Who makes a stove with bypass dampers?

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Swedishchef

Swedishchef

Minister of Fire
Jan 17, 2010
3,275
Inuvik, Northwest Territories
Hey guys

What company makes a stove (other than Osburn) with a bypass damper for when lighting and reloading, to prevent smoke rolling out when the door is open?

Thanks

Andrew
 
Lopi
Doug
 
I imagine you are referring only to non-catalytic stoves, since every cat stove has a bypass damper which does what you are asking about.
 
Isle Royale
 
Vermont Castings Resolute Acclaim and maybe? the smaller Aspen. But I wouldn't buy a new VC or Dutchwest these days - just don't trust the corporation. Now, if you find an older used one in good shape - might be a deal.
 
Drolet Baltic, Myriad. I believe they make two more from the same line, cant recall off hand there name
 
My last stove, a VC Defiant Encore cat had a bypass, of course. The new stove, a Jotul Oslo, does not. We had more smoke spill from the front doors of the VC with the bypass open than we have from the Oslo from the side loading door (essentially zero). So, I'm not sure a bypass makes smoke-free loading a sure thing, and I'm also not sure that lacking a bypass prevents smoke-free loading. Just my $0.02.
 
+1.

A bypass won't keep smoke from puffing out your door. The secret is to avoid opening the stove when you have yellow flames. If you must open up anyway, open the door slowly to flush any smoke up the flue. Even then, you'll still get a puff of smoke into the room.

Plan ahead and load up according to how much heat you want, and how long you want to go before the next load. Load when you're down to coals.
 
Hey Control Freak.

Unfortunately I do not agree 100% with your statement. I believe that a bypass will HELP prevent smoke roll out but not eliminate it. Smoke roll out depends on a few factors such as draft, stage of burning, proximity of the wood to your door, etc. If you have a bad draft and a piece of wood against your glass, it's almost certain that you will get smoke outside. I have a bypass on my current stove and it helps. This link also stipulates a good point:

http://woodheat.org/woodpile/index....gram&catid=20:emissions-regulations&Itemid=10


"catalytic stoves (by far the majority) have a baffle that occupies the whole top of the firebox except for a narrow slot just above and behind the door. This slot is only about 1 1/2 inches wide and forces the exhaust to exit the top front of the firebox and then travel back through a flat chamber above the baffle to the flue collar where it leaves the stove. This works fine when the door is closed, but when it is opened to put more wood on the fire, the exhaust can spill out the top of the door opening if it isn’t all drawn through the narrow exhaust slot. The only thing to prevent open-door smoke spillage is very strong chimney draft, which is produced by tall chimneys that ideally run straight up from the stove flue collar. Lots of homeowners don’t have chimneys that produce enough draft to prevent smoke spillage, given the obstacles created by advanced non-catalytic combustion systems."

A bypass does help, there's no doubt about it. BUt it's not the 100% solution. And I do agree, don't open with a yellow flame, wait until you only have coals.

Andrew
 
My Harman TL-300 has a bypass door and i GET NO SMOKE when i open it to load wood. THe reason for that is its a top loading stove and as soon as i open the top air rushes into the stove as thats now the point of least resistance for the air.
 
Swedishchef said:
Hey Control Freak.

Unfortunately I do not agree 100% with your statement. I believe that a bypass will HELP prevent smoke roll out but not eliminate it. Smoke roll out depends on a few factors such as draft, stage of burning, proximity of the wood to your door, etc. If you have a bad draft and a piece of wood against your glass, it's almost certain that you will get smoke outside. I have a bypass on my current stove and it helps. This link also stipulates a good point:

http://woodheat.org/woodpile/index....gram&catid=20:emissions-regulations&Itemid=10


"catalytic stoves (by far the majority) have a baffle that occupies the whole top of the firebox except for a narrow slot just above and behind the door. This slot is only about 1 1/2 inches wide and forces the exhaust to exit the top front of the firebox and then travel back through a flat chamber above the baffle to the flue collar where it leaves the stove. This works fine when the door is closed, but when it is opened to put more wood on the fire, the exhaust can spill out the top of the door opening if it isn’t all drawn through the narrow exhaust slot. The only thing to prevent open-door smoke spillage is very strong chimney draft, which is produced by tall chimneys that ideally run straight up from the stove flue collar. Lots of homeowners don’t have chimneys that produce enough draft to prevent smoke spillage, given the obstacles created by advanced non-catalytic combustion systems."

