Secondary Burn The Airing Down

[HummerBeachBuggy1982]

Well I finally figured out this insert of mine and having my secondary burners going like crazy is the normal, I was wondering how many of you turn the damper all the way closed on your inserts once you have established a strong secondary burn and if you do, does that increase your burn time and temperature more than say if you left it like 25% open. Thanks for the information.

 

[shawneyboy]

I have a stove not an insert but..... Yes I shut her as far as I can with the secondaries going, sorta gates of hell looking. Does it increase burn time and temperature? In theory it does, with less air going into the box, that means less air is going up the flue, which means wood lasts longer and with secondaries, burns cleaner. Less air going up flue means more temp remaining in stove which means stove temp increases.

If you ever got the unit close to overfire, if you open up the air you push more air into the unit which pushes more up the flue, which cools the unit off.

So Yes to shutting her down, yes to higher temps, and yes to longer burns. Of course that is with all else being equal.

Shawn

 

[dafattkidd]

Good to hear you're getting the hang of it. I usually shut my insert all the way down when I can. But it depends on the wood I'm burning. If the wood is not seasoned you'll probably need to keep it open a little for most of the burn However, sometimes burning a full load of seasoned locust I have to keep the draft open a little because that's just how locust burns. So for me the answer is I usually shut it down all the way and that seems to help with better burn times, but there are exceptions.

Beachbuggy, what are you burning in? It might be helpful if you add that to your signature.

 

[begreen]

The air control setting is going to depend on the insert, the wood and the flue. If you can turn it all the way down and are still getting a good burn, then do it.

 

[Rob From Wisconsin]

Last night we got out little Tribute up-to-temp & drafting well.
I then stuffed it full of wood, let it roar for a bit & turned
the air control down all the way. I also closed the stovepipe
damper & a vaporous fire gently filled the firebox.
When I woke up in the morning, the glass was sparkling clean,
and I had a small bed of coals remaining to re-lite a fire.
This scenario fairly common with our setup.

Not bad for a small firebox!