Can we talk about OAK's again, read something here last night worth discussing

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Doug Doty

Doug Doty

Burning Hunk
Nov 17, 2014
248
Southern Indiana, Ohio River View
At least it is worth it to me to discuss it, not sure about others, but I'd like to smoke out the poster of what I read and ask him to elaborate. Seems important to me since it is the coolest parts of the house that are of the most interest and this was working against them.

I cannot find it now but read an interesting post last night here on the site. One of the members had went several years without an OAK and then switched to using one and had a few years since, so pretty credible time frames of reference and he believed the OAK prevented in-drafts which is somewhat common thinking if you are a reader here but he also said that it seamed to be more prevalent or obvious in the furthest reaches away from the stove. What do you think ?? If I assume this is so and try to theorize why, I can only think the hotter air closer to the stove is better at getting out and going toward cold so the coolest areas become the inward air leaks ?? Kind of makes sense but if others can say " Yep I have seen that too " then i need to hook mine up. I would sure like to find enough tweaks to our setup that i might turn the stove down a click and save a few pellet $$
 
Ya I know...
 
I do not own a pellet stove. I am just curios what is the maximum length that an OAK can draw air from? It would seem to me that if I wanted to heat a room at the far end of a home, I would run an length of ducting from that room to the stove much like duct work for hvac. I would think that as long has the house is relatively insulated that the negative pressure created would draw heat into that room. Maybe?
 
A lot depends on how tight the house is too. I have three exhaust fans in my house. One in each bathroom, and one above the cook stove. If I turn on any one of them, I can feel cold air coming down the other two. Also when your furnace runs,(older ones with no return) it is pulling cold air into house any place it can get in. Around windows, doors, outlets, etc.
 
I think if someone was feeling elaborate they could run a floor duct from the furthest room back to the convection blower. Negative pressure in that room would draw air into it from an adjoining room, as long as there were no massive air leaks in that room. But who wants to look at a large tube sticking out the side of their stove?
 
TL;dr.....no oak, no drafts, stove blasting us out of our clothes on minimal consumption.
 
Me, I like to burn OAK pellets.
 
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jss227 said:
I think if someone was feeling elaborate they could run a floor duct from the furthest room back to the convection blower. Negative pressure in that room would draw air into it from an adjoining room, as long as there were no massive air leaks in that room. But who wants to look at a large tube sticking out the side of their stove?
Click to expand...
I just wasn't sure how they worked. It was just an idea I had.
 
Doug Doty said:
At least it is worth it to me to discuss it, not sure about others, but I'd like to smoke out the poster of what I read and ask him to elaborate. Seems important to me since it is the coolest parts of the house that are of the most interest and this was working against them.

I cannot find it now but read an interesting post last night here on the site. One of the members had went several years without an OAK and then switched to using one and had a few years since, so pretty credible time frames of reference and he believed the OAK prevented in-drafts which is somewhat common thinking if you are a reader here but he also said that it seamed to be more prevalent or obvious in the furthest reaches away from the stove. What do you think ?? If I assume this is so and try to theorize why, I can only think the hotter air closer to the stove is better at getting out and going toward cold so the coolest areas become the inward air leaks ?? Kind of makes sense but if others can say " Yep I have seen that too " then i I can observ need to hook mine up. I would sure like to find enough tweaks to our setup that i might turn the stove down a click and save a few pellet $$
Click to expand...

Every house is different. The stove without an OAK will use up air in that room and that room will pull from other parts of the home and outside and then the home will pull in air from outside wherever it can. If you are really interested in finding those spots get a blower door test done on your home. The stove is not the only culprit also. There are many more pluses to an OAK than there are negatives. The only real negative I can see is it can be harder for my stove to start on its own when it gets really cold out. I am thinking of putting in a dampered tee to pull in indoor air on startup on those cold days. Although it is easier just to do a manual start.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blower_door
 
Before I put an OAK on the Harman (basement stove), and before I had the St.Croix in the LR, I felt more drafts in the LR than after install of OAK. Can't tell you about the furthest rooms - those were the bedrooms and they weren't at a liveable temp, so spent a total of 2 minutes in them each day (long enough to get clothes for the day). After OAK, the LR was less drafty. Had to have an OAK for the St. Croix to clear code for window clearances, so don't have a reference there.
 
Oh look. A butterfly!
 
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Popcorn.gif
 
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When somebody buys a car that takes the combustion air from the passenger compartment, get back to me.
 
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It's very simple. The formula is btus in have to equal btus lost to keep the same temperature. If you loose 40,000 btus an hour without an oak and 30,000 btus an hour with an oak because you're not creating the negative pressure the temperature EVERYWHERE in the house will rise if you're putting in 40,000 btus. The amount of rise can be determined by computing the heat loss in a room and the heat gain. Put both together and you can predict the temperature drop or rise. This type of stuff is done every day across the world when designing a building whether it be a house or a 100 story high rise.
Ron
 
pageyjim said:
Every house is different. The stove without an OAK will use up air in that room and that room will pull from other parts of the home and outside and then the home will pull in air from outside wherever it can. If you are really interested in finding those spots get a blower door test done on your home. The stove is not the only culprit also. There are many more pluses to an OAK than there are negatives. The only real negative I can see is it can be harder for my stove to start on its own when it gets really cold out. I am thinking of putting in a dampered tee to pull in indoor air on startup on those cold days. Although it is easier just to do a manual start.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blower_door
Click to expand...

It gets cold in Delaware?
 
Lowest I have seen this year was about 5 degrees. This is my first year in Deleware. I see you are from Maine, that might seem like light sweater weather lol. I use to live in upstate NY where the lowest I saw was 38 below. The single digits are low enough to effect startups.
 
The most likely reason that poster in the other thread felt the cooler temps and drafts furthest from stove were 1) more leaks in building envelope in that area. 2) further from stove, so less ability for heat from stove to offset it. 3) wherever they were sitting / standing in those rooms was in the path of outside air being pulled back to the stove. Not much to really debate here, but then I don't understand those who don't understand the value of an OAK.
 
I read the same post the OP refrenced. Nothing really earth-shattering. To me anyway, the value of an OAK is beyond further debate --- so I won't. As for drafts, air sucked out has to be replaced by air allowed in to equalize pressure. Less air out = less air in. Another reason for an OAK but we've beaten this to death as well.
 
Another point to keep in mind is that all houses must breathe to reduce the risk of mold infestation or other hazards. Some older homes may be so leaky that the negative pressure caused by a pellet stove is a moot point. In these instances adding an oak will not be a fix all solution. There is more debate about getting an oak or not than there is on keeping drafts out, or better insulating a house.

In the winter most basements are under negative pressure, so you already have air entering the basement traveling upstairs and leaking through your walls, ventilation ducts, bathroom/kitchen fans, recessed lights, etc. Part of this is good because it keep the air refreshed which is important to the occupants and the structure. But there is certainly no need to add more drafts than already necessary.
 
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