For those who use the old type stove,do you use a pipe damper ? I was told to always install one for use as a way to starve a chimney fire. I assume they have other benefits but I don't know the pros or cons. Thanks.
The main reason to have a pipe damper is to control the chimney draft to a level that allows the stove to work properly. Not enough draft and the stove doesn't burn well, or allows smoke into the house...probably doesn't make much heat either. Too much draft and the stove can overfire, possibly damaging the stove, and it also makes the stove inefficient because the hot gasses don't have enough residence time inside the stove to be "exchanged" to the house...instead, all that heat is just sucked up the chimney. As far as a chimney fire...a pipe damper won't stop it...dampers are designed to be "idiot proof"...so they are either made a bit undersized for the pipe, or made with holes in them so that when the damper is fully closed, it allows the chimney to continue to put enough negative pressure on the stove so that it has less chance of "stalling" the stove, which could allow smoke and carbon monoxide into the house...not good!
Thank you. Makes sense. I'll try to adjust mine for better burning.Always can learn something. I think what was meant by the suggestion about chimney fires was not to put them out but, maybe,starve their input of air from the stove ?
The problem with a chimney fire is that it gets so hot, and the draft so high, that the fire will pull air in from the smallest of holes/gaps...even just pipe seams. Its possible that maybe you could put out a chimney fire that was just getting started by damping things down...personally, I think having a pipe damper is a good idea (even if its not generally used) even on newer stoves where the manufacturer claims that its not needed.
I'm waffling on this topic. I have a model wood stove controlled by a thermostat. 2 years ago when we bought the house I installed a damper in the existing flue pipe. For 2 years it just sat wide open because the air supply is controlled by the thermostat with an overtemp shutdown relay on the firebox. I replaced some of the flue pipe this fall during my chimney sweep and inspection. I didn't install a damper this time.
I have a damper on both our cat stoves. Only use it a few times a year when the wind is 30mph or more. I’ll always have one. Like brenndatomu said, it won’t completely shut the draft off but it will slow it down.
I have one on my garage stove, the Fisher Baby Bear. I can tell when I close it up a bit that I get more heat off the stove but then the fire starts being smothered so I add more intake air to compensate and......... I may just need more time and patience with experiments but it seems a bit like a wormhole to me. I typically burn the Baby Bear with the damper wide open and the intake knob .5 to 1 turn open for a toasty warm garage. Indoor Buck Stove Model 94 has no damper
