does't take a whole lot of creosote on a cap's screen to cause draft problems. With my stoves I can always tell when my caps are starting to get clogged up because I'll start having some smoke come out the door on reloads. Normally, my draft is so strong I never get any smoke when my door is open, so as soon as I do I know to go inspect my cap. Every time this has happened my cap needed cleaning.

My first year with the Napoleon 1402 in NE Ohio. So far we love it. My question is I leave my blower on the whole time I have a fire, should I turn off the blower occasionally? I dont want to ruin the fan

mikebinthesky said:

I run it-so far so good.I turn it of at the end of the cycle sometimes so it doesnt keep turning off and on

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Thanks. i tried to turn off the blower and i lost a degree in the house. Blower is back on