Overdraft questions
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SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
How open is your damper?
The usual fix would be to close the damper more if you think the heat is going out the flue.
Is your stove a stand alone unit?
The usual fix would be to close the damper more if you think the heat is going out the flue.
Is your stove a stand alone unit?
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
Neversink said:
Ah, did they install a blocking plate and seal it to the chimney and the flue?
If not you might find that some of that heat is going up the chimney and I'm not talking via the stove flue.
I was told it was capped at the top. I have a zero clearance fire box that the stove was installed in. There is a 12" pipe the surronds an 8" pipe, I believe for self cooling purposes. A 4" flex pipe was installed inside of the 8" and capped at the top. Another thought: I was thinking of lighting a peice of paper and and placing inside the burn pot w/ the stove off. Would their be natural draft to suck the smoke out or w/ the stove off should the smoke stay inside the stove? I was also thinking of doing the same thing near the 12" pipe and see if any smoke gets sucked up w/ the stove off. Worth a try? Thanks for your help Smokey!
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
I would think that if you were to generate some smoke in that stoves firebox with the stove off that some of it would go up the flue (hopefully all of it) and it would be possible for some to also exit the stove via the air wash (if any) or the air intake (if conditions in the house are right and the firebox floods with smoke).
I'd consider sealing the area around the new flue inside the old flue. I'd also look at the cap and see how it is setup. That area (2" all around the new pipe is an ideal air channel to suck the heated air out of the living space. It would pay to check that entire flue/chimney configuration out.
I hope this helps, it is hard to peer up the piping in NY while sitting in my den in Maine.
I'd consider sealing the area around the new flue inside the old flue. I'd also look at the cap and see how it is setup. That area (2" all around the new pipe is an ideal air channel to suck the heated air out of the living space. It would pay to check that entire flue/chimney configuration out.
I hope this helps, it is hard to peer up the piping in NY while sitting in my den in Maine.
Thanks for the help. I did the smoke test. Inside the stove almost all the smoke was sucked out. Out side the stove I put the smoke near the 12" pipe. A decent amount of smoke was sucked up here which I would think isn't good. I'm thinking of pulling the the stove out a bit and stuffing insulation in the gap between the 12" and 8" pipe. Insulation is fire proof correct? Of course given that the paper is removed.
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
Neversink said:
The pink stuff is fireproof. The paper isn't.
Don't forget about the 8" to 4" space while you are playing around.
pete324rocket
Feeling the Heat
I have a new brick chimney with stainless pipe liner...6 inch I think,and so the pellet stove is in the basement and hooked into the chimney there. If I take the pellet pipe off for cleaning where it hooks into the chimney,the draft is so much that you couldn't keep a piece of paper on fire,and so the stove gets so much draft,its crazy,so I had to examine the draft set-up,which is a simple round slot with a piece of steel that slides around to close off the slot,like a piece of pie that gets bigger or smaller. Trouble was,it was so sloppy that you could not get zero draft ever,and thats what I wanted, to know what is offered by being able to run both extremes. I frequently run zero draft,yes I have burn-pot build-up and unburned pellets,but I get the most heat output,and for me that is what counts.
Nicholas440
Feeling the Heat
I have a Quad Castile insert, and we stuffed the damper area with the pink insulation really good, and then put an aluminum block off plate in place and silicone caulked it so its tight and no air gets past it.
Sealing off any spaces that can leak air up your chimney will help.
Sealing off any spaces that can leak air up your chimney will help.
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
pete324rocket
Feeling the Heat
Neversink said:
A freestanding stove.The basement is insulated on the inside,foam board on the wall with 2x4 framing against it so eliminate thermal bridging to the wall with batts in the frame. Plastic over,acoustic sealed and tight,and headers insulated and sealed. We run 24/7 with the pellets and stay very warm,letting natural convection work mostly,there are lots of furnace ducts that return cold air,and we block 1 upstairs room with the option of two others in the day that aren't always used(we just close the door-thats all). Pellets ,at least a bag a day,sometimes more, and 100 bucks for electricity a month,I suspect the water heater gets most of it,and a pre-heater is in my thoughts. I was going to mention about the incredible draft,which was the topic. Since the basement is heated in my case,warm air wants to rush up the pipe (stack effect) so it is a factor when evaluating what is happening when you light that paper on fire. Long and short of it tho, if you can't get enough control to get a "lazy flame", you will never know if you are doing the best you can when adjusting your draft. Do you know what kind of a draft set-up you have(description)?
Nothing yet Smokey. The stove weighs about 300lbs so it's a bit much for me to move alone. Maybe I will try tonight. I have to lug my weeks worth of pellets up from the crallspace tonight, getting snow tomorrow so I need to get that done. Still freezing though. We had the stove on level 4 all last night and today. Last night it was 5 outside and 59 inside, right now it's 23 outside and 62 inside. Hurts when you're going through $9 a day in pellets and it's 59-62 in your house!
pete324rocket said:
Pete,
Even with my damper completely closed and still having a very active flame, what could that mean? How can I reduce the amount of O2 the stoves getting w/ the damper completely closed? My stove's adjustment for the damper is just a simple dial, all the way left is fully open, all the way right is supposedly completely closed.
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
Frequently there is a hole somewhere on the damper or there is slop in the system. This prevents the damper from being completely closed.
It could also be that your damper isn't actually connected to that dial.
It could also be that your damper isn't actually connected to that dial.
pete324rocket
Feeling the Heat
Neversink said:
If you have a camera,private message me some pictures.If your draft is similar,I have pictures showing how I made my draft seal up. You would have to be somewhat handy however.
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