I have a question about my Ashley wood stove. I've been running the stove for a week or so now (cleaned the chimney right before I started it" it's been running great until yesterday. Starting yesterday anytime I fill it back up with wood let it catch and close the stove pipe damper all the way it will puff smoke back at me every few seconds. At first I thought it was because of the north wind since we had 40 mph gusts. However today the wind has died and it is still doing it. So I've been closing the damper right around halfway which makes it better, but was just wondering why I can't close it all the way without getting puffs of smoke. Should I be concerned? Thanks
You say an ashley wood stove. Is it an EPA rated model? Does it have seals on the door allowing you to reduce the air intake with the use of a damper on the stove? If so it's designed to control burn through the use of those not by a damper in the chimney... hopefully I did not misunderstand your explanation.
David
Ditto; Most new stoves don't really even need an in pipe damper as you can literally shut them completely down by closing the in stove vents. Even my old Fisher stoves will do that and the manual even says no damper required. Pretty much any stove that has a door gasket is like this. Before you open the door, simply open the damper and input vent all the way for 20 seconds, then crack the door and inch or two for a few seconds, then fully open. I have had the wind cause that too. Not so much the wind speed as the direction, height of pipe and shape of roof. Your pipe is supposed to extend two foot above the highest point of the roof. If your pipe goes through at a low point in the roof, that can be hard to achieve without an elaborate brace though. With my Fisher with double doors, I have a hard time opening the second door without some kind of smoke coming in but I also had a pretty short pipe on it. A shorter pipe won't give enough draft. Your manual will probably specify a minimum length/height for your pipe. Elbows also restrict the draft. Just opening the damper all the way, waiting for 20-30 seconds, cracking the door and waiting a few more seconds should do the trick for you as long as your pipe isn't too short.
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