fireplace insert question

[KenBurris]

my daughter's rental house has a small fireplace with a Buck fireplace insert. It has a glass door with a large coiled steel handle. above the door is a horizontal slider. At the upper right corner is a vertical slider. There is a small grill under the door the width of the insert with an electric fan. Her husband thinks the horizontal slider is to open the flue, and the vertical to control the amount of outside air for combustion. When I was there last night, I told her I thought the door should be closed. She said there is not much heat from the fan with the door closed. I have no fireplace, and when I tried to google some instructions all I found was distributers and retailers. Can anyone tell me the safe, practical way to operate it? Door Open? Door closed? Fan on/off/sometimes? thanks in advance

[crokett]

I have a woodstove insert with blowers like your daughter. However, mine has a horizontal vent just below the door that can be opened or closed. That is the damper. There is not a separate one up in the flue.

All the fans do is move air around the outside of the firebox to get it warmed up. I doubt they actually feed air to the fire. The only forced air systems I've seen are woodfired boilers that will heat water. It sounds like the horizontal slider is the flue damper and the vertical controls how much air is being warmed up and returned to the room. If there isn't a lot of heat with the door closed, then open it. A properly designed stove/chimney will not allow any smoke into the room once a good draft is going.

Here's a link to the Buck site with owner's manuals.

http://www.buckstove.com/stovemanuals.html

[Daryl]

We heated with wood and coal when I was young. As I remember there was a draft control on the lower part of the firebox and another vent in the pipe to the chimney to allow enough air going up the flue so the smoke wouldn't back up into the house.
You may go to Lowes or HD and ask to look at the instructions of a like model.