Advantage of an OAK

hooter04 said:

What is the advantage of an OAK? The thing I was told is,if the house isn't exactly air tight you won't need one. Is this correct?

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Do a search using the word OAK.

hooter04 said:

My qustion has been answered.

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Someone's gotta ask... Are you adding an OAK?

John97 said:

hooter04 said:

My qustion has been answered.

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Someone's gotta ask... Are you adding an OAK?

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Lots to read...... How far did you get before your decision? I want to heat the rooms of my house. Not pull cold air into them... I OAK.... Do you?

DexterDay said:

Lots to read...... How far did you get before your decision? I want to heat the rooms of my house. Not pull cold air into them... I OAK.... Do you?

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I read ALOT oh this forum. After visiting multiple dealers who downplayed the importance of it, I am really glad I did. The concept seems simple enough to me. It seemed like not doing it would be somewhat "half-assed" especially since the manufacturer recommends it. The abundance of posts from people here who regretted not getting it done with the install made me decide to insist on it. So, a full chimney reline with OAK it is...

Since the OP posted that his question had been answered, I figured he came to a conclusion.

I don't understand the reluctance of dealers to install OAKs. OAKs mean selling more liners, most install $$ and they *should* have happier customers due to reduced drafts and increased efficiency. (Yes, I have an OAK)

I have no idea why they down play it. Guess its just the mind set. Kind of like the mind set here, Some absolutely believe in it and others absolutely don't.

I am an OAK'er! Sounds like another disease of sorts. Similar to the pellet sickness I have! :red:

This OAK debate is very interesting. I did not get one installed in April. In fact, being the rookie that I was, did not not even know about it and it was never offered by my installer. I guess I have a rather drafty house. 1500 sq. ft Cape Cod and I do feel rather cool air traveling across the floor from the opposite side of the house into the living room where the stove is. Some days it is more pronounce than others. As a Meteorologist I know this is a normal circulation. When the stove is on, I have been keeping the living room from 70-75 depending on the part of the heating cycle my P61a is on. The upstairs and the other side of the house ranges from 66-70. That cooler air then circulates into the living room. The stove temperature sensor is about 2 feet off the floor on the wall to the right side of the stove. The temerature at this spot coincides with the temperature setting on the stove fairly well in room temp mode.

Now, after all this rambling. Will an OAK keep that colder air from drifting along the floor into the living room? Does it "shut down" the circulation within the microclimate of the house? Will this cause the living room to heat up faster? And what about the rest of the house, generally speaking of course (obviously there are alot of variable). Any personal experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks......Mike

Goo Goo, IMO, the OAK will help by not pulling MORE cold air in through the "cracks & crevices" that older leaky homes have. The leakier the home, the easier it is for a stove with no OAK to create a continuous vacuum in the house by pulling cold air in from outside, instead of through the OAK.

Is the older leaky home still going to have some drafts??? Yes, but the OAK should make the pellet stove NOT one of the contributors to the problem. Without the OAK, you are also using already heated air (that you already paid to heat once) for the combustion, and then sending that $$ right up the exhaust.

IMO, there is no downside to having an OAK....either for a leaky or a tight house. Most stove companies now recommend having one.

Thanks IMAC. I will call about an install and cost. Perhaps I could try it myself but not sure I could pull it off. There is so little room to work with behind the stove not to mention that I am not too handy. Thanks again, it makes a lot of sense.

Not that difficult really. Just requires a 2 1/4" hole saw, a drill, small drill bits, and a screwdriver.

Here's where you can get the complete kit pretty reasonably, and they have free shipping:

www.dynamitebuys.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=1453

imacman said:

Goo Goo, IMO, the OAK will help by not pulling MORE cold air in through the "cracks & crevices" that older leaky homes have. The leakier the home, the easier it is for a stove with no OAK to create a continuous vacuum in the house by pulling cold air in from outside, instead of through the OAK.

