O.A.K. Direction East or West? and masonary questions?

[Hiram Maxim]

Getting ready to run my Outside Air Kit and I'm wondering what you guys think would be the best direction from outside to inside? (same distance 20'ft, either way)
I live on a hill on the South side of a very windy lake.
My guess is East?

Also this beast calls for a 3" OAK......how would you go about making a 3" hole through a exterior brick wall?

I was going to drill a center hole and then hammer & chisel :roll:

Run 3" pvc with a shut off valve, Go from pvc to aluminum 8 feet before the stove.
The oak will be run below the stove through the basement.
Suggestions welcomed.

Thank you,Hiram

 

[North of 60]

Your Ideas are fine. Just insulate with foilback insulation for the 1st ten feet entering the house. Built sort of an upside down P-Trap just before you rise up to enter the stove. This will create a heat trap to stop the cold from pushing through when the stove is not in use. Kudos to you for the effort on an OAK. It was the biggest positive for me other than installing the new stove. Good luck.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Do you have an OAK on the Englander? If not, could you tell the difference in the way it burned before and after you tightened the house up? I'm poised to finish the shell of the house this fall and wondering if I should do it while everything is open.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Also this beast calls for a 3" OAK......how would you go about making a 3" hole through a exterior brick wall?

I was going to drill a center hole and then hammer & chisel :roll:

With a masonry hole saw of course.... Really, they do exist. My dad has a 4" one that he has a on BIG drill for the business that he runs. But he only needs a 4" so that is all he has. Maybe look at some rental places, or ask a local mason and/or hvac person (they occasionally need to go through rock/brick too) etc. You may be able to get somebody to stop by and drill the hole for you in exchange for a case of beer etc.

 

[learnin to burn]

Hiram - I Just drilled and chiseled like you are thinking. It wasn't very hard at all. My run is about 25 ft. I remember someone told me I should have increased the size of the intake pipe to 4 inches due to the length of the run. I did not and it seems to have worked OK so far. I haven't changed over to the pvc yet but here are a few pics of my set up. I did add a screen to the outside to keep critters out and do plane on enclosing the run when I change to pvc pipe.

 

[DAKSY]

There used to be a short video on www.woodheat.org of a Regency free-standing stove with an OAK on the leeward side of the house & it showed what happened when a strong wind blew outside. So much air was drawn OUT of the firebox that the flames seemed to extinguish. When the wind stopped, there would be an EXPLOSION of flame as it re-ignited. You might be better served having it installed on the windward side of the house, with some sort of manual regular to limit the airflow IN on windy days. Is your house THAT tight that you require an OAK, or is your local Bldg. Inspector the issue?

 

[Todd]

I rented a hammer drill with a 4" hole attachment from local rental store. It worked great.

 

[vvvv]

There used to be a short video on www.woodheat.org of a Regency free-standing stove with an OAK on the leeward side of the house & it showed what happened when a strong wind blew outside. So much air was drawn OUT of the firebox that the flames seemed to extinguish. When the wind stopped, there would be an EXPLOSION of flame as it re-ignited. You might be better served having it installed on the windward side of the house, with some sort of manual regular to limit the airflow IN on windy days. Is your house THAT tight that you require an OAK, or is your local Bldg. Inspector the issue?

a proper oak has air inlets from opposite sides of the house to compensate for the pressure issue.