Damper in Chimney pipe... How many have them?

[JFerg65]

I don't have an in pipe damper and rely on the draft control of the stove. I was talking to a stove guy and he recommended one, saying you can control the draft better than relying only on the stoves, especially the newer EPA rated ones.

Any thoughts on this one way or the other?

 

[Somesawguy]

I have one. It does allow for better control. They are simple enough to install.

 

[shelbythedog]

Quad 4300 has no flue damper. Air control on the stove easily regulates the fire. Creosote buildup is very minimal. Stove is air tight.

VC Intrepid II has a flue damper and definitely needs it, but lack of stove maintenance has it currently far from air tight so the air controls on the stove have a less dramatic effect on the burn.

Both chimneys are straight thru the roof, around 15'

 

[Carl Anderson]

I have an old All Nighter Mid Mo (mid sized stove) with a blower that I have run for about 10 or 12 years now as my prinary heat source. It is air tight pretty much and I have always used an in-pipe damper. I'm no expert on the physics of it all but it seems like I can better regulate the burn as well as how much of my heat I let get up the chimney with the damper. By that I mean if I leave the damper wide open it seems like no matter what I do with the air intakes on the stove I never get that real hot, slow burn I can get with the damper closed half to two thirds and the air intakes throtlled down pretty good.

I don't have big creosote issues. I typically clean the chimney once in the fall before burning season and once in late winter, maybe Late Feb. I usually end up with some less then fully seasoned wood mixed in so if I were going to have a serious creosote problem I think I would have had it by now.

The damper is cheap and easy to install, especially if you get the one I did which is already installed in a short piece stove pipe, maybe 8 or 9 inches tall. If you find you don't need it just leave it wide open but for a small amount of money you can throw one in and play around and see what works best for you.

 

[Steve2910]

I have an old All Nighter Mid Mo (mid sized stove) with a blower that I have run for about 10 or 12 years now as my prinary heat source. It is air tight pretty much and I have always used an in-pipe damper. I'm no expert on the physics of it all but it seems like I can better regulate the burn as well as how much of my heat I let get up the chimney with the damper. By that I mean if I leave the damper wide open it seems like no matter what I do with the air intakes on the stove I never get that real hot, slow burn I can get with the damper closed half to two thirds and the air intakes throtlled down pretty good.

I don't have big creosote issues. I typically clean the chimney once in the fall before burning season and once in late winter, maybe Late Feb. I usually end up with some less then fully seasoned wood mixed in so if I were going to have a serious creosote problem I think I would have had it by now.

The damper is cheap and easy to install, especially if you get the one I did which is already installed in a short piece stove pipe, maybe 8 or 9 inches tall. If you find you don't need it just leave it wide open but for a small amount of money you can throw one in and play around and see what works best for you.

Excellent thought>

 

[bobt]

I like a stovepipe damper. If you have one and don't need to use it, simply leave it wide open. No harm, no foul. But if you don't have it and the fire gets too hot, you will regret not taking the time and a few bucks to install one.

Bob

 

[Constrictor]

Don't need no stinking damper in the pipe.

 

[chopperfreak2k1]

i had a "furnace" guy do some work for me recently. he removed my damper and said it was not needed. i built a fire and couldn't get the house under 83 degrees or so. i re-installed the damper and now no matter how a fire i build i can keep my house pretty much any temp i want.

 

[deerlakejens]

One of the first things I did after finding AS was to remove my pipe damper and control strictly with the intake. That was about 6 or 7 years ago and it works perfectly without it.

 

[Nosmo]

Damper or No Damper ?

It is easy to see that a damper works well for some stoves and some stoves don't need one at all. I have one on mine and sometimes I leave it wide open and other times I dampen it down.

If you aren't sure which will work best for you and you are using plain black flue pipe you can buy a 6" or 8" damper for just a few dollars and try it out. If it works better use it when you need it and if not just leave it wide open and take it out when you clean the flue and plug the two holes.

Nosmo

 

[JFerg65]

Thanks for all the replies. I have been burning with a Jotul 500 for four seasons now without one. I have had two instances whee the fire "got away" from me a bit and a damper would have helped out quite a bit. My parents have one with an older Jotul they have had for 20 years. It is just left wide open and I don't think it's been used but once or twice.

I most likely will take the advice and throw one in for the few bucks they cost. Now here is the next question in regard to placement. I can only put this in my "T" as the stainless flex runs all the way to firebox. Any reason the damper can't be placed on the horizontal run of the "t"? or does need to be in the vertical run? Putting it in the horizontal run coming right out of the back of the stove will be much easier and safer to get to with my install.

 

[Whitespider]

In order to work properly, a flue damper should be 18-24 inches above the top of the stove in a vertical run of pipe. I wouldn't be without one... I never touch the combustion air intake... ever!

 

[Chris-PA]

No damper on either stove. The Magnolia is a welded stove and very well sealed, with a 28' insulated SS (6") flue that draws like crazy. When it is running properly there is very little open area on the air intake, but because of the strong draft the air velocity is high. You get some serious jets if air coming out of the manifold over the fire, it's quite a show with a big swirling plasma cloud over the logs.

The Hampton is in an upper floor with a shorter flue of insulated 8" pipe (it was an adaptation after the chimney guy screwed up and not ideal). This flue simply does not have the draw of the other one, and you can tell the difference. I rarely can get the Hampton burning like the basement stove, only on really cold days. It's not the stove, it's the flue. To run an EPA stove properly you need much more draft than a traditional stove in order to get the air velocity up. Without that you don't get the secondary combustion working properly.

