Do pellet stoves have backdraft issues?

[shep546]

Hey guys,

I recently bought a house with a wood stove in the finished basement.

I am having ridiculous issues with backdraft on startup with the wood stove, smoking out the basement. I am at my wits end and was thinking of switching out to a pellet stove.

Do pellet stoves have issues with backdraft? What happens if it starts automatically and there is a negative backdraft?

Thanks

 

[SciGuy]

Hey guys,

I recently bought a house with a wood stove in the finished basement.

I am having ridiculous issues with backdraft on startup with the wood stove, smoking out the basement. I am at my wits end and was thinking of switching out to a pellet stove.

Do pellet stoves have issues with backdraft? What happens if it starts automatically and there is a negative backdraft?

Thanks

Shep,

Pellet stoves have an "induced draft" driven by their combustion blower that ought to counter back draft problems as long as your electrical supply is uninterrupted. That said, if you do lose power while the stove is running there can be smoke drawn into the room if there is a negative pressure in the house compared to outside. I have a tall enough chimney that my pellet stove vent runs through that my stove will not back draft with loss of power. Some pellet stove owners install backup power supplies that will run the stove at least long enough to shut down cleanly if not run for several hours while still providing heat to the home.

YMMV,

Hugh

 

[shep546]

Shep,

Pellet stoves have an "induced draft" driven by their combustion blower that ought to counter back draft problems as long as your electrical supply is uninterrupted. That said, if you do lose power while the stove is running there can be smoke drawn into the room if there is a negative pressure in the house compared to outside. I have a tall enough chimney that my pellet stove vent runs through that my stove will not back draft with loss of power. Some pellet stove owners install backup power supplies that will run the stove at least long enough to shut down cleanly if not run for several hours while still providing heat to the home.

YMMV,

Hugh

Thank you for the reply Hugh,

My backdraft issues are only during startup before the chimney warms up, it is a brick chimney with liner for the wood stove. My house is also wired for a generator so loss of power isn't an issue.

I'm going to contact my local fireplace retailer and look about replacing the wood stove with pellet, I assume at a minimum my 6" piping will have to be reduced to 4"?

 

[FixedGearFlyer]

Don't give up on your woodstove unless you prefer the pellet stove for another reason.

Have you tried lighting your fires with 4 or 5 sheets of knotted newspaper on top of the wood? In our woodstove, the paper burns fast and hot, moving a slug of warm air up through the chimney to quickly prime the draft. As long as we do that, we don't have any draft issues on startup, even in the warmer shoulder seasons.

 

[zrock]

ya i would not give up the wood stove... on start up you need to get it good and hot... i always had to keep the fire raging for the first few min until things got warm

 

[johneh]

Pellet stove backdraft in one word NO

 

[Washed-Up]

Agreed, I live in a very windy mountain valley and have not had one backdraft in 10+yrs

 

[MalcolmH]

I have a very similar wood stove set up that can smoke you outta the house on startup, the insert also exhausts straight out the back for about 3 feet, than up for 20-25', not ideal for creating a good draft, the liner should help but still have issues, I now open a window close to the stove and usually this works for lighting when cold, on rainy days when there is high pressure and cold pipes I open a window and actually put a small camp stove(power gas isobutane/propane mix) in the fireplace, let it warm up for a 5-10minute, remove and light stove as usual, works everytime.

 

[tlc1976]

You can install a pellet stove and use an outside air kit. That draws its own air supply from outside and won’t create negative pressure in the house.

 

[shep546]

Thanks for your replies.

The wood stove is in a basement we are rarely in, it's a newer home with no venting and the heat does not rise sufficiently. We have heat pumps on the 2 upper levels.

The only time I use the wood stove is if I'm in the basement (watching a movie or something) and the difficulty of lighting this stove with the backdraft issues is simply not worth it for the amount of time we're down there.

 

[m159267]

Have you tried top down lighting?

 

[tiger]

Have you tried top down lighting?

So, you need to be on the roof with a really long match?

More seriously, never had trouble in the years I had a wood stove prior to going pellet, so I am not much help. You'd think there would be such a thing as a booster fan at the top of the flue.

 

[bholler]

Thanks for your replies.

The wood stove is in a basement we are rarely in, it's a newer home with no venting and the heat does not rise sufficiently. We have heat pumps on the 2 upper levels.

The only time I use the wood stove is if I'm in the basement (watching a movie or something) and the difficulty of lighting this stove with the backdraft issues is simply not worth it for the amount of time we're down there.

It is extremely unlikely you would ever have a draft reversal with a pellet stove. But if you want I am also sure we could help you overcome the issues with your woodstove

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

So, you need to be on the roof with a really long match?

More seriously, never had trouble in the years I had a wood stove prior to going pellet, so I am not much help. You'd think there would be such a thing as a booster fan at the top of the flue.

They make 'em. Search "chimney fans". No way I'd want one, though. Looks like that would be a maintenance disaster if you used it for more than say, Christmas Day only..

 

[bholler]

They make 'em. Search "chimney fans". No way I'd want one, though. Looks like that would be a maintenance disaster if you used it for more than say, Christmas Day only..

You are absolutely right you don't want one.