hand damper

Hello, I have a handfired stove located in my basement. The brand name is Pinebarrens Stove Co. located in Chatsworth NJ which happens to be the next town to me. The chimney is 6" doublewalled stainless steel that runs up the side of the house. It was recently installed by a licensed chimney sweep, no problems there , good draft. I have learned alot by just reading this forum. Being a novice at this I don't understand the function of the hand damper and why it should be partially closed. Wouldn't this create a carbon monoxide problem? Even closed only partially? Is its purpose to create more heat or a longer burn? My chimney also has a baro damper. Thanks, Bill

Hello Bill, welcome to the forum.

If you have a good tight stove with good gaskets on the doors, and air controls that allow you to just about shut off the air to the fire, then there really is no need for any damper at all. Notice I said need. The stove will function just fine without one.

The Baro damper will be a help in controlling the burn during windy and changing weather conditions. Without a baro damper, when you have the stove set for normal and calm winds, to give a certain burn rate and heat output for the day or night. Then if the weather gets cold and windy, the added draft from the chimney will pull more air through the fire, burning the coal faster, and most of the extra heat will go up the chimney.

The baro will 'break' the strong draft, the flapper door will open and pull air from the room, instead of from the stove. This keeps the draft over the fire the same, so the burn rate and heat output will be much more consistant.

As for the hand damper, it is a leftover from the days of pot-bellied stoves and Franklin fireplaces that had very little control of the air getting to the fire, so the hand damper cut back the draft when the stove was set to burn, and the damper could be opened when loading more fuel on the fire to keep smoke out of the room.

I personally see no reason for both types of dampers on the same flue pipe. But I'm open for ideas and getting an education.

I'm sure there are instances where both are desired, maybe some of the other forum members can post their comments about using both dampers together.

Greg L

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Hey Pinebarren--

I lived in Gloucester Co, NJ for years, did many a bicycle rides in around Medford and down round the two state parks with OCSJ. I love it down there. Beautiful area to live.

Your hand damper controls the amount of air INTO the stove. There are many configurations but the most common is a round knob.

Are you referring to a flapper type damper built into the stack piping behind the stove? If so, you should leave this device wide open for coal. Allow the damper on the stove ash pan door control the air intake and the baro helps to regulate the draft when outside ambient conditions change.

Send us a ditigal image. It needs to be less than 100kb's. Plenty of guys here to help you get it right.

NEPAForum Admin wrote:

Cap wrote:Send us a ditigal image. It needs to be less than 100kb's. Plenty of guys here to help you get it right.

I changed that while back, anything 300KB or under should work.

Good to know, I've been struggling to keep mine under 100K.

Yanche

Thanks to all who replied. The "damper" I was referring to is the flapper type damper built into where the stack piping meets the stove. It appears to regulate the the "exhaust" of the stove going up the chimney. I've been running the stove with it fully open all of the time. Thanks, Bill

Wnark,welcome to the forum.Since I've been on this forum I have learned alot from these guy's here. One thing I have learned is that every stove has it's own character defined by tightness of your stove,the amount of natural draft your chimney supplies and weather conditions.Once my stove and chimney are both warm i can close my stack damper all the way but even when it's closed it still has about a 2" opening in the center where the rod goes through. You'll just have to experiment with your's to see what works for you.Good luck!

tstove, Do you also have a barometric damper? Some are saying with a baro damper you don't need a hand damper. Thanks.

No,I don't have a baro.I think I want to try one next year.Looks like a baro is good for people with too much draft,but in order to cut down on the draft it sucks heated air out of your house.I guess that is the lesser of two evils the other being your stove overheating itself and wasting fuel,maybe someone else has some thoughts on that?