Using a Stove Pipe Damper

I've always run my setup with a stove pipe damper in place, in case of emergency I like having the option of closing it. Yesterday I closed it about half way as an expirament, to see if the old tales are true about being able to hold in more heat that way. Well, we woke up to a 63 degree house today, vs the usual 57. It was less windy out, but also 10 degrees colder last night that it was the night before. I will keep an eye on this.

 

Had one on the Nashua (old stove needs it), tried one on the Summit with no results either way but the Drolet for me runs exactly like I want it too with out one, for me that means flue temps and stove top temps are right on the money.
It will be interesting how this turns out for you Grizz.

 

I might have to make a chart! It is ALWAYS between 55 and 57 when we get up in the morning AND when we get home from work.

 

Do you monitor flue and stove top temps Grizz?

 

We have some target flue temps we try to maintain-- never let it get past 450, never below 300 (for an actual fire). Ideally we are betwixt 325 and 385. This hasn't changed since I dampered, other than it is maybe running a little hotter. Hard to say for sure with the small sample group thus far.

 

And here I thought my house was cool if it got down to 62 or so in the morning.
I hope this trend continues for you.

 

Are those temps recorded via a flue probe or a stick on thermo on the outside of the pipe? If it is on a stick on thermometer you need to double it to get your actual flue temp in the pipe.

 

Holy cow man that is cold!!!!!
I am upset if my house drops to 68 at night!

 

I assume that's a surface temp because that's where mine runs and I have a magnetic temps sensor which I can also check with a IR gun.

 

Yeah, it's the magnetic kind. Its what I use on a regular basis, so its what I compare against. Our house is big and drafty, so it can cool down pretty fast.

 

I assumed that's what he was saying also with the temps he quoted. That seems high to me but what do I know............ I always scratch my head when I see temps in the flue above 600 degrees. for whatever reason mine are never over 650 on a probe. This morning when I left for work they were between 450-500 with no smoke out the pipe. I do get 600 on a full load in cold weather when I am pushing it it will occasionally hit 650 but never stays there for that long. It just seems like a lot of heat is going up the pipe at those temps. I have double checked my flue probe with a thermocouple I borrowed and i was within 15-20 degrees of what the thermocouple was reading.

I also have a key damper in my pipe that I don't use. I played around with it and it actually increased my flue temps but at the end of the load it almost made it stall out as it wasn't getting enough heat. Other than it being there in the pipe I don't mess with it. I guess I could always take it out.

 

This is single wall, fyi. I can put a infared on it tonight if you like, but less than 300 its really little more than a smolder.

 

Nope I totally believe you. It would be way more interesting if we put a thermocouple in the center of of the pipe and determined what the actual flue temps are. The main reason I use double wall pipe is so I can read the actual flue temps.

 

Those flue temps he and I posted are in line with what is considered safe to burn, big misconceptions on this as it gets confusing when you talk about surface to probe, Pen from Hearth retracted some of his results as non conclusive I guess. Not sure if the probe temp is double the surface temp, it seems like with all the reading and information I have looked up it might not be.

 

I highly doubt the flue temp is only 360 degrees inside the pipe but I wonder if it is really 720 degrees. Maybe if I get bored this winter I will put in a section of single wall with a thermocouple probe mounted inside and get us some comparison number to see what is going on.

 

Well Cert. I am truly only concerned with the surface temp as that is where the rubber meets the road so to speak, that's what gets red hot and that's what starts a chimney fire and destroys chimneys. If my internal flue temp is 1000 degrees and my surface temp is 300 I am happy happy happy.

 

Im curiius what you will find comparing internal and external temps. I am betting that there will be a curve-- either temps will be closer together when they are cooler, or they will be closer together ehen they are hotter. There is a possibility of a bell curve, but i think it unlikely. Either way, I tend to really doubt that it is as simple as "double" the external temp.

 

I'm curious also. I always assumed the double figure was ballpark. I'm sure there are many factors that can affect the delta in each individuals install.

I understand this point, but would still argue that the actual gas temp is more important to me because that tells me how much heat is going up the flue.

 

I'm glad you said this. As I was reading this thread that was my first thought, a cool flue.

 

I would also guess that your stick on thermometer lags significantly from what is going on inside your pipe. I would also guess the curve if there is one is from temperature lag. As the stove is cold and heating up it is going to take the thermo on the outside a lot longer to show what is happening inside and it will also be slow to respond to temp changes inside the pipe vs a probe.