Lopi Declaration air intake location ?

[pdxdave]

I have a Lopi Declaration for about 3 months now.

Last weekend I used foil tape to seal between the firebox opening and in the insert (behind the trim panels), all the way around. I did this just to eliminate any cold draft coming in the house from around the firebox when not in use.

After that I started a fire, and to my surprise it didn't draft properly. It's never had a problem drafting in the past at all. This didn't really make sense to me, so I quickly pulled the little strip of tape I had put on the bottom before too much smoke came in the house, and it started drafting properly right away. I can't really explain this, but it got me thinking, where is the air intake located on the Declaration ?? The way it acted makes me think that it is drawing air from the sides/bottom/back (ie anything other than the front). Is this true ?

If so that means I could in effect setup a cold air intake by providing an air path to the fireplace cavity (via hole through chimney, ash dump etc..) , while sealing the opening as I had done.

I'd really be interested in doing this, as I don't like the idea of the fire pulling heating air from the house for combustion.

So does anyone know where on the declaration exterior the combustion air actually enters ?

Thanks

 

[flyingpig]

This model has air intake on the bottom. You can verify with the instruction manual.

I asked the same question to my installer about using ash dump as an air intake and he didn't recommend. The larger model (FX36 & 44) have an option of their posi-pressure option, which use electric pump to pump the air from outside to feed the firebox and create a "positive pressure" in the house, which in turn prevent the cold air from leaking in from windows, etc. But there is a caution that it doesn't work well if the outside temp is too low.

The Declaration is not designed to use the outside air kit (OAK). So I guess the cold air intake may impact the combustion efficiency.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[maverick06]

With the blower off and a nice fire going strong, you can put your hand down by the air intake control damper and feel the pull of air. So I would agree, it appears to be bottom center of the firebox.

When you pull the faceplate off, you will see between the blowers the damper aparatus, pretty safe to assume that is where the air is getting pulled into the fire box.

For me at least, the stove gets a bit flustered at about 50F+ and you run the risk of getting smoke inside until it gets some heat into the stack. A sheet of newspaper will solve this.

 

[pdxdave]

With the blower off and a nice fire going strong, you can put your hand down by the air intake control damper and feel the pull of air. So I would agree, it appears to be bottom center of the firebox.

When you pull the faceplate off, you will see between the blowers the damper aparatus, pretty safe to assume that is where the air is getting pulled into the fire box.

For me at least, the stove gets a bit flustered at about 50F+ and you run the risk of getting smoke inside until it gets some heat into the stack. A sheet of newspaper will solve this.

OK you mean the bottom of the front correct ? Ie pulling air from the house vs. pulling air from the surrounding space inside the fireplace cavity.

I suppose the outside temp could have been part of the reason I had smoke issues, it was probably the warmest yet that Id started a fire.