Craig 42" Rumford

Buckley Rumford Fireplaces
Craig 42" Rumford

10/26/22
I built my house 10 years ago and had the 42" Rumford installed. The chimney flue is all masonry and is about 32 ft tall. I have had zero issues and love it. Question... I always have left the damper wide open. Should I adjust it down? Advantages and disadvantages please. Thanks! Travis Craig

Travis,
The damper should be fully open when using the fireplace. It’s only purpose is to close the flue to minimize heated air loss when you are not using the fireplace.
When designing our Rumfords we made the prototype throat out of a soft material too small on purpose. It, of course smoked. Then we gradually ground the throat out to make it a little bigger until the fireplace drafted well. We found that the throat is proportional to the fireplace opening and needed to be about 1/20th of the opening for all sizes of fires. A big fire produces a lot air and smoke but has a lot of power. A small fire produces less air and smoke but has less power. A throat the right size works for all fires.
An interesting bit of advice related to conventional fireplaces is to get a fire started and then close down the damper until the fireplace starts to smoke. That just means the throat was too big to start with and, once you figure out how far to close the damper down, leave it there. It will work for small and big fires alike.
Please send me a picture of your Rumford. It's nice to hear from past customers.
Best,
Jim

String cooking, one of the least expensive and most comon way to roast before a fire.