Pacific Energy Wood Stove Over-Firing?

[@Indeewoods]

I have a 30 year old PE Super 27. Awesome stove. I have a short chimney length and no troubles at all with over firing. I never leave my air damper fully closed for very long otherwise it would just smoulder away. Every stove is different because of the wood you burn and how much it seasoned and the length of the chimney pipe as well as the diameter but with a 6 inch pipe 10 feet of pipe length I actually drilled holes bigger in my top baffle so I could get a more complete burn. The secondary burn isn’t that little hole that you put the steel wool in it’s the top baffle and secondary burn meaning it’s igniting the smoke, so what happens is the air gets heated up in that baffle and it comes out so hot it actually ignites the smoke, creating the secondary burn. The other little hole, where you put the steel wool in, is left there so that the stove can always receive a little bit of air, no matter how much you damper it down the fact that you damper it down completely and you’re getting over fire temperatures suggests that possibly your door seal is leaking. Have you replaced it before? Sounds like you’re getting extra air somewhere That shouldn’t be there.With these super 27s you have to buy the factory gasket you can’t buy the aftermarket ones or they don’t seal properly plus those aftermarket ones never last very long. I had an aftermarket gasket and the stove just didn’t seem airtight so when it wore out I bought the factory gasket right from a fireplace store but it was a PE factory part and I’m going on my fifth year now with that same gasket no issues yet and the stove works so much more responsive with the air control compared to what it did before. I don’t have a chimney damper because we’re not allowed to have them here in Canada. It’s against code. I actually only burn softwoods here, pine and spruce mainly that’s all we really have and if I was to leave my stove wide-open eventually I could get it to over fire, but it takes a while The only other thing that I could say that’s different is that I don’t have the top insulation over top of my baffle. I had replaced it when I restored the stove and then I eventually I took it out but I’d like to go and get some more and put it back in and see how it works since I’ve done my modifications to the baffle. What size is your stove pipe?

[@buildingthebruce]

Hello. That’s all good information. Door seal is good, I’ve done the test with a piece of paper all around and it’s tight to pull out. The stove pipe is 6” and 6” stainless liner top to bottom. Stove was installed and signed off by a WETT certified installer and the same fellow actually installed the damper. My insurance company wants everything done to the stove preformed by a WETT certified contractor and even need a record of yearly chimney cleaning and inspection. It’s $300.00 a year for both stove and Super 27 insert in the upstairs but I’m still about $4700.00 ahead every year compared to burning fuel oil. I burn 95% hardwood that I cut and split myself. The rest is clean pallet wood. Nothing goes in the stove that’s less than 3 yrs old, seasoned in the sun, on pallets. Don’t get me wrong, the PE are great and I would purchase again in a heartbeat. Simple, well made, easy to clean and operate, no combustor to replace, but also “easy breathers”. Check out some of the other stove sites and you will see similar stories to mine. I’m glad that your installation and location give you a good, controllable burn. At the end of the day we are both still enjoying the benefits of wood heat and the lifestyle that goes with it.

[@buildingthebruce]

Another thing to consider is how someone operates the stove. A very good friend of mine has the PE super 27 with the enamel covers. Exactly the same size firebox. Installed on the first floor, no flue damper, 6” double wall pipe straight up through the roof. Now what he does is every time he reloads the fire he only opens the air control for less than a minute. The new wood goes in, barely takes a flame and then he closes the air control. His door glass is BLACK! His chimney is always smoking, minimum heat output, but….. very long burn times which he likes. So he burns pretty much opposite how I operate my stove and because of that he never gets the stove hot enough to overheat. I pretty much run my stove based on flue temperatures using a probe thermometer. When the temperature gets into the “ideal” burn zone I gradually decrease the combustion air down to the lowest setting and try to hold the temperature there for as long as possible. I usually adjust the air setting about 3 times until the stove is “ cruising”. To me, and this is just my opinion, if my door glass is black or the chimney has visible smoke, I’m doing something wrong. Also, wood selection has a huge effect on stove temperatures. I burn mostly hard maple, oak, hickory, ash and locust. Super high BTU fuel. Way different then shoulder season poplar, willow and larch that I will burn when I want a quick fire in the fall and spring just to take the chill off.

