Open damper or closed for better burn?

[shuabills]

Hey Guys, another newbie question.

Which is better an open damper or a closed?

I thought midway closed was good for a slow burn but not sure.

Also when opening the wood burner door should the damper be closed or open?


Thanks!

 

[bholler]

Hey Guys, another newbie question.

Which is better an open damper or a closed?

I thought midway closed was good for a slow burn but not sure.

Also when opening the wood burner door should the damper be closed or open?


Thanks!

What damper where on what stove?

 

[shuabills]

What damper where on what stove?

Hey thanks for the quick reply!! Sheesh you guys are quick.

It is a damper at the very top of a wood burner right before
it goes out the black stove pipe. See attached picture.


Thanks!

 

[bholler]

Hey thanks for the quick reply!! Sheesh you guys are quick.

It is a damper at the very top of a wood burner right before
it goes out the black stove pipe. See attached picture.


Thanks!

And what stove is this for? Also move your pipe thermometer up to about 18" above the stove

 

[shuabills]

And what stove is this for? Also move your pipe thermometer up to about 18" above the stove

The stove is a King 2007b from what I can see. Looks like the damper was added by the previous owner since its got a non factory cut in it to pass a bolt when turned.

(The wood burner came with my house and i replaced the baffle, and bricks and repainted it. Along with that added a ss insulated liner down the chimney.)

Thanks again for the help.

 

[bholler]

The stove is a King 2007b from what I can see. Looks like the damper was added by the previous owner since its got a non factory cut in it to pass a bolt when turned.

(The wood burner came with my house and i replaced the baffle, and bricks and repainted it. Along with that added a ss insulated liner down the chimney.)

Thanks again for the help.

Oh ok that is one of the cheap fixed burn rate stoves from us stove company. They are not efficient at all but for the most efficient burn you will want the damper closed as far as you can while keeping the surface of the pipe around 250 to 300. And open the damper before opening the door.

 

[shuabills]

Hey thanks for the info and ha sad to hear its a cheap stove. I will watch the temp.

Also should I worry about the surface temp of the stove? When I had the temp gauge close to the top it was reading up to 600+ and that was with the damper closed. Open its about 500 from where you saw in the pictures. Do they burn hotter open or closed?

Do I want the pipe temp inbetween 250 and 300 due to wear?

thanks

 

[shuabills]

P.s. Stove pipe at 18 inches up is about 350 at 3/4 closed damper. Can i go hotter do i want cooler on the pipe? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[bholler]

Hey thanks for the info and ha sad to hear its a cheap stove. I will watch the temp.

Also should I worry about the surface temp of the stove? When I had the temp gauge close to the top it was reading up to 600+ and that was with the damper closed. Open its about 500 from where you saw in the pictures. Do they burn hotter open or closed?

Do I want the pipe temp inbetween 250 and 300 due to wear?

thanks

You want the pipe temp there because it is as low as you can keep it without causing creosote buildup. You can monitor the stovetop temp but it really doesn't matter much

 

[billb3]

Hey thanks for the info and ha sad to hear its a cheap stove. I will watch the temp.

Also should I worry about the surface temp of the stove? When I had the temp gauge close to the top it was reading up to 600+ and that was with the damper closed. Open its about 500 from where you saw in the pictures. Do they burn hotter open or closed?

Do I want the pipe temp in between 250 and 300 due to wear?

thanks

I dunno if I would call it a cheap stove. I would call it a stove I would not wish on anybody. Not even someone that deserved to burn in heel. More of a fireplace or an indoor fire pit than a wood stove.
It is pretty much designed to burn at one fuel to air mix which is pretty much full-tilt-boogie. Which, as you've found, tends to warp and burn up baffles and bricks. And eats lots and lots and lots and lots of wood.
Good luck with it though, and I hope a real wood stove with a tractable user experience falls in your lap.

 

[shuabills]

Well darnit, Ha! It puts out some heat but it does appear to eat wood pretty fast.

I can't be too sad about it since it came with the house, however i did spend a little to get it back up to snuff.
I'll keep an eye out for a better one and possibly sell this one to someone looking to watch fire dance.

Any recommendations? I have a 2100 sq house(old farm house with decent insulation), 35' chimney run.
I'm not a rich fellow, just blessed, so go easy on me.

Thanks guys.

 

[redmanlcs]

bholler said "And open the damper before opening the door.".... i always close the damper because if i don't.. the lack of draft makes smoke spill out into the room..... close the damper before opening the door.. you want lots of draft anytime the door is open!

 

[bholler]

bholler said "And open the damper before opening the door.".... i always close the damper because if i don't.. the lack of draft makes smoke spill out into the room..... close the damper before opening the door.. you want lots of draft anytime the door is open!

Uhhhh closing the damper cuts draft. Opening it makes it stronger

 

[redmanlcs]

I was thinking about this last night.. i forgot that its was the damper built in to the stove..for some reason i was thinking about the "add on" damper that would come inside a tee....

your correct.. for damper in stove you want it open fully.....
damper not inline with the flue, but on the end of a tee,,, you would close those types... sry for creating some confusion... my bad..

 

[bholler]

I was thinking about this last night.. i forgot that its was the damper built in to the stove..for some reason i was thinking about the "add on" damper that would come inside a tee....

your correct.. for damper in stove you want it open fully.....
damper not inline with the flue, but on the end of a tee,,, you would close those types... sry for creating some confusion... my bad..

A barometric damper on a tee should absolutely never be used on a wood stove so it doesn't really enter into this discussion

 

[redmanlcs]

I wasn't referring to a baro damper... If i ever needed a damper, i always used these type.. hence fully closed before opening door...it wasn't ever self adjusting,,, fully manual operation/..even if this one pictured is self adjusting....

 

[bholler]

I wasn't referring to a baro damper... If i ever needed a damper, i always used these type.. hence fully closed before opening door...it wasn't ever self adjusting,,, fully manual operation/..even if this one pictured is self adjusting....View attachment 250957

That is a barometric damper. And it doesn't belong on a wood stove. Even if it is a manual damper letting dilution sir in to the stack of a wood stove is bad.