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Front Air Vent On the front of your stove’s door, you will see either one or two large knobs. These control the air that enters the stove. These knobs should be open all the way. This is where your stove breathes, drawing all the air necessary for the wood to burn.
How does a wood stove get air?
When you light a fire in a wood stove, the heat from the fire warms the stove and the air in the room. The smoke from the fire is drawn out of the house through the stove’s chimney. The damper allows you to control airflow to the stove, which affects how large the fire grows and how much heat it puts out.
What makes a wood stove draw?
What is this? When a fire is lit, the chimney fills with hot gasses which then rise because they’re less dense than the outside air. This pressure differential then draws air from the room into the fireplace to be used for combustion. This drawn air is what’s referred to as the draft.
Does my wood stove need a fresh air intake?
In general, therefore, wood stoves and fireplaces that are vented by natural chimney draft should draw the air for combustion from the room in which they are located. Where necessary the indoor air pressure should be controlled to minimize depressurization.
What causes downdraft in wood stove?
Downdraft is caused by something called the stack effect, which is when warm air rises, leaving less air closer to the floor. In two-story homes or homes with attics, warm air creates a high-pressure point towards the top of your home.
How do I control the airflow in my wood stove?
Close the front damper slowly and observe the smoke escaping from the chimney. When the smoke becomes darker or more noticeable, open the damper slightly until it clears again. On modern stoves with two front dampers, make the initial adjustments to the lower damper only to control airflow to the fuel supply.
How do I build a wood stove airtight?
To help ensure that the whole stove can be airtight, the door on a wood stove can typically be found with a seal around the inside edge of the door. What is this? This seal, also know as the door gasket, helps to provide an airtight seal when the door is closed.
How do I make my wood stove draw better?
The main ways to increase draft in a wood stove include: Have your flue or chimney cleaned at least once per year, or every season if you’re regularly burning wood. Leave the door to the stove open for a while before lighting a fire. Warm flue with a heat source before starting a fire.
How can I make my stove draw better?
11 Quick Ways To Help Improve The Draw On Your Open Fireplace Have The Chimney Swept. Open Any Air Vents Or Windows. Fully Open The Damper. Leave Glass Doors Open Before Each Fire. Prime The Chimney Flue. Build A Fire Using The Top-Down Method. Use Low Moisture Content Logs. Burn Smaller, Hotter Fires.
What is the handle at the bottom of my wood stove?
The handle looks like coiled wire. This is a flue vent to control how much air passes over the fire and up the stove.
Why is my wood stove puffing?
This is usually caused by poor draft or draw. The chimney system does not pull hard enough to move the exhaust fumes quickly through the secondary burn off system. Volatile flue gases then ignite inside the main combustion zone (the fire) and make small puffs of smoke.
How can Backdraft be prevented?
How to prevent backdrafting: A flue vent. A flue vent that is improperly sized (either too large or too small) or blocked by an animal nest will not draw the exhaust properly. Keep venting needs in mind. Know the ripple effects of changing mechanical systems. Open windows and doors.
How do you reverse air flow in a chimney?
After you have suspected your flue is in reverse, you should set the fire controls to the lighting position, light two pieces of paper and let them burn to heat the air. Burning paper produces very little smoke, but enough heat can help reverse the flue air flow to ensure it goes upwards, as intended.
When should I close the vents on my wood stove?
The idea is to throttle the top vent down until the wood is burning with a nice steady flame without dying down or burning fiercely. This reduces the flue temperature and gets the firebox as hot as possible, which then radiates heat into your room.
Is it OK to leave stove door open?
Leaving the stove door open can disrupt the process of efficiently burning both the wood and the gases that are released. Wood burning stoves have air vents that have been specifically designed in every model to allow for a regulated control of air flow into the fire.
Do you close the damper on a wood stove?
Close the damper until nearly shut for overnight or maintenance fires, such as when you go out to the supermarket. The minimal airflow allows for smoldering coals and existing smoke to escape through the flue pipe, but not enough airflow for flames and mass consumption of the wood.
How does a damper work in a wood stove?
The damper retains heat that escapes up the chimney or flue. It allows this heat to dissipate into the area being heated by the woodstove. A damper should always be fully opened when starting a fire or adding wood to the stove, allowing the firebox to draw the most air.
Can you use a wood stove without a gasket?
When the stove door is closed the gasket helps to provide an airtight seal so that all of the air coming into the stove is through the air vents, and therefore controllable. If wood stoves didn’t have this seal on the door then they wouldn’t be able to burn firewood as efficiently.
Why is smoke blowing back down my chimney?
One of the most common causes of a fireplace smoking back into the home is due to poor quality firewood. Damp firewood produces more smoke than a flue can handle and will cause back-puffing. On the other hand, firewood that’s too dry and old can also cause problems with smoke blowing back into your home.
Do taller chimney draw better?
Taller Chimneys Produce Stronger Draft If draft problems are experienced with short systems, consider adding to the chimney height.