[@stefanmeyers2808]

I have a PE which I installed in 1999, it may be a super 27 near Gould Lake. My understanding is the piece that you removed under the door is fresh air wash to keep the glass clean. I used to have a similiar metal piece above the door with similiar holes in it that had the secondary burn and small candle size flames came out at those holes but not for about the past 10 years. I removed the fire bricks etc. inside this past fall when we closed it down and cleaned it. This past weekend Jan 12/24 when the temps were about freezing with 40 K wind and gusts to 70. It worked well Friday and Saturday but Sunday it just didn't heat up much. It just doesn't seem to burn like it used to. It still over fires, I can hear the metal making cracking noises when it gets too hot and I can smell the paint getting hot, that's when I choke it down. It seems as if there is something clogged that it doesn't work as well as at first. Thanks for you videos, I liked the bar oil one. We also have a Caframo fan, the small one which is nice.

[@buildingthebruce]

Hello. Thanks for commenting. The top plate with the holes is the baffle plate and there’s a small rectangular gasket at the rear that should be replaced when you remove the baffle for cleaning. It’s about $12.00 at the PE dealership. I would suggest a flu temperature thermometer that goes into the pipe to give you accurate flu temperatures. It’s a very good way to monitor how the stove is running. With the high winds you may want to consider a flu damper to restrict the draft in windy conditions. Also, have the chimney checked out and/ or cleaned and give your chimney cap outside a look over to make sure it’s clean of any creosote or built up fly ash. Just cover all the bases for your safety and piece of mind. Hope this helps.

[@CraigGammie]

The air manifold under the door is primary air, not secondary air as it does not go through and is not superheated in the baffle. Pacific energy calls it the boost air manifold. You are correct that the air supply control lever does not completely shut off the air supply. There is a stop that prevents the air control door from completely covering the air supply hole. The boost manifold air is also there to help keep the window glass clean. If your door gasket is not giving a good seal it will leak air and could make your fire go out of control. Black soot buildup on the glass near the door gasket is an indication of a leaky gasket. Hard to see from the video but it appears to me that you have soot on the window and maybe a leaky seal. All single air control stoves can fire high in certain circumstances. Really dry hardwood, or high resin softwood, split small, insulated flue, high flue and enough air will burn hot. The hotter the burn, the better the draft and the burn gets even hotter. Maybe try check the door gasket, and use less wood and split a bit bigger.

[@buildingthebruce]

Good morning. Thanks for watching and taking the time to leave a very informative comment. I have checked the door glass gasket using the “dollar bill method” and it is tight all around. I feel, more than any design factor, what influences my stove the most is weather, draft conditions and installation location. Currently, I have again removed the steel wool because the weather has been so warm that I have very little draft. But a few weeks ago when it was quite cold and windy for nearly a week I had a very strong draft and I was using the steel wool and the flue damper to keep the stove cruising nicely without overheating. Same stove behaving totally differently with the only difference being the weather. And lastly, since the stove is installed in the basement, on an outside wall with a cold chimney, I think that will always be a challenge. I have the PE super 27 insert on the main floor and it has been absolutely flawless. Set it and forget it. But that chimney goes through the middle of the house, is warm, and the draft is always predictable. I think all stoves have a learning curve, my basement stove just took a bit longer to figure out but I’m still very satisfied with it and doubt if any other stove would behave differently. My main level stove is like driving an automatic car, so simple and straightforward anyone can do it. Basement stove is definitely the work of a 5 speed and a clutch, sometimes stopped on a hill even. But once I got the hang of it nothing beats wood heat, a good book and a hot morning coffee. lol Cheers.

[@Matt-d8m]

Good tips! I’m in the Ottawa Valley area. I’ve been having over-firing issues with my EPA 2020 stove. The draft is really strong. We get tons of wind here and our chimney is a straight shot up. I’m now considering installing the damper in the flu pipe with a temp probe. Thanks!

[@dalmerjd]

