Anyone on the board have a Vacu-stack? Since my stove is in the basement I get downdraft at startup. The chimney sweep guy recommended it and even offered to kindly install one on the chimney for $700. Not bad for a $120 cap and a 15 minute installation. Needleass to say I will be up on the ladder tomorrow morning. ASNR!
I haven’t but that’s interesting - we suffer from that occasionally. It’s been much better since we ha d a liner put in.
I've never known anyone who have one. In theory it should work, but so does pre-heating the flue and doing other things like making sure nothing in the house is adding to the problem. It is perhaps the biggest problem with installing in a basement.
I have draft issues in the winter from a cold start; especially after the house sits all week and we arrive up north and get the stove going. I briefly looked into this: Draw Collar "No More Smoke Filled Rooms" Kinda spendy.
It is only at start up. I usually heat the flue with a hair dryer for a few minutes. I would like to avoid this.
Pretty common problem Also common I think they have to be kept clean to work well too... I can't say I remember hearing much about those caps...maybe an occasional "it seems to have helped some" which is not a glowing review in my book. What are the specs on the flue? Clay or lined? Insulated? Size, height and inner dimensions? Have you ever tried doing top down fire starting? I'd think using a Super Cedar for a top down start would get things going...or maybe just lighting a candle in the stove for a while ahead of time...
I have a class A chimney. I have tried top down, fire starters, a candle, pretty much everything. The one thing that always works is a hair dryer. It's kind of a pain in the butt so Ill try something else. For a little over $100 I think it's a good investment.
Interesting, my ideal steel is in my basement. I had fisher mama bear previously and only had draft issues with a cold stove. Flue temps are so much lower with the ideal steel is a battle to keep smoke out if it’s in the 30-45 degree outside temp when filling the stove which happens twice a day. Its the first time I’ve read it but brenndatomu right about the chimney needing to be clean. I run the brush up the chimney 1 pass and it make a big difference on my draft. Not much comes out but I’ve thought it smoothed out the walls of pipe for better flow. I may try this product.
Interesting, my ideal steel is in my basement. I had fisher mama bear previously and only had draft issues with a cold stove. Flue temps are so much lower with the ideal steel is a battle to keep smoke out if it’s in the 30-45 degree outside temp when filling the stove which happens twice a day. Its the first time I’ve read it but brenndatomu right about the chimney needing to be clean. I run the brush up the chimney 1 pass and it make a big difference on my draft. Not much comes out but I’ve thought it smoothed out the walls of pipe for better flow. I may try this product.
Downdraft all the time or just when another venting appliance is running ? Is it downdraft or just a stalled chimney/ a chimney that doesn't like to start chimneying ? Our basement stove doesn't like to get going from a cold start but as long as the door is not open. Kinda the opposite the practice with an upstairs stove or a characteristic of this stove as we never had this stove upstairs. Can't compare new stove/previous stove because the chimney was replaced at the same time as the stove. The smoky start bad habit also improved when I replaced the kitchen ceiling eliminating all the leaks/penetrations. Kitchen also stays a lot warmer - drafts are gone.
A stalled chimney is where it loses draft sometime later on in the fire, often after the stove is turned down, or after the fire starts to burn down...it sounds like you are dealing with a down draft, or a cold plug. A cold plug is a chimney that just doesn't want to start drafting when cold...a down draft is where there is actually cold air coming down the chimney into the room.
A friend has a stove in a basement. He had been in the habit of putting a trouble light under the stove to keep the stove just warm enough to start a draft. Just lately he showed me his new setup. He turns the flood light on about a half hour before lighting the stove and says the warm flue pipe causes the draft to start immediately upon opening vents or cracking the door. Might be worth a try.
Agreed! He has single wall up to the thimble. Guess if you had double you would have to try shining on the stove itself.
Heat lamp inside the stove would probably work well too...could just latch the door lightly on the cord...should be easy to tell if the draft has started by stirring the ashes a little when you open the door...if the dust stays in the stove more or less, probably good to go!
That's a great idea! And could be done remotely if you used a smart plug. I've found the top down fire helps. We are fortunate in the fact that our lower level has a door and multiple windows. So yeah, looks like funny when it's in the teens on a Friday night and I'm getting the stove lit...with a few windows open and the door too! Always gets a little colder in there before the fire starts.
