What are your opinions on plumbing OAK from basement? I have split faced block home and dont want to go through the block. Going vertical is no good, so I thought "why not go through the floor int othe basement"?
OAK plumbed to basement?
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kofkorn
Feeling the Heat
I'm not sure that's much better than running the OAK to a different room. The intention is to prevent any issues with your combustion air due to negative pressure caused by the blower pulling the air through the burn box.
If your basement is open to the outside air, it will probably work ok. But you'll likely just be drawing the air out of your upstairs down to the basement, taking your heat with it.
It really all depends on how tight your house is.
If your basement is open to the outside air, it will probably work ok. But you'll likely just be drawing the air out of your upstairs down to the basement, taking your heat with it.
It really all depends on how tight your house is.
I used the ash pit in the fire place that drops down to the basement for ouside air for my harman insert.
homebrewz
Minister of Fire
I have mine pulling air from the basement because this place is not very tight. Perhaps you could run an intake through the basement and out a casement/basement window?
Snowy Rivers
Minister of Fire
I have an OAK installed on one stove. The other just sucks room air.
Our house has an air mixer vent in the Furnace plenum that allows fresh air from the roof area to come in.
The two bathroom vents also allow in lots of air to come in too.
Never have had any issues.
Every house is different though.
Snowy
Our house has an air mixer vent in the Furnace plenum that allows fresh air from the roof area to come in.
The two bathroom vents also allow in lots of air to come in too.
Never have had any issues.
Every house is different though.
Snowy
forya
Member
I was talked out of an OAK from my installer, because it brings moist air in from the outside, and that promotes rust, so it is just sucking air from the house. Does the OAK have advantages? My fire seems to be burning fine, would it burn better with an OAK?
forya said:
I would agree with the installer IF you ran the stove during the summer months. BUT, that isn't the case. Late fall, winter, and early spring air is typically very dry....that's why everyone uses humidifiers in the cold months.
Put the OAK in....it can only help, IMO.
what about if you have a pellet stove in the basement-unfinished like me,(working in it), and instead of running oak from outside, you hook it up to a vent in the upstairs pulling the cold air down to the stove?
just an idea.
just an idea.
krooser
Minister of Fire
forya said:
An OAK is just not recommended to allow for a better air supply for the burn... it can be a safety issue as well.
Imagine you are running your stove in a fairly 'tight' home... you also have a NG/propane clothes dryer, cooking range and water heater. maybe even a gas-fired furnace heating some rooms... it would be very easy for all those appliances to use up all the oxygen in the home. The results wouldn't be good.
Several years ago, before I became a pellet burner, I read a news story about a family being hospitalized during the Christmas season... they were having their holiday meal, in a small home, and all the people in the house, in combo with the gas appliances, used up so much oxygen that they started to pass out after dinner. Fortunately one had the presence of mine to open a door then call for help.
I'm not saying this is a common problem but just give it a thought.
cac4
New Member
forya said:
that is ridiculous. air from outside, in the winter, is far, far dryer than inside air.
in either case, the atmosphere around that flame is about the driest place on earth.
Good catch on the safety issue. I didn't thnk about my water heater in the basement. The house isnt tight by any stretch. Built in 1912, no insulation in the walls and original windows. Probably don't need OAK but it seemed resonably cheap to try just to see if it helped burn more efficiently. I know my basement is more dy in the winter then summber because the two dehumidifiers dont run at all during the winter but they run non stop all summer. They are left plugged in year around.
save$
Minister of Fire
When you are near the outside exhaust pipe of your pellet stove, you can detect a steady breeze of air being blown outside. Unless you have OAK installed, that air came from within your home. It was air you paid to heat, then allowed it to be sucked up into the stove for combustion and blown outside. Now what replaces the air in the home that was used by the stove? Right! Cold outside air being sucked in around your windows, doors or leaky sills. All this air being sucked in creates a draft. So now you have cold drafty floors making you uncomfortable and you have spent more money to heat it up only to let it be sucked right outside again. It's comparable to leaving the bathroom exhaust fan running 24/7, or to having an open window with an exhaust fan running.
lordgrinz
Member
Well is there any proven tests done by a qualified testing facility that can prove how much more efficient an OAK being installed would be? In my case it just didn't make sense because the stove is venting out a chimney that is in the center of the house, only option would be to drill a hole in my hardwood floors and run thru the basement to an outside wall or basement window.
Xena
Minister of Fire
Turbo-Quad said:
I asked the same question before installing my OAK.
Mike from ESW strongly recommended I didn't do it so...
I ran it through the ash dump, through the basement,
then out the wall just above the sill and terminated outside
with a 4" dryer vent kit from Ace Hardware.