Interesting content. I am running the Summit and had similar concerns. I have modified the air circuits and have made my stove a pleasure to run under all conditions. I live in south eastern Ontario and recognize the need to be able to adjust the stoves output. I use a digital flu gas temperature probe that has alarms and highest temperature memory. It's nice to see immediately the effect of any air change makes. So, the summit has 4 air circuits; the main air circuit(the lever we all adjust), the boost air(the circuit you put the steel wool in) and two secondary burn circuits(the air allowed to go through the baffle up top-or tubes for other stoves). First the main air: I used a piece of a Olfa knife blade with a couple magnets(use the right kind of magnet or the heat will kill them-Google "what magnets are not affected by heat" ) to block the air off 100% when the lever is set to minimum. The blade piece essentially blocks off the always open portion the air that remains when the lever is set to minimum. This WILL snuff your fire. Running the stove for awhile you will find your sweet spot to set the lever at. I used a paint marker and a couple marks to easily set the air back to the sweet spot. Second the boost air: this circuit I drilled out to increase this air. This hole was around 1/4" and now is 3/8". This really helps to get the fire restarted when the coals get very low. Third and fourth the secondary air: These two circuits both feed air to the same place...the baffle overhead. The third circuit has the hinged flapper that opens and closes dependant on draft. You can hear it clinking when you open and shut the door. This one I did not change. The fourth is several unregulated holes(six I believe...going by my memory). I again used magnets to block off some/all of them until I found the happiest secondary burn. It took some time but the result was worth the effort. Other mods to my stove: brick on the bottom removed, stainless plate on the bottom to protect the bottom of the stove from flame impingement, a grate to elevate the fire(use stainless steel)-this was a game changer, it gave the stove more output longer and made ash removal a breeze, the side panels on hinges to allow opening, heat sinks on the top of the stove, a shroud to direct the blower air through the heat sinks and the stove on a 20" high stand on wheels to save my back during daily loading and to make servicing my stove a easier(I have limited access to the rear of my stove). All in all these changes made my primary heat source controllable, adjustable and easier to run and service. Anyone wanting advice just PM me. Please note...these changes can void warranty, remove WETT certification and alter your insurance coverage.

[@itsyurb0ylayy4]

I love how you’re doing these videos, can you do another one when to turn down the air control?

[@glenhobbs859]

Awesome video!! I have same problem, also put in flue damper that didnt work entirely. Will try this

[@darylrideout]

Awesome video, exactly the information I was looking for. I hoping to slow down my wood consumption and slow down the burn.

[@buildingthebruce]

Hope it helps. Another way to do it is to drop a bolt into the hole with a large enough head that it doesn’t fall right through. Maybe 5/16” or 3/8”. Then you can easily pull it back out if the burn is too slow or the weather is warm and the draft is low . Some people say the steel wool will burn up, but that hasn’t been my experience.

[@bobreichel]

I could be wrong but I believe that hole is for your glass air wash. I believe the secondary burn comes out from the burn tubes which gets its air sorce from the side walls. Not saying I'm correct but I do believe that's how it works.

[@whiskey4553]

Glass wash is accomplished with the primary air that comes in at the top of the door, secondary comes in at the bottom/back and enters firebox through the top baffle. The steel wool hole is for boost air and comes directly in to the bottom of the fire.

[@buildingthebruce]

@@whiskey4553 Yes, upon further research you are correct. So what I am doing with the steel wool is essentially restricting the boost air and letting the primary and secondary combustion control the airflow through the damper. Boost air is probably a good idea when starting the fire and making sure that the combustion process is hot and clean but under certain conditions all that unregulated airflow can cause excessive temperatures……and an increase in my heartbeat! Thanks for the information.

[@thebechtels1918]

Excellent video -- EPA stoves with a partial shutdown are almost forcing over-fire with a full load and hot coals Once the 2ndary takes off there is no way to stop it -- it's worse with cats because the flue damper is useless I have a different air feed, can't use steel wool but I have used R19 on the external air opening (now a 3" pipe with a cap with holes) Can't believe the stove people are permitted to get away with their partial shutdown solution --------- rather burn a house down than let some wood smoulder !!!

[@buildingthebruce]

@@thebechtels1918 That’s some really good insight. I agree with you 100%. They call the old stoves “ smoke dragons” for that reason but when I was burning a similar size Fisher clone that my uncle built, that thing would blow me right out of the room with heat, and I still could get a clean burn by managing the air control, or snuff it out completely just by closing the two spinners on the door. Once again, leave it to the government to screw things up. How many more years until they stick their fingers into firewood regulations, or some other tax on us wood burners. Or the insurance industry will get involved, with the blessing of the government, and make it impossible to get home insurance. I’m not sure where you live, but in Ontario, Canada, our province won’t be satisfied until we all have heat pumps and then watch the electricity rates skyrocket as they need to double or triple the grid and capacity to keep up with demand. Thanks for watching and taking time to comment.

[@murphdymxz]

I am currently installing a PE Fireplace insert. I went with a Neo 1.6 specifically due to a smaller home and don't want to be blown out with too much heat.The 1.6 takes an 18" length but using 16" max and smaller.I'll have to comment later this week on the stove air and draft.I'm hoping the smaller box is more controllable.We shall see but Thanks for input on the PE.

[@buildingthebruce]

A late reply, but how are you liking your new stove?

