Open the vent, that's what it's for. To damp the fire, close the vent. It will still burn, but not as lustily.

 

It will still burn, but not as lustily.

:thumb: "Lustily" - Excellent choice. U must be one them college fellers :

 

fire needs oxygen, open the vent for a hotter fire ,close the vent to calm things down. The flue will draw more oxygen thru the open vents.

 

My wood stove doesn't have a vent like that, that you can adjust.
I just crack the door on mine if I want the fire to pick up a little.

 

Alright, thanks all. i'll try her out tomorrow again. Seems smoke has always come out the rear vent when i tried it. (reason i asked)

 

You claim the Yukon as your location and you don't know about stoves and fire????:xeye::xeye::xeye:

 

Wood Stoves Require A Little Skill And Why

Your small neat wood burning stove most likely has a large exhaust stack opening on the top and usually some sort of small low adjustable vent(s) to regulate the amount of fresh air/oxygen down low on one or more of the sides or door.

You will need a long exhaust ("stove pipe") running from the stove up thru the ceiling and roof and several feet above the roof depending upon your snow load. Generally speaking, the longer the stove pipe the better the stove will draw.

Our building codes require triple wall stove pipe thru the ceiling, attic and on out thru the roof. I always use stainless steel. Expensive, but lasts a very long time. Follow the building codes when going thru the attic containing insulation. Very important. Safety first.

The draft or draw can be regualated by adjusting the small vents in the lower part of the stove belly. The more open they are, the more air is drawn into the stove and the hotter it gets. You can actually get parts of the stove glowing dull red which is bad.

To start up the stove, experiment with newspaper, grocery bags, etc., over which you place kindling of a size you find that works, then a few thin pieces of wood, then a few pieces of split wood. We use Madrone down here in SW Oregon. Abundant in our woods.

Leave the vents 100% open to start. Once going good, adjust the vents to suit you. I remove the flue damper from my stoves....don't need it and it may create a situation that when closed the smoke might bellow out of the stove inside the cabin. "Thuffing". Yuck!

You will quickly learn what exactly your wood stove wants and needs and what kind of wood works the best for you. Dryer wood is better. I could go from dead cold to boiling water for oatmeal and coffee in about 15 minutes. Lasted 8 hours on one loading. Small stove bought at an auction.

My stove had a flat top surface that let me cook off the top of it. Pork or Elk chops tasted and smelled soooos good. The Yellow Lab LOVED the wood stove in the winter. She had three positions to warm herself up. Me also. Very clean inside the cabin.

After you have gained experience with your wood stove and have a good supply of DRY hardwood (softwood in a pinch) you will be able to light, run up, regulate and heat/cook with your wood stove without producing ANY visible smoke. Takes practice, but doable.

You will proudly wear your procured burn scars from your wood stove. Can't be helped. You will burn yourself over time. No big deal. Don't ever leave the cabin if you have just filled your stove. Wait until it settles down. Safety first using wood. HB of CJ (old coot)

 

In some counties in CA your vent must go up through the ceiling just like your exhaust and donot allow open vents on the stove itself! I guess this is to prevent sparks from going out your vent and also to prevent smoke from going out the vent into your home!

 

I dont have much experience with wood stoves. Question, what kind of base does your stove sit on? I know many homes have wood floors, how do you protect your floor?

 

If any smoke leaves your stove and comes into your house, then it is not drafting enough.

Often you may need to start with a really tiny flame, just to slowly warm the stove-pipe. As the stove-pipe heats up it should draft better. When the draft finally gets strong, then you can add fuel and build a big roaring fire.

 

Mine's sitting on tile.

HB, thanks, you MAY have figured it out for me. Before when i DID open the vent, it puffed out that vent, like it was smoking a cigar. i already had the stack going out 1 foot above the roof line. So maybe i need to stick it out a couple more feet above said roof line. Maybe that'll do the trick. :thumb:

i just want it to function. There's no problem about county or guvment coming around where i am. "we don't need no stinkin' guvment, nor badges."

 

First of all you have a poor understanding of how a wood burning stove works. A stove, fireplace or other indoor wood burning device needs to be vented to:

1. Prevent Fires
2. Prevent combustion gasses from killing people in side the dwelling and,
3. have the air flow necessary for combustion.

The purpose of the chimney is to vent combustion gasses out of the dwelling and to prevent CO2 poisioning.

The combustion air in the fire come from inside the house not from the chimney which vents superheated waste gasses to the outside.

So the flow of air is a draw into the combustion chamber where the wood burns and then the waste gases are exhausted outside through the chimney.

Once you understand this you can easily see that the damper should be open when burning fuel in the stove and closed when the stove is not in use.

