Draft Question - Getting the most heat out of stove.

[Ericl1982]

This will be my first year as a wood burner so I still have a lot to learn but very excited. I have been spending a ton of time reading the great information on this site. I want to say thank you, I have been spared many headaches and troubles because of some of the lessons shared here.

Over the last winter and spring I have worked my butt off cutting close to 30 cords of wood to try and get a head so we will have dry firewood.


My Setup:

This summer I installed a Daka 521 fb (non epa) wood furnace add-on connected to our propane furnace plenum / duct work. The stove is setup with a single wall stove pipe, barometric damper that connects up to a through the wall 6" double wall supervent chimney. The chimney is about 23' tall.

The Stove:

Chimney:

Stove Pipe:

With our setup we seem to have great draft with the current setup. The few break in fires we have had, we had no issues getting a good draft in the warmer weather. Stove pipe is around 500f - 600f with little effort and burning small amounts of poplar.

My question revolves around getting the draft dialed in so that I get the most amount of heat without it all going up the chimney while still maintaining safe stack temps. Since we have only been having small fires with wood like poplar, come this winter I would imagine the stove will be running a lot hotter using more wood and higher btu species like ash.

Is it as simple as burning a good hot fire and adjusting the biometric damper to the desired stove pipe temp? (the safe zone)


How many people use a barometric damper?


How much trust can I put in my Condar Chimgard Magnetic Thermometer?


Where would you recommend placing a thermostat on a stove like this? When I emailed Daka about this, they replied with the following information.

"Eric depending on where you take the reading at, you will find the temps to very greatly. The temp on the front door can jump as high as + 900 degrees when fired hard. You’re going to find the upper half of the front and back plates will run close to what you are showing as a stack temp. This may tend to run a little higher but within 100 degrees. Your best off selecting one location and monitoring that location and creating a base line temp and note the temp where you are getting the best results and then going from there. "


What temp do you often run your stove top at in the coldest months?

The main thing I am after is getting the most amount of heat out of the stove while maintain good / safe burn practices. I understand this stove is running off older technology and probably needs to be ran a little different then the nicer epa stoves. Any tip and information shared is greatly appreciated.

A couple wood piles / what was on my phone (It did happen) :

 

[bholler]

Well i personally think barometric dampers on a wood burning appliance are a very bad idea. I know some furnace makes call for them but i still dont like it. What they do is put dilution air into the smoke stream by doing this they drastically cool down the smoke which causes creosote buildup. And if you do end up wit ha chimney fire they will open up and supply a large amount of air to the fire. Now if your furnace is designed for a barometric damper i guess you will have to use it but i feel the fire and draft should be controlled by the air inlets and not with a baro damper and if you are consistently over drawing put in a stack damper. Does your furnace specifically call for a baro damper if not pull it out.

 

[Ericl1982]

I do have a manual damper and some extra stove pipe standing by. It is a little hard to gauge how well everything will work since we are hardly into the shoulder season if that. I worked hard for my wood and I know the stove I have can get hungry. I would like to find a way to really dial it in so I am keeping good safe stack temps while not losing more heat then I have to up the chimney. What I have seen so far, I think I will have a really good draft but don't have the tools to measure it. I am making these judgements by the fact I am not getting any smoke rolling back in when starting a fire or opening the door. Things seem to be drafting really well in 60f temps and can't imagine what it will be like when we get the normal -20f -30f temps like we often see in Jan and Feb.

Do you guys recommend switching to the manual damper and then getting a Manometer to monitor the draft. I could then keep an eye on it and adjust the damper as needed. Do many of you use something to monitor draft?

 

[bholler]

I have never used a manometer for a wood stove but If it makes you more comfortable go for it. And yes i would switch it unless your furnace specifically calls for a barometric damper

 

[Hogwildz]

I agree with bholler, adding that air is going to create creosote. The questions is not if, but how much.
I personally would start without any damper, and see try and get it to roll right that way. You can always add one in if you feel you need it.
No offense, but most wood split last winter & spring, ain't gonna be ready. Some of the wood in your photos looks as though it is not ready.
Lastly, not a big deal, I hope, but you should have run the shingles over top of the roof base flashing so that only the bottom of the flashing is on top of the shingles & exposed.
You should be fine, just noting it as I was a roofer for many years.
Good luck with that beast, and keep us posted on performance and how she works for you.