[@deadondave9251]

I have the Summit LE and I just put a damper plate in the stove pipe to help control the draft. That way you don't have to keep fooling around with air intake.

[@buildingthebruce]

I think the plate dampers help a lot, especially in high winds. I also found that I can get higher stove top temperatures when I close it down and increase my primary air a bit. I tinker with both the damper and air control instead of flipping channels on TV I guess. Always trying to get the best heat and longest burn gets addicting. Lol.

[@My17A]

If you find it burning to hot, just put less wood in the stove. If you load it up it’s going to get ripping really hot even with the air shut down. Use less logs to control the temperature.

[@oldyellerschannel4676]

Exactly...no brainer really.

[@harry8442]

Isn't the extra damper on the stove pipe for when you have too much draft. I think I read somewhere that it is not recommended for the newer epa rated stove.

[@buildingthebruce]

It does help control the draft which in turn gives me more control over how the stove operates. Where I live I have a wide open 100 acre farm field across the road from the house and also I’m on the Niagara Escarpment so high, straight line winds are a common occurrence. Without the flu damper closed on days with high winds my stove will over fire. The damper, even when fully closed only blocks about 50% of the flu by its design so it’s impossible to completely block off the flu. An added benefit is higher stove top temperatures while maintaining a lower flu temperature. The manufacturer can say whatever they like but after years of successful safe heating I wouldn’t operate the stove without one. Every installation is unique and some stoves probably run fine without one but with my location it works well for me. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@wobdeehomestead]

Like others have stated that plugged hole is an unregulated boost air. I have a different stove but it also has the boost air and I completely blocked it off. Maybe you aren’t shutting the air down soon enough? The secondary burn stoves can really get away from you if you don’t turn them down soon enough. I also have a probe thermometer and I start shutting down to half air once I’m up to 400f degrees then as the fire regains strength and the temp reaches 600 I usually shut her down to low. This almost always keeps me in the good burn zone with no overfire.

[@buildingthebruce]

Thanks for the comment. This season I’m going to try hooking up a temporary OAK - outside air kit, as an experiment and see how the stove performs.

[@wobdeehomestead]

Let us know how it works out. It should help if you have a tightly insulated home

[@matthedman1237]

I like it !!! Any thoughts on a JOTUL F45 V1 ? It’s a secondary burn style too….

[@Bazilli]

I have this same stove but I think it's a little older (made in 1998, not that I think that matters, could be wrong but I think the newer ones are basically the same). Works amazing for me. For better or worse it is on the main floor instead of the basement, maybe shorter flue length preventing too much draw? Didn't have much of a point to this post, other than to say I really like this stove. But I will remember the steel wool if for whatever reason something changes (would like to move it into the basement but that is only gonna happen if I fall into a bunch of money, cuz at the moment it'd really kinda be a pointless endeavor, basement doesn't seem to go below 50f even on the absolute coldest of days and if it gets too hot upstairs I can circulate the air).

[@davidpb-j9307]

How would blocking some of the outdoor air intake from the outside work in reducing the combustion? Is that practical? Or, what would be the effect of having less wood in the stove? Thanks for your advice.

[@buildingthebruce]

I think it all goes back to science class and the “Fire Triangle”. Less air, less fuel, less temperature all would reduce the tendency of the stove to overheat. Of those three ingredients, air and fuel can be adjusted. For anyone that is trying to heat their home with wood and looking for overnight burns, the stove needs a certain amount of fuel (wood) to keep producing heat. Adjusting the combustion air in such a way as to allow for the longest burn time while still producing a clean, smoke free fire, and giving off enough heat to comfortably warm the house is the goal. My example of reducing the secondary combustion air to allow for a slower burn is one way to accomplish that but certainly there’s other options. There’s always a learning curve with each stove to find the warmest, safest outcome. Thanks for watching.

[@petergriffin1546]

what temp are u reloading ? flue and top? how many logs?

[@buildingthebruce]

@@petergriffin1546 I reload when there’s an even bed of coals, about 1” deep. 9 splits of wood, 3 running east-west as my bottom row and then 6 more running north-south. That will usually get me 8 hrs of heat with enough coals left over for the next fire to reignite without relighting. Thanks for watching.

[@ggergg6423]

My PE stove was leaking air around the ash flapper causing high burn rates. During the off-season, I put a flashlight under it and saw lots of light around the flapper. I "fixed" it myself as the dealer and PE were useless to get it fixed under warranty. I think the door gasket needs to be replaced as it will burn a tad too fast if I am not watching it closely.

