Damper?

[WellSeasoned]

Now that I have everything installed, I noticed there is not a damper in the stove pipe. Is this something that is nessesary? Is it something I need to add? Thx

 

[cmonSTART]

98% of the time it isn't needed with a modern stove.

 

[WellSeasoned]

And I'm guessing the 2% of the time if ever a chimney fire...I'll keep it clean. Thx

 

[southbalto]

I've got a 25' stack and I found that it pulls too hard once the stove is rockin.
I ended up putting in a key damper and it's really helped regulate the stove.

I don't see what the downside could be............

 

[HotCoals]

I burnt a BKK non-cat pre EPA stove for years with a key damper...when I put the new cat one in I just could not get myself to leave it out..a year later it's still there but I don't use it.
It just don't look right without it to me..lol.

 

[wkpoor]

I'm 41' from stove to cap. I installed a damper and use it everyday. Improved my experience with the stove when adding wood after a long burn.

 

[shawneyboy]

I have a damper and haven't "needed" it yet. I sorta think of it as an insurance policy to a run away. Inexpensive, easy to use, insurance policy. Although do to BrowningBar, I am now experimenting using it some.

 

[firefighterjake]

Flue damper is usually not needed . . . I think I've had two or three fires that made me a mite nervous . . . but was able to control and cool them with a blocked air control (thanks to some tin foil) and fans.

 

[SteveKG]

As someone else said, most stoves made lately do not ever need a stovepipe damper. None that I know of, actually, but I do not know all of them.

The only way to know whether you need one is to try your stove for a while. Not just one or two burns, but enough to get to know the stove and how it operates with your chimney/stovepipe. If you find that you do need a damper, after all, they are simple and easy to install after the fact. We have four stoves in our home; only one needs a stovepipe damper and it is a special stove designed to heat water. Our other stoves do not need nor do they have stovepipe dampers. If they did have them, I have never had occasion to have used them. So, it depends: use your stove a while and find out. That it really all one can tell you. Have fun.

 

[ValentineHill]

From one Castine owner to another, I think that a stovepipe damper isn't needed. As Jake said up above, if need be (i.e a chimney fire) you can always block the secondary air intake in the back. It's in the bottom center -- a sort of round opening.

 

[mellow]

Only time on your install I could see a damper being handy is if you get very strong winds that could make your draft go crazy.

 

[WellSeasoned]

okay, thx. The stoves roars I guess with such a long chimney and the oak, when I opened the door there was a bit of movement inside the stove. Well tonight going to do the 2 out of 3 curing burns. Smoke and smell wasnt too bad.

 

[parsimonious]

Maybe I need a damper.A half or little more load will get to 500 real quick then i shut it down all the way. Gradually over the next half hour it will get to 750 with a real slow rolling flame.
I'd like to be able to load it up and get 10 hour burns like I was getting last month before I knew about overfiring(sorry, real new to this stuff).

I have a 6 inch flue that goes 45 degrees for about 4 feet then straight up for nearly 30 feet inside a brick chimney. Where do you install a damper on an insert?

 

[WellSeasoned]

I quite sure it goes on the stovepipe. Than there is a lever on it that controls the"tilt" of the damper, inside the pipe.

 

[Pallet Pete]

I discovered the hard way that not having a damper can be a nightmare in the right circumstances! We recently had a high wind experience where the wind got so strong it made the stove into a forge and turned the coal into a blazing white forge. The stove top was cherry red and it took a couple hours to cool enough for the glow to go away. Granted it was a Vogelzang however it was an epa re-burn stove and had we had a damper this would not have happened. Another side not only a quarter or less of the box was coals when this happened no full load no over burn due to ignorance or laziness just a straight up fluke. Its cheap insurance on newer secondary air stoves especially because if this happens you can't shut off the secondary air, you in essence get a super forge. This does and can happen to anyone!

Pete

 

[mellow]

Where do you install a damper on an insert?

You can't. That is a common problem with insert installs with 25+ ft chimneys. Start a new topic on this and we can address your issue.