To damper, or not to damper...

[jault83]

Hello ladies and gentlemen, I need some advice. I have and older Vansco Treemont wood/coal stove that's my home I purchased last summer. I burned (wood) a fair amount last year, and this year I started a little bit earlier in the season. I'm still working on fine tuning the operation of the stove but there is one thing I have noticed: I find it hard to burn the stove at a comfortable level. If I open my air vents enough to keep my flue temp at 300 degrees or higher, the stove is CRANKING out heat, and burning fiercely. Too much, as in no time my living room where the stove is located is over 100 degrees. I usually burn the stove with the just the top vent open just the slightest crack which almost chokes the fire, but any more than that it's taking off. My chimney is only about 12ft as my house is a 1 story ranch, and it's straight up with no bends. I wondering if I may have too much draft? I would like to be able to add more air to the fire, but if I do it starts to burn too hard. By throttling down I'm almost at a smolder, so I am producing a lot of smoke and creosote. I'm wondering if adding a flue damper do restrict the flow a little might allow me to add more air too the box without turning it into a jet engine? I also plan on retrofitting the stove with a secondary combustion air bar in the top in the future as well to help reduce my smoke. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

John

 

[begreen]

How large is the room that the stove is in? Is the room open to other rooms via large openings or just doorways?

 

[jault83]

Probably about 200sq ft. There is a hallway that leads to the bedrooms, And a 7 foot wide entryway to the dining room and kitchen, and beyond the dining room a 340sq ft addition with vaulted ceiling. We use 2 box fans, one in the addition/dining room transition and one in the dining room/living room transition to move cold air from the back of the house to the front to displace the warm air. Often times we will have one or 2 windows cracked in the living room as well.

 

[begreen]

The layout is the issue, not draft. This is a big stove for a small room. You're doing the right thing with helping distribute the heat, but it's understandable that some windows need to be cracked open.

 

[jault83]

I took some measurements last night, the room is actually a little bigger than that, about 340sq ft. However I do agree that your assessment that the stove is probably too large is true. That being said, what is your opinion on the flue damper? I do feel like I have an overdraft, as the stove sucks air hard when the dampers are open even just a small amount. The only time it will burn at a reasonable level is if I have a not well established fire, with very little coals and a large piece of wood in it.

 

[begreen]

The only time it will burn at a reasonable level

What are reasonable levels? Is this with a full or partial load of fuel?

Can you describe the flue setup on the stove from stove top to chimney cap? And what is the overall height?

 

[wooduser]

If you have a forced air furnace, you might try running the fan only for a while and see if that evens out the temperatures around the house.

I have a stove I figure is oversized, and have simuilar issues in the shoulder season, but not as dramatic as what you report.

I wind up making small, hot fires and either throwing in a stick or two an hour, or even letting the fire go out and rebuilding the fire when the house gets cold. When it gets cold, it starts heating like a champ.

I have a ranch style house with rooms down a hallway that want to stay cold, so UI use a box fan to blow cold air at the floor level towards the stove. That works passably well. I have a forced air furnace with the return air vent in the same room as the stove. If I turned on the fan it would suck air from the floor level and circulate that around the house, but pretty quick those convection layers would be blown apart and it would be sucking in warm air and circulating that about the house. That would work OK, but I start heating the basement and such which I want to do only in sharply below freezing weather.

So ---- I use the box fan(s) and get along OK.