I disconnect the OAK at the stove during the non heating season
which avoids rust inside the stove.
lordgrinz said:
Similar for me venting up existing fireplace flue. I would have to either 1) drill through the fireplace and out the wall behind it (not an option ruins existing prefab), 2) Go around fireplace mantle with ugly 3" flex vent (no way), or 3) drill down thru hardwood floor to basement with ugly flex vent and then out (no way). So....no OAK but no problem stove works fine.
exoilburner
Feeling the Heat
Turbo-Quad said:
What's wrong with going vertical? My Harmon Installation manual says nothing about it. I ran my OAK from my basement floor to the ceiling and out the side of the house. Had no issues. Can see where you might be concerned with air heat rise but my convection blower doesn't seem to have any less draft causing a more lazy flame.
save$ said:
Good explanation. I second it.
My Harmon manual says my pellet burner will operate more efficiently with the OAK. I did notice some patches of rust but sprayed them with PAM and that stopped it.
save$
Minister of Fire
I don't know of any, except that they are consistently recommended in the installation section of the stove's manuals. I don't want to sound smug, but I don't need a qualified testing facility to tell me I need to stop air leaking in my home when I am trying to heat it. Remember that volume of air being exhausted by a blower out of your stove all came from inside your home when you don't use OAK. You are blowing heated air out of your home and sucking in all of that same volume of cold outside air though any means it can. If you have an older home, chances are it has an abundant source of natural drafts so your pellet flame is good. If you have one of the newer, more air tight homes, the volume of leaking air may be minimal. Your flame may be lazy. In that case, I would worry that the stove was using air that I needed to breath. OAk will improve both the heating of the air, and not compete for the available air inside the home.lordgrinz said:
lordgrinz
Member
save$ said:
Air is coming in anyway, otherwise you wouldn't be breathing. Not sure I like the new tight homes either, there is a point where tight becomes too tight, and stuffy. But if you are feeding cold air into the heating system, that also has to be heated, so I would like to see specs for efficiency. I am sure its more efficient, but how efficient, and is it really worth it. I live in a 1880 colonial, but with Insulation added and new Vinyl windows, so its fairly tight, and does well during my AC season, and seems to be holding the heat as well. But there is no way I am going through all the hurdles to run and OAK thru Hardwood and the basement .
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
One of the best things you can do to combustion is feed it fresh cool air. Ask any engine tuner. Drag racer or hot rodder. Cool dense air is loaded with oxygen! Now lets not start the OAK debate all over again. Its been known to start flaming wars. Do a search here and you can get more info than you may really want. Its been beaten to death here on many many threads!
lordgrinz
Member
j-takeman said:
We need a guinea pig to run their stove, with and without an OAK, then show us results ;-)
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
lordgrinz said:
geo and I both discused this topic and found very minimal difference in the output temp of the stove convection air. I had planned to measure the exhaust temp to see if it changed. maybe this season.
guinea pig.
Well I am a lottle(more than a little) chunky! %-Pwhats the debate?
It takes less energy to keep the same air up to temp (with OAK) than it does to continually heat new cold air being sucked into house (no OAK).
Is it required? Not always.
It takes less energy to keep the same air up to temp (with OAK) than it does to continually heat new cold air being sucked into house (no OAK).
Is it required? Not always.
lordgrinz
Member
j-takeman said:lordgrinz said:
geo and I both discused this topic and found very minimal difference in the output temp of the stove convection air. I had planned to measure the exhaust temp to see if it changed. maybe this season.
guinea pig.
I was thinking the only difference would be when the stove is trying to run at max output, but only if there was a limited amount of air without the OAK. Since I believe my stove adjusts itself at lower heating temps, I can't see where it would make much difference. Especially if the installer tested intake volume of air during his install and test run. Usage of pellets may change, but thats hard to test without exact conditions outside over the same period of testing time.
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
lordgrinz said:j-takeman said:lordgrinz said:
geo and I both discused this topic and found very minimal difference in the output temp of the stove convection air. I had planned to measure the exhaust temp to see if it changed. maybe this season.
guinea pig.
I was thinking the only difference would be when the stove is trying to run at max output, but only if there was a limited amount of air without the OAK. Since I believe my stove adjusts itself at lower heating temps, I can't see where it would make much difference. Especially if the installer tested intake volume of air during his install and test run. Usage of pellets may change, but thats hard to test without exact conditions outside over the same period of testing time.
My basement is drafty and has plenty of air coming in to run the stove on its highest setting. I don't use the oak during the temp checks on my pellet testiing. But I do hook it back up after the temp is logged. The one thing I notice if its isn't hooked back up is my burn would need more draft air added. Pretty sure thats because of the cooler dense air from outside. The warmer air in the basement might not have the same oxygen level?
So I might not be a good guinea pig. My house isn't tight enough I'd say! I am sure the stove guys that build these things have done thorough testing if they are stating OAK is to be used!
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