Damper or not
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I miss my damper...sure I don't need on now with the new EPA stove but I think I going to put one in anyway.
not yet still not burned inside yet just in driveway. Its easier to put one in now with the install as to later when pipe is up. Just wondering if i ned one
Well, my personal experience is it's not needed, but I have a less than ideal chimney setup so the last thing I need is one more thing restricting the draft. If I ever should have a chimney fire I have some welding gloves standing by to shove in the intakes to cut off the air.
Not necessary, but as some have indicated it gives you an extra widget to fiddle with (and to forget). If you have a particularly strong draft from a tall interior chimney, then I'd go ahead and put one in. Otherwise might as well wait and see how the stove works.
Not to steal the thread from the OP, my chimney length is about 18 feet from top of stove to stop of house, goes straight up... Damper would help slow the burn down at night would it not?
oilstinks said:
Wow! that`s not much for draft. Most epa stoves and inserts demand at least 14ft.
At 10 ft you're under the stove minimum requirements. Forget about the damper, add 4 ft. and a roof brace instead.
BeGreen said:
Nailed it again BG
Re: The Bungalow Syndrome exposition by Gulland mentions a damper as one solution to more air control for a non-cat with only one source of air. One problem with that besides BG's "forgetting", is cleaning the flue. That damper would need to be removed each time for brushing. I tried alum foil to partially block the air intake: not too good for overall burning.
Sometimes you can get by with less chimney than recommended. For example, ours is less than recommended but we have excellent draft. We had planned on a higher chimney but before adding the last section we decided to try the stove. It works great, so we put the cap on and took the last section back to the retailer.
That 18' chimney sounds good too.
EDIT: I'm not a big fan of dampers either.
That 18' chimney sounds good too.
EDIT: I'm not a big fan of dampers either.
Depends on the stove, Mine is an antique and the intake air controls do nothing. the only way to control the stove is with the flue damper. Without the flue damper the stove would overfire. It is absolutely necessary. Some people need em and some dont. I am a huge fan of dampers.
oilstinks said:
I think if you read the manual it will tell you exactly what is recomended.....
No damper period. The reason is it is precision sized to draft and create the max heat output with the cleanest burn. If you put a damper you are throwing that technology out the window and fuel up your chimney.
stanb999 said:
This logic if flawed. The trouble is that not all chimneys are alike and they don't draft the same. The stove was precision sized to work with the worst case chimney and if your chimney drafts stronger than that minimum chimney then you are defeating all of that precision tuning. Adding a flue damper allows you to adjust your chimney to act like the crappy minimum chimney in an effort to operate the stove as it was designed.
Highbeam said:
Someone that knows more than the stove manufacturer... I wonder why they bother with installation manuals at all.
Did you know that if you install a damper you can void the UL listing? Just ask'in.
i dont know about all that stuff but i have one and it helps slow the burn to last through the night. also helps from strong occasional winds from backdrafting in to the stove. and yes when you have a chiminey fire it helps to kill it, maybe. they take no tools to install other than a drill to make the holes and they are easy to put in and take out after that by hand so i dont see the problem, they cost like 5 bucks. if you dont like it you can take it out.
How do you tell. In my chimeny i have what i would consider too much draft. My wood loads burn up faster than i would expect, stack temps (interal probe) can be 700, while stove top is 500 and holding, with the air control set a s low as it wil go (new epa stove (pacific energy) that has a stop weleded on to precent complete closure of primary air) i sometimes have a hard time keeping the burn from running away (can lead to some sporty temps in the stack that have been brought under controll by placing some foil over the primay air inlet ). I have cheked the door gasket, and talked with tom, and we have agreed that the door is okay. I put a damper in this summer and have been able to slow the burn down, and flip the temperature relationship in the stack and stovetop. That being the stack is now 500, and the stove is 600- 650. This said, i am burning some subalpine fir, that is not to much better in heat content than newspaper, and the outside temp arn't that cold yet (-5 now about 25 f). One the mercury really drops and i start into the lodgepole pine i will have a beeter sense of the dampers utility. Around here, pine is the good stuf. More heat than spruce or aspen, and not a source of harwood locally. Small price to pay for living in the rockies
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