Draw Collar/Air Damper new product

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iammarrk

New Member
Dec 3, 2022
11
CT
Does anyone have experience with the new product from the makers of the Draw Collar? It's called Air Damper. There was no description so I reached out to John, the owner. Its basically a draw collar that clamps on to the pipe instead of replacing a section. It also only draws 200W instead of 500W but according to him works as well as the Draw Collar due to a more efficient heating element. Curious if anyone has any experience with it.
 
Does anyone have experience with the new product from the makers of the Draw Collar? It's called Air Damper. There was no description so I reached out to John, the owner. Its basically a draw collar that clamps on to the pipe instead of replacing a section. It also only draws 200W instead of 500W but according to him works as well as the Draw Collar due to a more efficient heating element. Curious if anyone has any experience with it.
No I don't. Never used the original either. They really are generally just bandaids to cover up the real problem
 
Indeed! And at this point, I am ok with that. I have gotten at least 5 different answers from certified chimney folks about what I need to do to solve my backdrafting issues. Outside air kits, flue stretchers, etc. No one can give me a clear answer.

Background in case you're interested - basement wood stove and 1st floor wood fireplace on one outside chimney. Smokey smell in basement whenever using 1st floor fireplace. Constant backdraft in wood stove.
 
If the fireplace's flue top is at the same height as the wood stove's, what's happening is that the smoke is siphoning down the stove flue. The fix is to elevate the fireplace flue 12-18" above the basement flue.

Basements can be negative pressure zones. There are many threads here on how to try to address this issue. Sometimes the fix is easier than others. As noted, the Draw Collar is a bandaid fix, there are other things to try first. But we have seen a few cases where this option has been the last resort fix that worked. It was first reported here about 2009.
 
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