So this is my third year burning. What I have is a wood stove insert made by kindlewood it is a older model and heats the house great even on the coldest days. My first question is the dampener handle is just the Steele rod so when I have to open or close the dampener I have to find a glove oven mit whatever. Can I install a wood knob on the end of the rod or does it have to be a Steele coil and anybody that has the Steele coil on there's does the coil ever get to hot to touch? 2nd question is my stove is installed inside the fireplace so I only see the face of the stove so I'm running a magnetic thermometer on the face of the stove. How much should I rely on this temp reading from the front of the stove. I feel a lot more comfortable being able to monitor the box temp ecsoecially when I'm burning hard. What other options are there to monitor it? Also my chimney is obviously brick all the way up through the roof with a clay pipe inside. and the brick is surrounded by cinder block through the ceiling of the family room and through the attic. My "liner" is a 6" stainless Steele ribbed pipe approximately 16' long is this safe considering it is surrounded by the clay,brick and cinder block? Thanks for your time