I have an Englander 15 WO6 wood stove that is going on 3 years old. The top (roof) of the dogbox has completely fallen off, so at the moment, it is non-functional. When it was working, obviously it created quite the "blow torch" effect and the stove temperature went quite high on occasion. However, now that it is blocked with ash and the broken roof piece, it has quieted the operation of the stove to "normal" (less than 500 degrees). So the question is, how important is the dogbox and has anyone removed it and operated their stove satisfactorily? I did a query of Copilot and the answer said that it may severely affect the safe operation of the stove, so that is the official stance. Even though it appears to operate ok, it has got me thinking (probably not a good idea) and in the faded areas of my memory, I seem to recall a similar question back in the NC 30 days?
If you have dry wood, the doghouse (boost) air is not really needed...many people don't even realize it's there, so it's been plugged forever anyways.
Thanks, that's kind of what I expected and hoped. Even though I wound up ordering a replacement from SBI-Englander anyway, I might wait until the burning season is over to install it - or never. I'm curious to see what if any difference it makes with not using it long term. So far it seems to calm the burn temperature somewhat, instead of regularly burning at >600 degrees. However, a quick perusal showed me that stove manufacturers seemed to have abandoned the use of them in general so that's the main reason I figured it's not a necessary item.
