Whats the purpose of a damper on a wood stove ?

[oldspark]

I too have thought about installing a damper in my stove pipe. I have a EPA exempt stove without any intake air control, my chimney is straight up and out, Ive never had a problem with not getting a draft. There is a damper installed in the stove but it can only close about 60%. What i notice is that sometimes i get a powerful draft, so much that the flames look like they are getting sucked towards the back of the stove because the air intake is right above the door and airwashes the glass then moves toward the back of the stove. So when i get some fires like that they are fast and hot. This is my first year burning so im still learning and i pull apart my chimney every month and clean it. I also read on the website where i got my stove from, a review of the stove by another buyer, in that reveiw they stated that they installed a second damper about 15" above the factory one. (The factory one is in the stove pipe adapter on top of the stove) And it gave them more control and longer burns. So im really thinking about putting one in for next year. Any thoughts.

Becareful doing that. Since your stove does not have the secondary air system or a catalyst, if you damper that down too much you will have a creosote manufacturing device hooked to your chimney.

pen

If he monitors his flue temps he should be OK, you could put 10 dampers on there as long as the flue temp stayed in the correct range.

 

[moosetrek]

I also added one when I installed the PE, and since I live in a wind-prone area where 40-50 mph winds are common, I find it helps control the draft. Like Snowleopard, I have double wall to the ceiling, and a straight shot up through the roof so that may be a factor. If I lived in a less windy place, I might rethink but it really makes a difference in my setup.