Backdrafts and CO issues (airtight house?)

[Bails]

We purchased a new APEX modular house 3 years ago with a full basement (poured walls) that is all but 3 feet below ground level. We have a radiant heat woodstove in the basement with the cleanout on the inside of the basement and the thimble goes through the wall just below where the ground level would be. The chimney is a terra cotta pipe lined brick chimney.

Just a little background. The wood is dry and properly seasoned. I clean the stove-pipe up to and through the thimble about every other month. The chimney is cleaned about 3 times a year but I check it with a mirror regularly and there is no buildup in the chimney.

From the get-go I would have to crack a basement window to help get a fire going and prevent smoke from puffing out of the cleanout. with the window open there are no issues an there is good flow.

I have seen that people install air intakes through the floor into a crawl space, but I don't have this...what can I do to get a flow without opening my house to excessive drafts? Can I drill through the cement floor and draw air from the stone fill area of the foundation? Would I possibly have water coming up through during major rain? I'm at loss.

 

[bholler]

can you put an outside air kit on your stove?

 

[Sprinter]

Welcome to the forum. You clearly need an "outside air kit" (OAK). What model stove do you have and does it have a built-in intake for an OAK? If it does, maybe you can fabricate an air duct from the stove to a convenient place near a window in the basement. That's all it would take to get outside air in to the stove.

One other question: Do you have a liner in the chimney?

 

[Bails]

It's a Quadra Fire 5700 and does have a OAK intake built in, just needs a little digging to get it going. Will it be a problem if the pipe would run to a higher point than the thimble to go through the wall?

No I do not have a liner yet. It is on the schedule, but haven't scraped together the cash yet.

 

[gzecc]

How long is the chimney? How long is the wood split and stacked? Have you tried warming the chimney, prior to lighting the wood?

 

[Bails]

How long is the chimney? How long is the wood split and stacked? Have you tried warming the chimney, prior to lighting the wood?

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The stove pipe to the thimble is ~5 feet and the chimney is ~20'. The wood that i'm currently burning is 2 years cut and split and it as from dead trees prior to that. Nice good dry oak.

Even once the chimney is good and warm from a prior days fire it still has trouble drawing. Today when I let the fire go out at work, when I came home my CO alarm was going off and the reading was 70ppm at the time in the house so I aired it out and waited...this is the third time this has happened since we moved in and I want it to stop (can' be killing ourselves or our pets). it only give us CO problems when i'm letting the fire burn out.

 

[Sconnie Burner]

How long is the chimney? How long is the wood split and stacked? Have you tried warming the chimney, prior to lighting the wood?

On a cold start I burn just a sheet or two of news paper to get the draft going the right direction. I may even need to crack a window for a bit. But once that is taken care of my draft keeps going just fine. If you always need a window cracked at reload or through an entire burn I would say the house is too tight, or from reading about poor drafts on the interweb, the chimney may be too short.

 

[Sprinter]

No I do not have a liner yet. It is on the schedule, but haven't scraped together the cash yet.

A 6" insulated liner may help a lot with the draft problem, but I'd also try to get outside air in to the stove. I don't think it would be a problem for the air source to be higher than the stove or thimble.

 

[bholler]

Ok if your co alarm has gone off multiple times it is time to get a pro out to look at it i am sorry but co is not something to mess around with and the store bought alarms are notoriously unreliable. There have been many times i walk into a home with my monitor on my belt and it starts going off like crazy and the one plugged in right next to me is silent. I strongly urge you to get it checked now

 

[Bails]

Ok. Thank you for your comments. I will be getting OAK materials tomorrow and setting it up. I'll continue to check back for other comments, and will post an update in a few days with the initial results from the OAK installation.

 

[Bails]

Ok if your co alarm has gone off multiple times it is time to get a pro out to look at it i am sorry but co is not something to mess around with and the store bought alarms are notoriously unreliable. There have been many times i walk into a home with my monitor on my belt and it starts going off like crazy and the one plugged in right next to me is silent. I strongly urge you to get it checked now

I was gonna be on the phone with a few places tomorrow...sadly none will probably come since it's an hour or more for any to get to me. I went out the last time this happened and bought the best rated digital CO monitor I could find (Not that Kiddie chit) and that is where I got the 70ppm from today.

 

[Sprinter]

Ok if your co alarm has gone off multiple times it is time to get a pro out to look at it i am sorry but co is not something to mess around with and the store bought alarms are notoriously unreliable. There have been many times i walk into a home with my monitor on my belt and it starts going off like crazy and the one plugged in right next to me is silent. I strongly urge you to get it checked now

I agree. You've got a problem. I've never seen our CO alarm go off. Never. It may very well be that the OAK and liner solutions will work, but if it were me, I'd get a pro out there.

 

[bholler]

I dont know about not bing able to get anyone there if some one calls us and says their co alarm keeps going off first we tell them to call the FD and leave the home then we are there after the fire company clears the house

 

[Sprinter]

I dont know if some one calls us and says their co alarm keeps going off first we tell them to call the FD and leave the home then we are there after the fire company clears the house

That's what I was about to suggest. When I was an active FF, we would respond to such calls and often could pinpoint a source of trouble. Hopefully, your fire department is equipped to do that.