Comparing open damper to closed...

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bigcountry494

New Member
Jan 10, 2010
8
Northern Colorado Rockies
www.freestonefineart.com
I bought this cabin in Nov. and I'm still figuring out the best procedure for operating my Dutchwest wood stove as efficiently as possible. When I close the damper after getting good flames going, a lot of times it goes down to a smolder (even with the air control wide open). Sometimes it runs fine though. This past week I have been keeping the damper open and it seems I have excellent control over flames and temp with the primary air control on the bottom. My question is, is it burning less efficiently with the damper open even if I have the primary air control all the way down? It has been running great like that, but I wonder if I'm going through more wood like that. I haven't really noticed that. I understand that lively flames are the key and I get that when I have the damper open with the air control in any position. Also, when I have the damper closed, the flue temp usually hovers around 400 or less. At night and when I'm at work I close the damper just so I am sure to have coals in the morning and evening for a quick restart. It does produce a lot of creosote when I do that, though. Last night I kept the damper open and the air control closed up and there were no coals in the morning...at least not enough for a restart.

Here's part of my question...is heat output a direct indicator of how much fuel you are going through?

Thanks for any help...I love learning this stuff.

Kevin
 
Welcome, You should do a search on this site about the Dutchwest Operation. There has been alot of discussion on this topic, many people have problems operating this stove. I had a customer that operated it with the damper( or bypass) open, they bought it new and had no idea it was a cat stove, I removed 30 gallons of creosote out of a single story flue, Unbelievable!
 
isnt the dutchwest a non-cat stove? i have the same series stove and am on my second season. i'm still trying to figure this thing out! i even stopped burning for a week around christmas because the rumble was freaking me out too much!

it dosnt seem like i'm getting the heat out of mine this season either. i have been fiddeling with it today(stove runs 24/7) i let it die down to a good coal bed, raked it around, added 3 splits of seasoned maple(4x4x20) and let it run wide open till the flue temp externally was 500* 18 inches up.(about 15 minutes) then i shut the damper and left primary wide open. 30 minutes my flue temp was around 350-400 and will hang there till the fuel is almost gone. i see these guys here having the stoves run away and cant keep the flue temps down. i cant keep them up!

is or isnt the VC dutchwest everburn stoves a cat system?
 
tobaccogrower said:
isnt the dutchwest a non-cat stove? i have the same series stove and am on my second season. i'm still trying to figure this thing out! i even stopped burning for a week around christmas because the rumble was freaking me out too much!

it dosnt seem like i'm getting the heat out of mine this season either. i have been fiddeling with it today(stove runs 24/7) i let it die down to a good coal bed, raked it around, added 3 splits of seasoned maple(4x4x20) and let it run wide open till the flue temp externally was 500* 18 inches up.(about 15 minutes) then i shut the damper and left primary wide open. 30 minutes my flue temp was around 350-400 and will hang there till the fuel is almost gone. i see these guys here having the stoves run away and cant keep the flue temps down. i cant keep them up!

is or isnt the VC dutchwest everburn stoves a cat system?
Click to expand...
Don't know if they still make a cat stove or not for sure, but the older ones were often cat stoves.
 
i'm wondering if i messed up my refractory material cleaning out the back of the stove. i've done it every year at the beginning of the season. i've just been jamming my shop vac hose back there! nothing in my manual warned to be carful back there! i cant get 600* on a secondary burn ever! drops right back to 400* as soon as the damper is shut!
 
tobaccogrower said:
i'm wondering if i messed up my refractory material cleaning out the back of the stove. i've done it every year at the beginning of the season. i've just been jamming my shop vac hose back there! nothing in my manual warned to be carful back there! i cant get 600* on a secondary burn ever! drops right back to 400* as soon as the damper is shut!
Click to expand...
You definitely want to be careful when cleaning the non-cat dutchwest. You can't run your chimney brush or vac hose down into the stove or shove it into the bottom back (shoe)of the stove or you will damage the fountain which is fragile and expensive. The best way to clean it is by removing the top and flue pipe.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

1
Fireplace smells if I close the damper
Replies
5
Views
612
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
stoveliker
stoveliker
30WCF
Key Damper Theory
Replies
44
Views
2K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
T-Rav
T-Rav
Sono
Fireplace damper and icing ?
Replies
18
Views
578
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
stoveliker
stoveliker
N
Damper and air supply experience and experiment - NC30
Replies
23
Views
2K
SBI: Century,Drolet,Osburn,Valcourt,Englander
weee123
weee123
D
Proper Air Control & Throat Flue Damper Operation for an old Fisher Insert
Replies
1
Views
861
Fisher Stove Information, Parts, History and More
coaly
coaly
Top Bottom
Back