AngelofDarkness
Addicted to ArboristSite
Do they work well on a wood stove or furnace? Are they better than a normal manual damper? How about using both?
Barometric dampers?
- Thread starter AngelofDarkness
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logbutcher
Addicted to ArboristSite
All of the EPA wood stoves certified since 1989 don't need or require another air control IF the chimney draft is correct. Enough height, clearance above your roof, distance from nearby trees, right diameter. Some think that another manual damper is a safety control for out of control fires, such as an air leak in the stove, not a barometric damper.
Same for the more recent wood furnaces. Most manufacturers for wood/coal furnaces have air controls built in. The barometric dampers are SOP for oil furnaces that cycle on/off.
Same for the more recent wood furnaces. Most manufacturers for wood/coal furnaces have air controls built in. The barometric dampers are SOP for oil furnaces that cycle on/off.
I had a barometric damper on my stovepipe and took it off a few years ago and replaced it with just straight pipe. It actually made things worse for my situation; smoke would backpuff slightly through the "flapper", and it would cut the draft off which didn't help either.
panhead9
ArboristSite Member
Barometric dampers are used to
REDUCE draft not increase draft so you do not want one on a wood burner. What you have is basically an atmospheric burner on a stove in a sense. You control this with a damper on the flue and thru air intake to the unit. You want as much draft as possible and you control it with dampers intake and exhaust on a stove. They are on oil burners to reduce draft cause these are power burner or forced air burners and create their own draft and are not atmospheric anymore they are pressure. too much draft over a power burner will cause fire to walk away from head or not light immediatly, causing heavy or delayed lightoff with a nice bang that is not too friendly to the customer. Most of todays boilers need a positive pressure in the firebox and have a way to choke down on the outlet to do so. and have a barometric damper to limit the draft. Hope this makes sense.
REDUCE draft not increase draft so you do not want one on a wood burner. What you have is basically an atmospheric burner on a stove in a sense. You control this with a damper on the flue and thru air intake to the unit. You want as much draft as possible and you control it with dampers intake and exhaust on a stove. They are on oil burners to reduce draft cause these are power burner or forced air burners and create their own draft and are not atmospheric anymore they are pressure. too much draft over a power burner will cause fire to walk away from head or not light immediatly, causing heavy or delayed lightoff with a nice bang that is not too friendly to the customer. Most of todays boilers need a positive pressure in the firebox and have a way to choke down on the outlet to do so. and have a barometric damper to limit the draft. Hope this makes sense.
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panhead9
ArboristSite Member
panhead9
ArboristSite Member
That is totally correct you must have control of your air flow thru unit or it can run wild. On an oil burner or gas burner you have a fixed btu input rate where on a wood or coal fired unit you do not so you have to control it with air flow. You can always shut switch or valve off to stop btu input on burners you cannot remove the fuel on wood or coal so you must take away the air to eliminate combustion if you cannot control the fuel. And in a chimney fire condition a barometric damper would only add air to the fuel (creosote) so they are a no no on stoves.
woojr
ArboristSite Operative
panhead, do you ride a panhead?
stove pipe dampers are obsolete
I had both types of dampers on my wood furnace when I installed since it was the way of doing things and was shown that way in the instructions. I have since learned that is all nonsense, the dampers are a waste of time since they are only needed on the old furnaces and wood stoves that leaked so much air, that a strong draft could cause a run away fire. Most if not all wood burners today are tight enough that closing the dampers on the air intakes on the unit will limit the fire more than enough to prevent overheating or melting anything. I also ended up removing the stove pipe dampers and using just double walled stove pipe that keeps heat in for a cleaner pipe. The barometric damper leaked smoke and the damper in the pipe collected soot and tended to block the draft and was a hazard. Any one who still recommends the old stove pipe dampers for newer stuff, doesn't know what they are talking about.
Sincerely Yours; Wm Scott Anderson
I had both types of dampers on my wood furnace when I installed since it was the way of doing things and was shown that way in the instructions. I have since learned that is all nonsense, the dampers are a waste of time since they are only needed on the old furnaces and wood stoves that leaked so much air, that a strong draft could cause a run away fire. Most if not all wood burners today are tight enough that closing the dampers on the air intakes on the unit will limit the fire more than enough to prevent overheating or melting anything. I also ended up removing the stove pipe dampers and using just double walled stove pipe that keeps heat in for a cleaner pipe. The barometric damper leaked smoke and the damper in the pipe collected soot and tended to block the draft and was a hazard. Any one who still recommends the old stove pipe dampers for newer stuff, doesn't know what they are talking about.
Sincerely Yours; Wm Scott Anderson
panhead9
ArboristSite Member
used to when I was younger but now I ride a dresser