Is the older leaky home still going to have some drafts??? Yes, but the OAK should make the pellet stove NOT one of the contributors to the problem. Without the OAK, you are also using already heated air (that you already paid to heat once) for the combustion, and then sending that $$ right up the exhaust.

IMO, there is no downside to having an OAK....either for a leaky or a tight house. Most stove companies now recommend having one.

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To add a little bit on imacmans and answer your question about the "microclimate" inside your home. Your stove will still create convection and that will naturally warm the areas of the home. But it will do it much faster with an OAK installed. Now you are just heating your house. Rather than trying to heat it, and cool it (cold air through leaks) at the same time.

Efficiency will always increase with an OAK. Many Nay-sayers will say otherwise, but if you never OAK'd, then you never know. I went without one for a bit and quickly installed. Large difference in my opinion. I doubt there will be any disappointment. You will wonder why you didnt do it sooner.

DexterDay said:

imacman said:

Goo Goo, IMO, the OAK will help by not pulling MORE cold air in through the "cracks & crevices" that older leaky homes have. The leakier the home, the easier it is for a stove with no OAK to create a continuous vacuum in the house by pulling cold air in from outside, instead of through the OAK.

Is the older leaky home still going to have some drafts??? Yes, but the OAK should make the pellet stove NOT one of the contributors to the problem. Without the OAK, you are also using already heated air (that you already paid to heat once) for the combustion, and then sending that $$ right up the exhaust.

IMO, there is no downside to having an OAK....either for a leaky or a tight house. Most stove companies now recommend having one.

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To add a little bit on imacmans and answer your question about the "microclimate" inside your home. Your stove will still create convection and that will naturally warm the areas of the home. But it will do it much faster with an OAK installed. Now you are just heating your house. Rather than trying to heat it, and cool it (cold air through leaks) at the same time.

Efficiency will always increase with an OAK. Many Nay-sayers will say otherwise, but if you never OAK'd, then you never know. I went without one for a bit and quickly installed. Large difference in my opinion. I doubt there will be any disappointment. You will wonder why you didnt do it sooner.

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Amen!

If you went to a hardware store or the hardware dept in a box store you could probably get everything you need for less then 50.00
No big mystery in any of it lots of people have made their own.

John97

Are you going to have the dealer install your OAK and the liner up the chimney (and I assume a new chimney cap)? What was the quote you got? Also, are they going to reline the entire chimney? I know that's what is shown in the user manual, but someone told me that they only needed to run X # of feet up the chimney from the stove, but didn't need to go the entire length to draw air. Let us now if you think it makes any difference. I've got this on my Christmas list .

Thanks!

My Selkirk has the OAK built right in, so it was a no brainer to hook it up.

I wish it were easy for me to install an OAK. Seeing as how I had a wood burner, my hearth goes up the wall several feet. I think trying to bore a hole in the side or bottom for and OAK would be a P.I.T.A..

hooter04 said:

Thats the thing,I want to heat the,rooms and not pull the cold air into the rooms. I probably won't install this year,but I'll do it next year for sure.

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If you do put it off until next year your should take a few test measurements this year and then again next year after the install. Then report back some data to help end the debate.

I also agree with the above - that you can get it done with (what my grandfather called) Yankee engineering for cheap. It's a hole and a hose - made to look as pretty as you like.

I've got about the same problem- I would run an OAK however the pellet stove is in the basement, which is finished, and it's a poured concrete wall behind it. So I would have to either run an OAK pipe up the inside wall 4' (visible) and then out to ground level OR run the OAK straight out, then plumb a line through soil and have it pop out at ground level.

Option 2 is the cleanest looking, but man. What a PITA.

I'm not running an OAK, but from what I've read...basement installs often benefit from them. Might be worth the headache for you in the long run?

Threerun said:

I've got about the same problem- I would run an OAK however the pellet stove is in the basement, which is finished, and it's a poured concrete wall behind it. So I would have to either run an OAK pipe up the inside wall 4' (visible) and then out to ground level OR run the OAK straight out, then plumb a line through soil and have it pop out at ground level.

Option 2 is the cleanest looking, but man. What a PITA.

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