[email protected] (LeBlanc) wrote:
I don't have one of those stoves, but I can say from first hand experience that
a damper on the hot end or in the stovepipe is generally used on colder days to
create eddies and slow the air flow up the chimney/flue. The colder the day
the stronger the draft. You can find a fire overheating and consuming fuel too
quickly if the primary air acts like a jet of oxygen into the burning area.
Closing the damper slows that jet of air and also reduces the available oxygen
in the firebox by holding the CO2 and CO in it longer.
Also, if you only use a primary air control on a super cold day the fire will
flare when you open the feed door, which could, under some conditions, ignite
creosote in the flue. Really strong drafts may even create a whistle as the
draft pulls air through the primary air inlet.
OTOH, If you close down a damper on a warmer day, the stove will smoke and back
puff.
I think you are misreading the phrase -
I think it more accurately means -
_If_ the stove gets too hot - up around 500 degrees - you can sometimes close
the damper to help slow the air flow into the stove and slow the burn. It
doesn't mean that you should overcharge the firebox and crank the stove up that
hot on an ongoing basis. If this is a cast stove, you have to be careful about
temperature extremes that could crack the castings.
A flue damper is positioned better than any integrated stove damper to slow the
air flow while allowing the heat to radiate from the flue as well as the stove.
Also, a flue damper is less likely to be forgotten when the outside temperature
changes.
I think you will soon find that properly gauging the amount and type of wood to
put in the firebox is as much a key to proper burning as controlling the intake
and damper. Don't overcharge the stove and learning how to use all the
controls will come naturally.