Building a new house need your help

[c7fx]

I have lurked this site for a while and actually used what I learned here to buy my first wood burner. A Lopi Freedom insert

I have some questions for getting another insert for our new house.

First question is are there any that have a fresh air intake?
I worry about cool drafts. plus the house is being built very air tight.

Second whats the deal with insulated chimney? Do I need this or not?

Third I want to be able to completely close the chimney when not in use to keep cold air out when not burning. The one I have now I don't have that ability and cold air comes in quickly

Thanks for all your help

 

[begreen]

Welcome to the forum. If you are building new, why are you building around an insert, that requires a fireplace in which it "inserts"? You would be better off to just design around a centrally located, freestanding stove.

 

[dafattkidd]

Congrats on building a new house. That is a dream of mine that will most likely never happen or it will be a very long time until then. So congrats to you. May your new home be a blessing to you and your family.

Anyway I Know for sure you can set up an outside air out on Osburns. I'm sure there are a ton of stoves that can hook up to OAKs. Insulated chimneys are better for draft. Insulated liners are necessary for chimneys that are on outside walls but seemingly always advantageous. The chimney draft you mentioned can be remedied with a blockoff plate. That is a piece if sheet metal that covers the spaces left in the whole cut out of your damper. If you do a search on the forum you'll find some great examples of insulated blockoff plates. Good luck.

 

[webby3650]

A free standing stove is a great way to go, an insert needs a masonry fireplace to be inserted into, not a practical thing to do in a new construction situation. Have you looked into High eff. fireplaces? The Fireplace Extraordinaire is a great heater. It also does great in tight houses, it uses all outside air.

 

[c7fx]

Thanks I tried to convince my wife to do a free standing but she loves the look of an insert. Our builder does a fireplace with the plans for the house we just requested for it to be a true wood burner

 

[ecocavalier02]

Thanks I tried to convince my wife to do a free standing but she loves the look of an insert. Our builder does a fireplace with the plans for the house we just requested for it to be a true wood burner

will you be heating primarily with the stove or just as an occasional thing? if so i would convince your wife otherwise. if not and you just going to use it weekends and here and there then a insert would be ok i guess. but you have the chance to design a house around a freestanding stove and have it setup perfectly.

 

[webby3650]

Look at pre-fab high efficiency fireplaces. Go to your nearest dealer and take a look! You will save lots of money, time, and future maintenance and inefficiency associated with a masonry flue and fireplace.

 

[c7fx]

Thanks I tried to convince my wife to do a free standing but she loves the look of an insert. Our builder does a fireplace with the plans for the house we just requested for it to be a true wood burner

will you be heating primarily with the stove or just as an occasional thing? if so i would convince your wife otherwise. if not and you just going to use it weekends and here and there then a insert would be ok i guess. but you have the chance to design a house around a freestanding stove and have it setup perfectly.

Well we had the lopi freedom with blower at my house now and it heats our whole house. I only use the furnace when it gets really cold. The house we are building will be a 2100 sqft ranch. The house I'm in now is a 1900 sqft colonial.

 

[begreen]

Thanks I tried to convince my wife to do a free standing but she loves the look of an insert. Our builder does a fireplace with the plans for the house we just requested for it to be a true wood burner

Installing a fireplace just to install an insert sounds like a good way to add a few thousand to the project. I think all you need is a pre-fab, hi-efficiency fireplace to make both of you happy. There are several models out there and they will not need an insert. Take a look at models by Kozy, FPX, BIS and RSF for starters.

 

[jeff_t]

Building a masonry fireplace would be a gigantic waste of time and money. I just tore mine out. High eff fireplaces can be built into whatever hearth/surround/mantle you want. Plus, at least some can be set up to have heat ducted to other parts of the home.

 

[ironworker]

I just built a house in 2005,and it came with a masonry fireplace, I than installed a Lopi freedom a year later and could not be happier, the masonry fireplace does a great job of retaining heat, if I had to do it over I would have put a freestanding going into the fireplace, or right in front, but could not do due to the way it was built. If you have an access to your attic, don't forget to put an insulated cap on it.

 

[semipro]

c7fx,
I'm pretty sure there are some inserts out there that have a provision for a fresh air intake (referred to here as an OAK).
Since you are building new you have a great opportunity to build right.
Since you are building a very tight house I'd definitely install provision for an outside air supply tot the insert. You can always block it off and disable it if you later decide to.

If you can, install two fresh air inlets on opposite sides of the house from each other. Tee them together and connect the stove to the tee also. This creates a balanced system.
Install a check valve type damper between the tee and stove. This will prevent back drafting from the flue into the OAK piping.
All pipe between the stove and check valve should be metal.
Seal and insulate well the piping going from one side of the house to the other. It will be cold and could create a heat loss otherwise.

You're wise to want to close off the flue when its not in use to prevent drafts and warm season odors.
Consider a cable operated chimney-top damper to seal off the flue when the stove is not in use.

Insulating a chimney (actually the flue) may be necessary in cold chimneys on exterior walls to maintain flue temps and therefore draft. If you chimney is wholly enclosed by the house interior its unlikely you'll need to insulate it.

BTW: I've found the term "OAK" on this forum and elsewhere to be somewhat ambiguous. To manufacturers, an OAK may be only the metal adapter that allows you to connect an outside air supply to your stove/insert. OAK here typically refers to the complete outside air supply system from outer wall to stove. Some (indirect?) OAKs do not directly connect to the stove but do supply air to the interior of the house usually near the stove.