I can't imagine what good a damper would do - you should not have much flow volume anyway, so the only time it would do anything is if you closed it down to a smaller area than the inlet.

That of course assumes you have a well sealed stove. There have been a few times when the Magnolia had some air leaks around the window, and with a full load of dried wood I could barely keep it under control. I'm not talking about big gaps either - you could clearly see the flames crawling around the door where a little air was leaking in. So maybe a damper might be useful if you need to shut it down. Without decent control of the inlet air, then maybe a damper is a useful control.

I used to harp on my dad to replace his 1970's vintage Taiwanese clone of a Vermont Castings stove with a newer EPA stove. But last year I helped him replace the pipe, and I realized he really doesn't have the draw to make it work. He's better off with a conventional stove, although his is well enough sealed that it burns OK. He does not use a damper either, but then his chimney is marginal so there's not much draw to damp anyway.

 

[JFerg65]

99% of the time the stove/draw is wonderful. I've never had a problem with draft. It is only on the occassion where I get a real wild one going that it is next to impossible to get it shut down. I was told that these newer EPA stoves will always have some draw to them when "shut down". With this being the case having an inline damper would allow for a "failsafe" to assist with draft control in those instances.

It is only like $10.00 so I may throw one in the chimney and try it out this winter.

Thanks for the imput everyone.

 

[Chris-PA]

99% of the time the stove/draw is wonderful. I've never had a problem with draft. It is only on the occassion where I get a real wild one going that it is next to impossible to get it shut down. I was told that these newer EPA stoves will always have some draw to them when "shut down". With this being the case having an inline damper would allow for a "failsafe" to assist with draft control in those instances.

It is only like $10.00 so I may throw one in the chimney and try it out this winter.

Thanks for the imput everyone.

You have a good point - I looked at the diagram for the H200, and it always has secondary airflow, only the primary is controlled. The Magnolia has only one input and it can be almost completely blocked.

 

[olyman]

DEPENDING,,on the amount of draft your chimney has,, will be your deciding factor on a dampner.....my chimney,,is in the center of the house,,of a old two story,,12/2 pitch roof,,,so its warm,,right to the peak...and has serious draft!!!!! so yes,,i have one,,and use it!!!!!!

 

[jhoff310]

I have one installed on my Kuma Tamarack and GLAD i do. I dont have any issues with the stove, but I did have a somewhat hairy issue last winter. I emptied the ashpan and a small chunk of unburnt coal fell between the ashpan and the ash drawer. I lit a fire and it took off shooting up the chimney. I did have a small fire in the flue due to the ashpan not being closed completely creating quite the draft. After I figured out what was going on I closed the flue damper and starved the fire. I have a 22' run straight up. The installer told me it wasn't necessary to have a damper, I argued with him and proved my point. Its cheap insurance

Jeff

 

[Whitespider]

...the amount of draft your chimney has,, will be your deciding factor on a dampner.....my chimney,,is in the center of the house,, ...and has serious draft!!!!! so yes,,i have one,,and use it!!!!!!

That's a darn good point. My old brick chimney is also in the center of he house running to the peak, and it's warm all the way up.
If'n I'd bore a couple holes in it on the main level the wife could use it as a carpet vacuum cleaner.
When I replaced the flue pipe in the basement last fall I didn't even get any dirt on the floor... any dirt and dust I kicked-up or knocked loose went right out the chimney!!!! The open hole where I pulled the flue pipe out sounded like a diesel turbo kickin' in...
Ain't no creosote in my flue and chimney... believe-it-or-not, I've never even cleaned it in the 18-years we've lived there.

 

[olyman]

That's a darn good point. My old brick chimney is also in the center of he house running to the peak, and it's warm all the way up.
If'n I'd bore a couple holes in it on the main level the wife could use it as a carpet vacuum cleaner.
When I replaced the flue pipe in the basement last fall I didn't even get any dirt on the floor... any dirt and dust I kicked-up or knocked loose went right out the chimney!!!! The open hole where I pulled the flue pipe out sounded like a diesel turbo kickin' in...
Ain't no creosote in my flue and chimney... believe-it-or-not, I've never even cleaned it in the 18-years we've lived there.

easily believable....you know those glass tube afairs,,to measure your chimney draft???? i had one,,for one day...it sucked the colored water right out of the tube,,and the person i bought it from,,said that wasnt possible..i told him to come right on over!!!!!! i removed it not but two days later,,and put in the flue dampener,,and had one ever since.. i wish,,someone,,made one,,that would adjust auto for the amount of draft..the old ones,on oil furnaces,,werent right.. i weary,,or resetting it,,two to three times a day,,for the right draft..

 

[olyman]

That's a darn good point. My old brick chimney is also in the center of he house running to the peak, and it's warm all the way up.
If'n I'd bore a couple holes in it on the main level the wife could use it as a carpet vacuum cleaner.
When I replaced the flue pipe in the basement last fall I didn't even get any dirt on the floor... any dirt and dust I kicked-up or knocked loose went right out the chimney!!!! The open hole where I pulled the flue pipe out sounded like a diesel turbo kickin' in...
Ain't no creosote in my flue and chimney... believe-it-or-not, I've never even cleaned it in the 18-years we've lived there.

also,,remember what i said,,about a outside air intake??? that makeup air,,will come in someplace.....