What temp do YOU close(begin to)close your damper

Insert here. I usually start closing my primary in increments at or around 300-350. Don't know if your setup will allow, but I take my stove top temp with an IR gun pointed thru where the blower air exits.

I also have a Rutland Mag. Thermometer on my doors for reference (not accurate of stove top temps).

Thanks for your reply but i do not have a flue thermometer, just one placed on front of the insert.it usually reads 250-350 when the insert is pretty hot and raoring for 1 1/2-2 hours, but i have no idea what the flue temp might be at that time. I guess i am winging it at this point, trying to figure it out. Get frustrating getting inconsistent results from fire to fire .

Hello-thanks for the info-..I have my temp gauge(rutland) placed on fron t left door of insert- get no higher than roughly 300degrees..at that point i have been pulling the damper closed..but last night tried it slower in increments- seemed to make the heat output a itty bitty bettter but not much-- last night here in NY also wasnt too too cold so i dont know what would happen if it was like 15-20 degrees. last night outside temp was around 35 but a slight wind made it feel COLDER!

Velvet: I don't open my door other than on reloads or starting the stove from a cold start. If I want to burn my coals down faster I simply open the primary wide open.

SC: Ooops, I misread your post: read primary air instead of door. Yes, I keep the door open too on reloads. I was wondering what you did when things got to the coaling stage, if you're around to do anything about it. I've been opening it up, maybe putting one piece of wood on a pile of coals in an attempt to reduce those coals to allow more wood in there, but keep the primary air pretty open.

Another insert here. Being a suburban burner, my theme this year is to burn as clean as possible so I don't bother my neighbor with smoke. So I tend to leave stove door crack opened a bit longer until I have a strong fire, and close down primary air at higher temp....mostly @450 stove front so that it won't have a period of incomplete combustion when the insert tries to increase the internal temp only by partial secondary burn. Note that I use just a normal magnet thermometer so it may not be as accurate as temp gun.

Thanks for the reply...primary = damper? or primary= air control? thanks........nice looking infra-red....are they more accurate?

Primary air control. Door thermos aren't measuring the temp of the box. They're way off. Yes, the IR gun is way more accurate and the only solution in my case.