BTW no. 2: Another vote here for a freestanding stove as opposed to an insert.
No fans so no noise and no performance problems when the power it out.
Its real hard to beat a freestanding stove with an interior, uninsulated stovepipe going through the roof for overall simplicity and efficiency.

 

[tcassavaugh]

i understand the alure and romance of a fireplace....and your wife wants it......but how about a free standing that you can pull a door off and burn as a fireplace? just a thought and possible comprimise.

cass

 

[webby3650]

I just built a house in 2005,and it came with a masonry fireplace, I than installed a Lopi freedom a year later and could not be happier, the masonry fireplace does a great job of retaining heat, if I had to do it over I would have put a freestanding going into the fireplace, or right in front, but could not do due to the way it was built. If you have an access to your attic, don't forget to put an insulated cap on it.

If you built the house, how did it come with a masonry fireplace? I'm glad it works well for you, the Freedom is a great stove, but it's very counter productive to build a fireplace, just to install an insert. Also, what do you mean, insulated cap?

 

[webby3650]

c7fx,
I'm pretty sure there are some inserts out there that have a provision for a fresh air intake (referred to here as an OAK).
Since you are building new you have a great opportunity to build right.
Since you are building a very tight house I'd definitely install provision for an outside air supply tot the insert. You can always block it off and disable it if you later decide to.

If you can, install two fresh air inlets on opposite sides of the house from each other. Tee them together and connect the stove to the tee also. This creates a balanced system.
Install a check valve type damper between the tee and stove. This will prevent back drafting from the flue into the OAK piping.
All pipe between the stove and check valve should be metal.
Seal and insulate well the piping going from one side of the house to the other. It will be cold and could create a heat loss otherwise.

You're wise to want to close off the flue when its not in use to prevent drafts and warm season odors.
Consider a cable operated chimney-top damper to seal off the flue when the stove is not in use.

Insulating a chimney (actually the flue) may be necessary in cold chimneys on exterior walls to maintain flue temps and therefore draft. If you chimney is wholly enclosed by the house interior its unlikely you'll need to insulate it.

BTW: I've found the term "OAK" on this forum and elsewhere to be somewhat ambiguous. To manufacturers, an OAK may be only the metal adapter that allows you to connect an outside air supply to your stove/insert. OAK here typically refers to the complete outside air supply system from outer wall to stove. Some (indirect?) OAKs do not directly connect to the stove but do supply air to the interior of the house usually near the stove.

BTW no. 2: Another vote here for a freestanding stove as opposed to an insert.
No fans so no noise and no performance problems when the power it out.
Its real hard to beat a freestanding stove with an interior, uninsulated stovepipe going through the roof for overall simplicity and efficiency.

I have installed lots of inserts, and I don't think there has ever been room to install outside air directly to the unit. I guess if is built exta large and with pipes for outside air built into it, it would work. If you can even get ahold of a unit that has this option. All of these issues would be eliminated with a pre-fab high eff. unit. Not to mention, higher efficiency and lower cost. The cable operated Lock Top damper won't work once the liner and the insert are installed. Uninsulated stove pipe can't go through the roof either, and is much less efficient than insulated pipe. In any instance, use class A chimney, or an insulated liner if you do an insert, you can't go wrong.

 

[ironworker]

I just built a house in 2005,and it came with a masonry fireplace, I than installed a Lopi freedom a year later and could not be happier, the masonry fireplace does a great job of retaining heat, if I had to do it over I would have put a freestanding going into the fireplace, or right in front, but could not do due to the way it was built. If you have an access to your attic, don't forget to put an insulated cap on it.

If you built the house, how did it come with a masonry fireplace? I'm glad it works well for you, the Freedom is a great stove, but it's very counter productive to build a fireplace, just to install an insert. Also, what do you mean, insulated cap?

I used a builder and they are two guys and one happens to be a mason by trade so it is something that is standard in the homes that they offer as a selling point to use them. The stove was an after thought after my first year's oil bill. And as far as the attic, mine has one of those trap door type where you pull down on a rope and a ladder folds out, well they are only a frame with a piece of luan about 1/8" and are very drafty so I made a cover slightly bigger and tall enough to account for the hinges when folded, so it looks like a cap, funny thing is it took me 4 years to notice it :red: and ever since I have been burning less wood. And if I new I was going with a stove I still would have went with the masonry fireplace, maybe a different design, I just think they look nice plus ad value.

 

[ecocavalier02]

I just built a house in 2005,and it came with a masonry fireplace, I than installed a Lopi freedom a year later and could not be happier, the masonry fireplace does a great job of retaining heat, if I had to do it over I would have put a freestanding going into the fireplace, or right in front, but could not do due to the way it was built. If you have an access to your attic, don't forget to put an insulated cap on it.

If you built the house, how did it come with a masonry fireplace? I'm glad it works well for you, the Freedom is a great stove, but it's very counter productive to build a fireplace, just to install an insert. Also, what do you mean, insulated cap?

his builder probably puts them in the houses they build as standard. are builder does stuff like that in houses. thats what they do. certain things are included with the house that they do standard on every house they build for the most part.

 

[dafattkidd]

So if you're going to go with an insert and a masonry fireplace, I recommend a raised hearth for better fire viewing and easier access.

For the record I vote for a stand alone stove on an extended, raised masonry fireplace that is built around the stove. Similar to the jotul in the pic on the hearth.com home page.

Either way good decision to go with wood heat for your new home.