Is it against code (or stupid??) to connect an outside air vent kit to a floor vent in colder room?

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Northeaster1

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Oct 10, 2008
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Nova Scotia
Installed an insulated solid 6" liner in the internal masonry chimney in our new (100 year old) summer house, and just picked out a PE Alderlea T5 to hook up in a couple of weeks.

I will likely not bother with an outside air kit as it is currently drafty enough in the house and we have a PE Pacific at our other house, and it works well, without any outside air kit.

But, as I got thinking about an outside air kit, I wondered why a person couldn't run the 4" air inctact duct to a floor vent in a hard to heat, colder room, so the cold air is puller from there, instead of from outside, to (hopefully) be replaced by warm air making it's way down the hall.

Is that "allowed" or are there problems in my thining?
 
The point of an outside air kit is to give fresh air to the stove that has enough oxygen so that the stove doesn't pull oxygen for the fire from your house. Using air from the house is kinda counterprouductive.

~Rose
 
There is no convective loop created by pulling cold air from outside the house envelope and no balancing warm air to replace it. Just more cold air gets pulled in.
 
Thanks for the reply!

I get that, and realize the purpose of an OAK, if a house is built tight, and you don't want to burn inside air. But, I do not really "need" outside air, (as the house is old and drafty) and thought it may make sense to pull the cold air from another room, rather than burn the warm air near the stove. I will likely not use and OAK anyway, but just wondered if it would be against codes, etc.
 
Sorry BeGreen, didn't see your post. I realize there is only cold air, and no loop if bringing it in from outside, but would that not change if the outside air kit, was connected to a floor vent in another room (if allowed) instead of outside? would that not creay a convective loop? In this case it would not be an outside air kit, but rather a remote inside air kit!
 
I don't have an OAK, but I have heard of instances where exhaust has actually reversed & exhaust exists through the outdoor air connection (maybe just briefly due to wether & fire conditions). Not sure if that can happen in properly installed kits, but it obviously would be life threatening if it did. I don't know what Code has to sa y about your idea, but I think isn't worth it. The amount of air the stove actually consumes during steady burns wouldn't be enought ohelp move warm air into that room & a fan would do much more
 
Northeaster1 said:
Sorry BeGreen, didn't see your post. I realize there is only cold air, and no loop if bringing it in from outside, but would that not change if the outside air kit, was connected to a floor vent in another room (if allowed) instead of outside? would that not creay a convective loop? In this case it would not be an outside air kit, but rather a remote inside air kit!
Click to expand...

OK, now I get the gist. What if you made the stove draw combustion air from another room? Would warm stove air replace this combustion air?

Answer is, I don't know. This sounds like one of those ideas that may seem good in theory, but has some strings attached that need consideration.
 
I'm not a seasoned wood burning pro yet but I'll give my professional Mechanical Engineering opinion. The answer is..maybe.

I think there are 2 things to consider.

1) The air going up the chimney will be replaced by outside air infiltrating the house from somewhere and entering your intake. If the room with your intake is leaky then you'll just be pulling cold air from outside into the indoor intake. That intake room will then probably just get colder. If the intake room is well sealed, it will pull from the next easiest air source. How far from the stove is the intake? How many rooms between the two? For this to work the stove room would need to be the leakiest, allowing cold outside air in, to warm from the stove, then flow through the stove room to the intake. Then you might get the affect you are after.

2) I've heard that there may be an issue with back draft through an OAK with heavy wind. Not sure if that's true. If so, I think you can see the problem. Personally, I wouldn't be entirely comfortable with any direct connection between the firebox and home interior. Why not just run the vent from the cold room and end it under or near the stove. Maybe add a small fan. That would accomplish the same idea without a firebox connection.

In any case, it's an interesting idea.
 
Feeding the blower with the duct seems safer than feeding the combustion. You would have more control as well.
 
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