I'm worried about the new guys!

[rwilson]

My Heritage does NOT have a damper, only the air supply lever. Is that one LESS thing to worry about, or one MORE thing to worry about when my fire gets really hot (which I assume would be 450-500 in a soapstone....)?

I am no expert, but I feel like the pipe damper is just an extra adjustment to help control more of your burn. When trying to get a long burn, I've read it is much easier with a pipe damper. I originally put it in for additional safety. If there were ever a chimney fire, closing the air-intake lever and the pipe damper would definitely help. Of course, a chimney fire may not be able to be controlled so easily! More practically, I feel like I can cool the stove down a lot quicker with the pipe damper. For instance, this morning when the fire was roaring and the soapstone was 425 degrees, closing the air-intake and waiting a few minutes didn't do much. The fire was definitely settling down, but what if it didn't!? In this case, I wanted to see what would happen if I closed the pipe damper. Within 1-2 minutes, the fire was well under control.

 

[stanb999]

My Heritage does NOT have a damper, only the air supply lever. Is that one LESS thing to worry about, or one MORE thing to worry about when my fire gets really hot (which I assume would be 450-500 in a soapstone....)? It seems as though the air supply just adjusts WHERE the air is directed (open=bottom front / closed=top back for secondary burn). Would that be correct? As a new burner, it can get my heart rate raised considerable to see, hear, and feel the heat a fast fire can put out! I feel so out of control. I will get used to this, right????

We might see some snow here in Vermont tonight...

Yes you will get used to it. The new EPA rated stoves do an impressive show...

Your "air adjustment. is for the primary only(the front). The back is always the same and open full. This is how they are designed.





To your final comment................. We just had our first snow squall of the year.

 

[stanb999]

My Heritage does NOT have a damper, only the air supply lever. Is that one LESS thing to worry about, or one MORE thing to worry about when my fire gets really hot (which I assume would be 450-500 in a soapstone....)?

I am no expert, but I feel like the pipe damper is just an extra adjustment to help control more of your burn. When trying to get a long burn, I've read it is much easier with a pipe damper. I originally put it in for additional safety. If there were ever a chimney fire, closing the air-intake lever and the pipe damper would definitely help. Of course, a chimney fire may not be able to be controlled so easily! More practically, I feel like I can cool the stove down a lot quicker with the pipe damper. For instance, this morning when the fire was roaring and the soapstone was 425 degrees, closing the air-intake and waiting a few minutes didn't do much. The fire was definitely settling down, but what if it didn't!? In this case, I wanted to see what would happen if I closed the pipe damper. Within 1-2 minutes, the fire was well under control.

Modern wood stove flue systems don't need dampers.

They are for the old smoke dragons.

 

[Diabel]

I'm confused, do you open and close the bypass damper (lever at back left)? If so describe when you operate it.

Having an old drafty 2 story house with a floor plan that does not lend itself well to heating with a wood stove is never an excuse to make a stove work beyond it's intended heat output. Nobody said you have to run that thing at 10-15%, I and I think others have advised you against running your stove for more than 15 minutes with the bypass damper and the main air intake open all the way.

Try this next over night fire:

Get a fire going with some smaller splits and let it burn with the bypass and main open. Add a few good sized splits and let the new wood load char. This is the time you should be adjusting your main air damper lower to keep the fire in check (below overfiring temp. specified in your manual). When you have a hot enough fire for your everburn system to engage (say 600 or whatever the manual suggests) close the bypass damper and open the main back up all the way. Now wait a few to make sure you have light off. Now you can start closing the main in steps depending on how much heat you need.

Regarding cast vs. steel, yes stove top temps will be different. Pease be aware of the differences between the type of stove you have (convection) and typical steel stoves (radiant).

This is an excellent thread!

i do just about what you said in the "try this over night fire" description... i close the main damper about 1hr into a fire (assuming the draft is good, this morn it was raining and i had to wait a little longer) i only run full air control for about 15-20 mins, then i back it down 50% and let the fire go while until i get some ash bed to work with. once the stove top is 500ish, stove pipe 400-450ish, i load it up with wood, open the air control to get the wood going (5mins maybe) then i close the main damper, and back the air control down to almost closed (slowly)....

i unfortunately, screwed up while leaning and let this stove heat up several times into the upper 600's and once at 750!! this stove seems to heat up to mid 600's pretty easy with the air at 50% or less and the main damper open. once it's there though it's about time to close the damper and everburn

i'm going to check my manual to see what the too hot temp is...

Blaze,

I do what FireWalker said exactly. Whether I put two splits or a full box (two splits - shoulder season ((now)) & full box in about a month from now). I am still confused with your procedure in this post. All downdraft stoves (that includes everburn) work on the same principal...the one FireWalker outlined above.

As for the 7 hrs on a full box of seasoned wood....are you sure you do not have any gasket leaks? I am sure you have watched Gordos' video....

 

[trailblaze]

Blaze,

I do what FireWalker said exactly. Whether I put two splits or a full box (two splits - shoulder season ((now)) & full box in about a month from now). I am still confused with your procedure in this post. All downdraft stoves (that includes everburn) work on the same principal...the one FireWalker outlined above.

As for the 7 hrs on a full box of seasoned wood....are you sure you do not have any gasket leaks? I am sure you have watched Gordos' video....

my procedure is close to what he said... it varies a little.... but it's along those lines...

now before, when i was first firing this up, i screwed up... perhaps thats where the confusion is...

anyway... my wood i'm burning now is seasoned about 3-4 yrs, and it is somewhat rotted...one 18-22 in log feels very light compared to the 1-2 yr seasoned oak and cherry i got....

the wood is soo dry and "rotted" that some pieces can be crumbled on one side, but not all sides... each log is like 80% still hard,

 

[Diabel]

Yeah, it seems to me that you're burning "crap" wood which is ok for shoulder season. Once you get into the good stuff then your burns should be longer. I do not see why you should not get a 10hr burn with good wood.....others do with identical stove! (Granted stack set up will play a role ;-) )

 

[deedub]

"I don’t turn the air-intake down until the fire really gets going. I haven’t messed with the damper on the pipe yet, as I don’t think I’m getting the stove hot enough yet to deal with that. "

someone help me out please. i have a new jotul castine with only the primary control on the front of the stove, i don't have a damper on the vent. does this sound right ? am i losing a lot of heat without a vent damper ?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It seems that some, especially Stan are either taking me wrong or I'm wording things wrong. I'll try to clarify something.

Stan says only a hot fire. He is somewhat correct in that. However, if you burn 3 or even 4 splits and burn them hot, you have a hot fire and you will not get creosote if the fuel is seasoned. It is not necessary, and at this time of the year for sure is not required, to get that stove really hot. All that matters is that you get the wood that you put in burning good. Just use the amount of fuel that is needed to get the house warm, not hot.

Also, when I say to turn the draft down, I do not mean that every stove has to be turned down all the way! Each stove and each installation is different. You must learn what is best for your situation. Just because I dial mine down to about 1/4 of the way to 1 on our dial does not mean you should. When I say to not leave that draft wide open, that could mean you turn it down to 3/4 or 1/2. It all depends upon your stove.

Now I'll be quiet and let the experts clean up. Thank you.