This may already be posted... open fire place flue operation question?

[owingsia]

Ok, so I am visiting my mother for the holidays.... she has an open fireplace in her new home. Now I have never used one before because all the open fireplaces I have ever seen either have an insert or wood stove set up going on....

She wants to use the fireplace with real wood and not the 3 hour mini log things... (Dry wood is not an issue at all, we got her a half cord from my sister... her husband keeps it CSS 5-6 years ahead, they are on acreage and have a out door wood boiler and wood stove inside. they burn year round for hot water and heat.

Ok neither of us is familiar with open fireplaces and we just have one question.... the flue.. obviously wide open at start up but once the fire is going strong do we or can we start to close the flue to slow the burn rate like you would with a stove? Does it just stay wide open and you have a roaring fire?

Note: we are not heating her house with this... she just wants to be able to sit by the fire and have it give off some radiant heat in the evening. This is more for ascetics than anything else.

We did have a guy come and clean the chimney... very very glad we did... not sure what the previous owners were burning but it was nasty nasty nasty sticky stuff... took the guy all day to get it clean (we tipped him big)

So the thats our question just some simple tips for running an open fire. Both me and my BIL grew up with wood stoves... any house we lived in with an open fireplace quickly had a chimney liner shoved up it and a stove attached for real heat.

 

[maple1]

I think any fireplace flue dampers I have experienced were either open, or closed. No in-between. Closed to keep the heat in the house when not being used (or I should say TRY to keep the heat in), otherwise open.

 

[jatoxico]

All the fireplace flue dampers I've used had notches to shut the flue down partially. Run it wide open and get the flue warm. After a time and if draft will allow, close it down a notch. If you get smoke roll open her back up if not try another notch. Should limit loss of warm room air in theory. How effective is it, who knows?

 

[bholler]

All the fireplace flue dampers I've used had notches to shut the flue down partially. Run it wide open and get the flue warm. After a time and if draft will allow, close it down a notch. If you get smoke roll open her back up if not try another notch. Should limit loss of warm room air in theory. How effective is it, who knows?

No open fireplaces are meant to be burnt with the damper wide open the entire burn until the coals are cool and there is no potential for co. That is part of the reason they are so inneficent

 

[jatoxico]

No open fireplaces are meant to be burnt with the damper wide open the entire burn until the coals are cool and there is no potential for co. That is part of the reason they are so inneficent

Really? Then why do they have notches to allow for different positions?

 

[BrotherBart]

The idea behind the notches is that after the fire is burning well that you could keep more heat in the living space by adjusting the damper just to the point where smoke doesn't come out into the room I have never known anybody that made it work right.

 

[jatoxico]

The idea behind the notches is that after the fire is burning well that you could keep more heat in the living space by adjusting the damper just to the point where smoke doesn't come out into the room I have never known anybody that made it work right.

Yeah not sure it does much either and takes constant fiddling.

 

[owingsia]

Thanks all. I think for safety we will just have her run it full open the entire time.