[@buildingthebruce]

The ash flapper is something that I have never thought of checking. Now you have me thinking….. That’s a great tip. I know the door glass gasket is good, I’ve checked it with a piece of paper folded over and closed the door and it’s tight to pull out all the way around. I did have to adjust the door latch-catch on both the stove and the insert after about 5 years so I’m thinking as the gasket flattened out I compensated for that with the door latch. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience. What was your fix for the ash flapper? I’m imagining that a small gasket could be made with high temperature silicone?

[@ggergg6423]

@@buildingthebruce I used some high temp self adhesive gasket material and lined the flapper with it where it meets the stove port/ash tube, seals perfect. It is a little tricky getting in there, I went through the stove door after removing the bricks, and then pulled the flapper lever to give me the room I needed. I cleaned the flapper edges with DA to make sure the gasket stuck well. I am not sure this solution would work well if you continue to use the ash dump/flapper? Maybe it would, I just shovel out my ash now.

[@MUTSthumbsaver]

@@ggergg6423 I have a Summit classic from 15 yrs ago. It warms the Timberframe foam walled 48 X 28' barn style open concept house. The chimney from the stove is 23 feet single wall going to double wall where it enters at the cathedral ceiling under the roof. It allows heat to extract to the room. Using banked fires on the previous Dutchwest no 2nd burn stove, the single black steel wall perforated near the top due to condensation corrosion noticed when chimney cleaning caused some soot to fall outside of the pipe. Large flakes of creosoted soot were usually seen. I replaced the pipe and changed my burning habits to DRY smaller wood (2-3" wide started with log cabin stacking, paper and kindling at the bottom (no smoke seen if we do it top-down). I modified the ash door of the Summit to stay open, controlled by a threaded bolt in a tube placed under the ash lever to control opening. I also put in a detent in the ash door mechanism to allow the door to stay open when brushing ashes into it left after shoveling it with a 16" Harbor Freight dustpan. This also allows a fast initial starting draft- then use hot burns (600 deg max on stone pipe temp (infrared gun sensor, those dial gauges are terrible) , and never extreme banking the fire, just feed it, let it die overnight as our highly insulated house would only drop 10 deg. if stopping at 9 PM and it's about 25 outside in NJ. Just yesterday, waiting 3 yrs to clean (the baffle box is a bear to put back when you're 80, used a bottle jack to lift it back up). Cleaning with a Wolber push up bristle brush yielded 2 loads onto the dustpan, seeing ashy soot, no creosote. No perforations. Secondary burns do it!

[@kevinkircher9274]

When you added the steel wool, you restricted the air source to the primary, not the secondary. The secondary burn is there to completely burn any of the gasified vapors. But the secondary burn will not control the intensity of the fire. The intensity of the fire is controlled by the primary air source which is throttled by your adjustment lever. But there is a fixed hole next to the adjustment lever which you cannot reduce because it’s an open fixed hole. If you want to reduce the minimum burn rate, you should adjust the size of the fixed open hole by obstructing it a small amount.

[@quantumofconscience6538]

Mentioned in other comments, but yea, the holes in the front are the primary air not secondary. If that is secondary air in this particular stove, it's in the strangest place for secondary air I have ever seen. Yes, the steel wool will never "go away" because it's always cooled by "household air temp" coming against it. Who knows what they were talking about in that forum? Not mentioned in the video, but don't forget the most basic and obvious fix....not putting in a lot of wood. Putting in 3 thin or smaller pieces at a time cannot overfire a stove. Sure, you want to load it up at night but this, at least, needs to be mentioned. If the stove does not draft well, crack a window, especially if the air outside isn't that cold. If the stove makes "a 10" in heat, cracking the window 1/4 inch will reduce it to a 9. But overall, you're ahead. The cracked window does not need to be near the stove. An outside air line / tube right up to the primary air intake is always best. It can even lay one inch away "loose." Overdraft and overfire is a nice problem to have compared to the opposite problem / smoke. Outside air temp of 3 C vs. -5 C doesn't make that much difference in draft. That's not the problem.

[@buildingthebruce]

Thanks for taking the time to comment. You, along with other commenters are correct about the air control and its function. I’ve picked up a lot of valuable information since posting this video. For this upcoming heating season I’m considering trying to hook up an OAK - outside air kit, to the stove and see how that improves or changes how the stove performs. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the advantages of an OAK and I think it may help with air balancing and low draft. I will be making a video about that experiment so stay tuned.

