Air infiltration through gasket on Wood burning insert

[Bucksandreds]

Hello,

I had the Lopi 1250i installed last week and it's a wonderful woodburner. I have one problem. I have a relatively new house insulated in a "tight" manner designed to keep the heat in the home and the problem is that there is always a pressure differential that in the winter causes cold air to fight to enter my home. I thought that getting the insert would cause my fireplace to stop leaking in smoky smelling air but it appears to be entering through the gasket. This is happening when the stove is not in use. I need advice as to how to stop this. Would a high temp silicone around the gasket make it more airtight? Are there any good options at all?

Thank you

 

[webby3650]

The fireplace insert is not the problem as you know. Nothing you do will stop this smell if it's being pulled through the gasket. The stove is not air right, if the gasket was tighter, air would be pulled through the air intake of the stove. You need to allow some make up air somewhere in the house. I see this all the time in new "tight" homes. Make everything air tight and over insulated, then allow non-stop air infiltration through a make air system.. seems counterproductive, but that's probably your only solution.

 

[Bucksandreds]

Thank you for the advice and I may have to go that route. I would prefer not to, however. I also had infiltration through the air intake at the bottom of the unit but I made a decent looking cover out of black vinyl and attached it with magnets and there is no smell coming from there. I would really like to know if there is such a thing as an airtight gasket or a good silicone to seal it.

Thank you

 

[begreen]

Sounds like the house might benefit from some preheated makeup air with HRV.