 

And you have a poor understanding of etiquette and interpersonal manners - you and theSenator, and beekeeper. He, the curmudgeon, and you two now are on my ignore list. Don't bother, it won't be read.
Does anyone but me get tired of the poor manners on this forum? I'm sure there are many that feel likewise. THAT is
one of the big reasons our country is doomed, bad/poor manners and no respect for their elders.

There is no damper in my piping. Nothing was ever said in my posts about a damper.

Go read a Dale Carnegie book - HB and i'll figure it out.

 

So much for being helpful to a person in desparate need. I never thought explaining the mechanics of a stove would be considered rude. You obviously do not know what you are talking about and a basic reference was needed.

If you want Emily Post don't ask fool questions unless you want to be set straight.

I was being helpful and if you cannot take some kind criticism you have more problems than ettiquitte to worry about.

 

Well - there are ways of saying things and then there are other ways. Personally, I am grateful for a little gentler approach when I need help with something I don't know much about. (which is frequent).

Can someone recommend a thread about small inexpensive stoves - just for backup?

 

Can someone recommend a thread about small inexpensive stoves - just for backup?

Barrel Stove...

 

Scanning thru the posts in this thread leads me to believe that there's a bit of confusion in some of wood stove" terminology.

In most cases a "vent" is a adjustable (fully closed to partly opened to fully opened) door located ON the wood stove. Ideally it's located below the fire, and is often located on a door that gives one access to clean out the ashes.
These vent's are used to control the burn. In most set ups when one first is starting up their fires (and no heat to aid/create the draft), these vent's are closed, since the main door is often wide open which gives plenty of air for the "burn". With too many doors/vents open often smoke will enter the room, rather than being pushed/drawn up the chimney.

Once the fire is going, and the MAIN door is closed, the vent is now opened and used to control the burn. Most often one CLOSES the vent's BEFORE you open to main door (when adding more wood). Closing the vent at this time helps prevent "flashback" coming from the main door, where flashback can be either smoke or flames (or both). Once you have added wood and close the main door, you once again open the vent.


A damper is "normally" located within the chimney/piping system. Used to adjust draft (although it's best to leave wide open) and to CLOSE OFF all air flow for when the stove is not in use.
Some wood stoves have dampers built into them.
Open when in use, close AFTER the fire is completely out.

Chimney/stove pipe. Used to exhaust the smoke from the stove to outside.
Most city/towns have strict regulations concerning wood stove chimneys.
Most that I've seen require it to be at least 4 feet higher than the roof top, and most require a spark arrestor.

Draft, the HEATED air going up your chimney, draws air into the combustion chamber. Wind blowing across the opening of your chimney WILL have a dramatic effect on your draft, where most often it will INCREASE the draft. This is why wood stoves should be "monitored" You could adjust your vent for a proper fire (not too hot, not so cold that it goes out) and a change in the wind could cause your fire to become much hotter (often results in CHIMNEY FIRES)
Draft requires air to be drawn in from your room, meaning outside air needs to be drawn into your house/room. If your house is PERFECTLY sealed you'll not have the air to create "draft" and will end up with a smoky room.

Fire, that which heats your home, cooks your food.. robs of of your house and kills you if you forget to respect it 100% of the time.

 

I built this barrel stove last year out of three open head drums. It works great.

 

I LIKE IT!

I must say that your stove looks like you've addressed most all the issues!
Saw a stove a few years ago that was built the same way, except the guy (at my suggestion!) installed a air baffle under the burn grate. it was 100% removable and it's purpose was to help air flow from the lower front vent towards the rear of the stove, for the purpose of supplying O2 to the fuel at the rear of the burn chamber.

His heat exchanger was tied into his forced air duct work (furnace) drew air from the cold air return.

If that cement block wall is an "outside" wall I'd suggest hanging aluminum foil on it to reflect the heat back into the room. A cement block wall (basement) will suck out a tremendous amounts of heat.

One quick question, the upper flue diverter, looks like there is a pipe/hinge towards the back?? what purpose does it serve? With the firebrick lining you can achieve a very hot fire, any chance that the your diverter might warp/sag?

Most every barrel stove I've seen (WITH OUT FIRE BRICK) required a LOT of tending, and resulted in lots of smoke released into the house (space).
Most people miss the part that fire needs it's HEAT to maintain the burn! Take it away to fast/quickly and you end up with lots of clinkers (sections of unburnt wood)

 

What the hell did beekeeper do?

manners - you and theSenator, and beekeeper. He, the curmudgeon, and you two now are on my ignore list. Don't bother, it won't be read.

I learned this past winter the burn difference between fresh wood and aged wood!