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I have just bought a house with a multifuel stove and while I like it, it's frustrating not hearing the crackle of the logs/coal.
I was just wondering about operating a stove with the door open.
I know this cuts the stove's efficiency, since it draws some hot air into the stove and allows drafts (though I assume that more heat is still being generated than lost).
However, I was wondering if this will actually damage the stove or the flue's lining - some sites say it will, others say it won't.
What do you think? Has anyone here successfully done it?
It depends on how big a fire you build in the stove. If you keep the fire fairly low, you should be OK. Some stoves come with or you can get an accessory "screen door" that you can use to get that open fire effect, without risking sparks being pitched out into the room.
Although, yeah, if you got carried away and built a really roaring fire, you might damage the stove and/or chimney.
I have just bought a house with a multifuel stove and while I like it, it's frustrating not hearing the crackle of the logs/coal.
I was just wondering about operating a stove with the door open.
I know this cuts the stove's efficiency, since it draws some hot air into the stove and allows drafts (though I assume that more heat is still being generated than lost).
However, I was wondering if this will actually damage the stove or the flue's lining - some sites say it will, others say it won't.
What do you think? Has anyone here successfully done it?
Any guidance would be welcome.
To be honest I don't what would happen if you left the loading door open with coal, this could go either way because coal wants it's air from underneath. May even hinder the burn. What I can tell is if you left the ash pan door open it's going to be wildly out of control in as little as an hour and the only way you're going to slow it down in short time is with something like sand or kitty litter.
This happens a lot because people will often leave them open after loading for 10 minutes or so to get the new coal going quickly. The best advice is use a reminder, something on your wrist, timer etc.
Really? This is your first concern...no thought of carbon monoxide.
Shouldn't be an issue, matter of fact it's actually going to be the opposite problem. A cold chimney will draft air, a heated chimney will suck even more. With an unlimited amount of air it's going to be like a vacuum cleaner. You're going to find gaskets the doors of many of these stoves, it's not keep flue gases form going into the room. It's to keep the room air from going into the stove without any control.
CO in particular with coal is usually the result of blocked flue.
In my area people's homes have burned down because they left the woodstove door open - something flew out and caught the flooring on fire.
If you must do this, at least get a fireproof hearth rug, a large fire extinguisher, smoke/CO detectors, and never leave the room with the door open.
Might also double check that the hearth floor in front of the woodstove is as far out and wide as the manufacturer's installation instructions specify. And the distance from walls - stove installed per instructions and to code.
My stove has an efficiency of around 80% if used normally. What would the efficiency be if I operated it with the door open?
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