Very confused.... a little help please

[woodburn]

Woodburn, You have a non cat stove with a bypass damper? Is this a top loading model? My stove has a bypass damper, but it's really only so you can top load without the damper being in the way, and so the smoke has a direct path up the chim instead of into the house. I never top load, so I leave it alone. I never start the fire with the bypass open.

Yes, the Arbor is Non Cat with bypass damper like you said, and it's a top loader. I'm shocked that you are able to start fires with the bypass closed without getting smoke in the house. Also, doesn't it take a long time for the chimney to heat up with it closed? I would think you would get more creosote this way. Also, when you open the doors to reload, you don't get smoke coming out? The one or two times I forgot to pop open the damper before reloading, I was reminded real quickly as soon as I opened those doors! I always leave it open for the initial stage of the burn. I let the stove and chimney get good and hot before closing it off. I have abnormally strong draft too. I'm amazed you are able to do that!

 

[soxfan13]

Thanks meathead for the very good post. I can't wait to try it. I have been spreading out the coals which has given me some serious heat but for a short amount of time.
Perplexed, thanks for leading me to this thread. Hopefully I can use meathead's method to perfection.

 

[karri0n]

I've really never noticed any difference in performance with the damper open vs. closed, and my dealer had mentioned that I would always want the bypass closed unless I'm top loading. I'll try starting this way, but I usually do a full load on startup, and the damper gets right in the way of loading when it's down.