[@sandsock]

your thermometer should be on the other side of your baffle/damper. there isnt alot of info out on them, but your supposed to be up atleast 19 inches, so you would be on the single wall of the horizontal. just add a spare to settle your mind on over drafting. i used to keep a thermometer there and would have a issue with creosote build up in the chimney, because the stove was to cold. nice stove and good vid.

[@buildingthebruce]

Thanks for watching and commenting. The thermometer that I use is the probe type. I drilled a 1/4” hole through the stove pipe and the probe takes the temperature approximately in the centre of the pipe. I don’t trust the magnet type to give an accurate temperature since all of my stove pipe is double wall, including the damper. Double wall is the only type acceptable for a WETT certification from what I understand. FYI, I replace the thermometer every year when I have the stove and chimney cleaned and after 1 season it is seriously deformed and degraded from the heat and smoke.

[@riseandshine5706]

I have the exact wood stove (it’s great) an that lever use to smother the flame until it went out but now it doesn’t seem to.

[@buildingthebruce]

Hello. Mine would never snuff out the fire, even when it was new. I think the stove is designed to keep a low clean burning fire, even when the air control is completely closed. This helps PE meet the strict environmental standards for modern wood stoves.

[@oldyellerschannel4676]

I am a little confused. We have a Pacific Energy wood stove, had it for about 20 years. I am not being a smart @$$, but I control the temperature by using fewer logs, and turning down the air flow under the door. I don't really see how a flu damper in the chimney would do anything except maybe cause smoke to fill your home. Also in our Cabin (I see you have yours in a home not a Cabin, maybe that makes a difference?) I have to open a window or two, just a few inches, for the stove to draft. The last thing I want is smoke to back down the chimney and smoke up the room, so the damper on the bottom of the stove and controlling the amount of wood you put in the firebox should control the heat. Just saying, that we haven't had this problem at all.

[@buildingthebruce]

@@oldyellerschannel4676 Depending on the cabin size and insulation, your place may be easier to heat than my house. I need to fill the firebox around 10:00pm in order to have a comfortable temperature the next morning and enough coals to restart the fire. The flue damper, even when completely closed is designed to always allow air to escape. I would say about 25% still has room to get past. In fact, there’s 2 fairly large holes incorporated into the damper so it never completely stops the airflow. It just slows the combustion process or helps to keep the heat in the firebox. I have my oil furnace thermostat set to 68° and if it only comes on if it’s extremely cold or extremely windy, otherwise the house stays around 70-72° which is great for us. I burn about 10 gallons of furnace oil per season, but it takes a full firebox of wood every night. Thanks for watching and the comment.

[@billb945]

I'm fairly certain the hole you are restricting in the doghouse is primary air, not secondary. Essentially what you are doing is tuning the input to match your chimney draft. You could also restrict the input where the lever is controlling air input, however this could also restrict the airwash air and on some PE stoves also restrict the air available to the secondary tubes or on a PE stove the upper baffle assembly.

[@buildingthebruce]

Thanks for watching and the comments. The small round hole that I restrict is definitely secondary combustion because it is not controlled by the lever. The lever controls the primary combustion by closing a sliding plate in the bottom of the stove. Obviously P.E. has spent alot of time engineering a great stove, but at the same time must comply with the ever changing emission requirements imposed by government environmental regulations. I think the stove would probably run even if that hole was 100% blocked but it wouldn’t burn hot enough to clean up the emissions. Maybe a better description of that air inlet would be “supplemental air”.

[@mikemiskiman4743]

I have a newer variation of this stove and have the same problem it can over heat if your not paying attention, put a damper in and has almost cured the problem

[@A2J_Tim]

is your stove breathing out side air? because if it is thats probably the majority of the problem, the colder the air is the hotter the fire will burn and the faster it will burn, cold air is dense. I did some mods to mine and one of them was letting the stove breath with in the room and bringing in my out side air through a heat exchanger along the flu pipe. Here Are the mods I did to my pacific energy wood stove. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5iUqIWgipmor7Msi=VDkSewAxmQrwzBR1

[@kennethrobinson5151]

Your compensating for another problem most likely air leaking around the door if I was you I would just buy a brand new stove they're way more efficient these days

[@timothyconnecticut1910]

Yourself like many others have it wrong! A damper( air control) that restricts fresh air into the firebox or a damper that restricts exhaust gases leaving the fire box is doing the same job. Dam water flow at the entrance of a stream or a mile down stream . Your still slowing the flow .