A bypass does help, there's no doubt about it. BUt it's not the 100% solution. And I do agree, don't open with a yellow flame, wait until you only have coals.

Andrew
Click to expand...
I believe the paragraph above in quotation marks refers to non-catalytic stoves (perhaps the "non-" was inadvertently missed during copy/paste?), since many cat stoves do not have the baffle design, and cat stoves are in the minority these days.

While it's true that stoves with a baffle design tend to direct the exhaust through a narrow slot near the top of the front door, not all stoves have this door as the only one for loading. We never use the front door of our Oslo, choosing instead to load via the side door. Using the side door eliminates opening a big hole in the stove right near this slot, so there's no smoke spill issue even if the conditions in the stove are producing lots of smoke. The few times we have opened the front door while burning, we have avoided smoke spill by first cracking the door open a quarter inch, waiting until the draft picks up from additional flue heating (maybe 10-30 seconds), and then slowly opening the door the rest of the way. But all this extra care is not required on the side door, since the slot is not close to the door.

On our old VC cat with the bypass open, we still had to take the same care opening the front door, first a crack, wait, and then gradually, or we'd get smoke spill. I just don't see much difference in the behavior in that regard.
 
I have the Harman wood insert which uses a damper.Down draft stoves have a Damper to get the fire going untill its hot enough to use the afterburner in the back of the stove.
 
Swedishchef said:
A bypass does help, there's no doubt about it. BUt it's not the 100% solution. And I do agree, don't open with a yellow flame, wait until you only have coals.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the design of the stove. My VC Vigilant was designed to be used as a fireplace if desired. The only time you'd get smoke spillage would be if your draft was inadequate, or if you opened the doors real fast. Same with the top loading door. I first ease open the primary air all the way, then I flip open the bypass damper. I wait several seconds for any residual gases to ignite, and then open the top loading door. Not only does it not smoke, air rushes in and feeds the flames, which in turn just go roaring up the flue.
 
Oops. yes, it refers to non-cat stoves. My copy missed the "non" :)

Top loading or side loading stoves are not the same as front door loading ones. Yet I think it's fair to say that they do not dominate the wood stove market. Had I known what Jotul had to offer before purchasing my stove, I would have done so. Unfortunately, when I bought the stove I have I was not away of this forum at the time. Yesterday I was able to re-load my stove about 5-6 times without any smoke spillage. It is a science. I open a nearby window, open the bypass damper, open the door. At this point, I make SURE that my primary air intake damper is CLOSED> This prevents that damn air from pushing my smoke out the door. The fact is that the draft is going straight up the chimney and it is pulling air from the room the stove is in, not using primary air. It seemed to have worked. A big puff of smoke makes my house stink and I hate it, especially when it's just a small flamed fire.

As much as we try, there's still no better way to avoid it than opening a side door. I can tell you one thing: my next stove will have a side opening as well.

Andrew
 
Swedishchef said:
Hey guys

What company makes a stove (other than Osburn) with a bypass damper for when lighting and reloading, to prevent smoke rolling out when the door is open?

Thanks

Andrew
Click to expand...

Woodstock.


Also, as I posted on your other thread, we have never had a problem with our Fireview with smoke rolling out when the door is opened. With most stoves, technique can stop the smoke most of the time. It is a matter of heating up the flue by opening the draft full for a minute or two before opening the firebox door. Then open the door slow. Yes, sometimes cracking a window will help if you don't have good draft.
 
My Drolet Legend has a bypass...it's taking some time to get use to it..I have a tendancy to leave it open now and again..which has me thinking of making a level switch with an indicator bulb to remind me when I leave it open.

Ian
 
My Lopi Liberty has one, and know the Endeavor does also. I don't have an incredibly drafty chimney, and I often get some smoke if I don't open the bypass. When it's open I never have a problem. It's also great in the a.m.--I wake up and open the air and the bypass which gets the remaining coals nice and hot and ready for some more wood.
 
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