Who has a damper installed in their flue?

kats53

My son-in-law has the same multifuel stove as the one I am having installed and he has had a damper put in the flue pipe. I am sure I read somewhere that you shouldn't have one of these if burning solid fuel. I might be wrong though.
Do any of you have one and do you think they are a good idea? I'm not sure now whether I should have one or not.
Thanks in advance.

A._Badger

kats53 wrote: »

My son-in-law has the same multifuel stove as the one I am having installed and he has had a damper put in the flue pipe. I am sure I read somewhere that you shouldn't have one of these if burning solid fuel. I might be wrong though.
Do any of you have one and do you think they are a good idea? I'm not sure now whether I should have one or not.
Thanks in advance.

I have one fitted with a multifuel stove. I only use it when I'm burning wood and can't say I use it very often. I suspect different installations have different needs with regard to draughting - in mine it's not really necessary, but I have a friend who says he uses his constantly.

Moneysava_wannaB

I have one which I use when windy only

woodlice

Same here, windy days only, on mine the chimney pulls so much that the baffle rattles and if I close it down on the vents only I get a whooshing/whistling sound.

Skulls

After getting used to my woodburner (7 years) I only light my logburner with the damper fully open. After about 20 mins the damper is gradually closed, not quite totally but on my fire totally down is still slightly open, about 5%. Up by about 10mm is totally closed (damper at 90 degrees to flue). Before I open the doors, I open the damper and for the first few minutes after putting new wood on. Once the new wood has caught then again I close the damper to the totally down position (5% open). When the damper is open then you are losing heat up the chimney.

This week I finally decided to try out an "Ecofan" after much research for the last year. I wish I had bought one 7 years ago!!! The deciding factor was that I saw 2 second hand ones sold on e-bay for about £10 less than new ones! So at worst I'd lose about £10 or so.

So how warm is my house? Today I lit the fire at about 2.30 pm using a bit of pine offcuts, once lit I put on 2 Hornbeam logs about an hour or so later I put on a bit of 8"x 2", two one foot lenghts, I only picked up the Hornbeam today so not yet warm. I've since put on another 3 Hornbeam logs. Current temperatures- coldest corner in lounge 23 degrees c,bathroom around 18, bedroom one 18 and bedroom two about 16 degrees. Please note my lounge is roughly 150 cubic metres, with a single glazed skylight at the top of the 5 metre high ceiling.

Total wood used so far today about 3Kg of Pine and roughly 10Kg of Hornbeam, 5 logs. My last load of logs lasted 2 weeks roughly 75 logs, £20 worth. All my logs are stacked next to the fire so by the time they are used they have virtually no moisture in them.

If I did not have/use the damper, as I have done in the past I would be using 2-3 times as much wood! Another chimney/flue could be totally different. My chimney is not lined just using retainer plate with one metre of flue pipe into it. The chimney itself is roughly 12 metre high and gives a very good draw and is 200 years old this year!!

PLEASE NOTE:- I only burn wood.

kats53

Wow thats amazing Skulls, you must be saving a fortune! I won't be burning woood however as I live in a smokeless zone.

Skulls

Tonight I'm now using warm/dry wood and after burning 5 logs lounge is at 25 degrees, the last two are nearly burnt out but I may put another one on.

This morning I checked temps and the lounge was still 19 degees after the fire had been out for about 10 hours, so the 2 foot thick walls must retain quite a bit of heat.

Although the house is old and listed, I've put a double glazed unit over the single glazed window that I can't replace with anything but similar. The sealed unit cannot be seen unless you are really looking and held in by 4 screws and a couple of hard rubber washers and sealed by using the squashy foam tape, sticky one side.

Skulls

Can you not use wood in a 'Smokeless Zone?'

kats53

Only if you have a defra approved stove which I don't. Also Getting a good supply of wood around here could be a problem.
You sound as if you've got your home nice and snug for the winter, It doesn't matter how old your property is there are always things you can do to try and retain as much heat as possible and you sound as if you are doing just that. Well done. :T