Using a Stove Pipe Damper

Very nice! I used to have access to a flue gas analyzer and used it to tune boiler systems. What flue temps do you usually run and what stove do you have?

 

I am a geek about data.... blame it on being an engineer I guess.......lol

 

I saw the writing on the wall, just sitting back and enjoying the ride

 

Well, my stove is a homemade mass heater, so it's a very different beast than the rest here. Here's a graph from the machine from a run on Tuesday, I'm playing with some new air settings and trying to dial it in. My flue temp is bouncing around about 15°F due to the way the gasses are routed through the mass, but average is about 110°F.

 

I saw what you did there IS! I'm taking the bait anyway.

 

Been there, done that...
you came up with a nice chart with numbers, that will work

 

That is impressive and something to be proud about! Great job tuning that thing in.

 

Me too, but I know Matt and wasn't worried for a second.

How did he come up with that? SCIENTIFICALLY!

 

That's what gas analyzers do you select the fuel type and it provides that info. You can do the hand calcs also but it takes more time.

 

I agree with this. On my prior 2010 EPA tube stove, I partially blocked off a permanent draft opening with a magnet and the stove went from being absolutely uncontrollable to being ornery. The Ideal is spoiling me compared to the old stove.

 

60 when we got home.

 

Day 2. 64 degrees in the house this morning. 7 degrees outside.

 

Sounds like it's working for you. What's your chimney set up, do you have good draft?

I disagree with the woodheat.org advice, for my setup. I think more control is always better. My draft is very strong. On a full load with the flue damper open I can shut the air all the way and still have an active fire with blazing blow torch like secondaries, with a flue/stove delta of about 250. Close the damper almost all the way and open up the air a bit and I still have an active fire with secondaries that look "lazier" the stove temp goes up and the flue temp goes down.

 

We have a 2 story installation, 10 foot ceiling on thd downstairs, two 30 degree elbows. Draft is good.

 

My guess is you are slowing the fire down some but that's just me, I do not think the air control is all that precise on the Drolet and maybe the damper is giving you more control of the fire.
It might work for me me also, I would like to get longer lower burns at times (a lot actually).
I will add for the first time is 3 years my house is warm again.

 

What Im wondering is if im slowing convection up the pipe.

 

I played with my damper some last year and had the same problem. It helped slow the draft down during peak blaze but seemed to stall the fire box out towards the end of the burn. Every time I tried it I came home to a cold stove and cold coals. I think if I could increase the airflow after the peak burn or have the damper open back up it would work great, but just one setting for the entire burn just doesn't seem to work with my setup.

I've got better wood this year so maybe I'll play around with it again.

 

I forgot to mention my setup is double wall pipe with a flue probe. My temps normally stay between 400-600F as well. Soft wood and I can keep it around 400-450F and hard wood loads always burn around 600-650F.