OAK Success Stories

[Troutchaser]

Instead of the usual, To Oak or not to Oak thread, I hoped to hear some real success stories.
I admit I'm thinking hard about it. If I crack a window, a stiff breeze rushes into the house.
The way I see it, after burning for a couple of hours that has got to affect how the stove is drafting.

Anybody install an OAK and see a night and day difference in stove performace?

 

[LLigetfa]

Good luck keeping this thread from turning into yet another OAK debate. People are so firmly entrenched in their opinions which are often based solely on theory.

I cannot give you before and after anecdotal evidence since I installed the OAK with the stove. I have however read such anecdotal evidence on this forum several times.

If I crack a window, a stiff breeze rushes into the house.

That is but one symptom (which an OAK might not even cure) and there are other factors. What you need to start with is a good air leakage audit of the house. The stove is just one potential source of a pressure deficit and the house will require make-up air regardless. Start by sealing where air is lost.

A hot air balloon has a huge hole at the base yet stays aloft because air doesn't leak out the top. Sealing the holes on the bottom and ignoring holes on the top is a common approach many do with their houses, mainly because it's easier to find where the cold air leaks in. Try that approach on a hot air balloon.

 

[billb3]

I admit I'm thinking hard about it. If I crack a window, a stiff breeze rushes into the house.

Where's it going out ?

Tall casement ?
In at the bottom out at the top ?

 

[joecool85]

I admit I'm thinking hard about it. If I crack a window, a stiff breeze rushes into the house.

Where's it going out ?

Tall casement ?
In at the bottom out at the top ?

Attic.

 

[Troutchaser]

Without an air audit, who knows just what's going on. I can only say that the home is 8 years old, cathedral ceiling (no attic), knotty pine tongue and groove walls.
On those frosty mornings when the roof is covered white, I see no indication of warm spots.

I have a perfect set-up for an OAK. Probably couldn't hurt anything.
Last night, within 5 minutes of closing the cracked window beside the the stove, I lost draft. Maybe I'm just over reaching.
But I have little doubt that most of the air loss inside the home is going up the flue.

I was hoping someone would say.......... "Boy, after OAKing my stove turned the corner."

Thanks for the comments.

 

[billb3]

Sometimes air movements and flows can be indicated with incense smoke. (or something like that that makes smoke)
Sometimes easier to see at night with the lights out and flashlights.
Worth a try.

 

[woodgeek]

Without an air audit, who knows just what's going on. I can only say that the home is 8 years old, cathedral ceiling (no attic), knotty pine tongue and groove walls.
On those frosty mornings when the roof is covered white, I see no indication of warm spots.

I have a perfect set-up for an OAK. Probably couldn't hurt anything.
Last night, within 5 minutes of closing the cracked window beside the the stove, I lost draft. Maybe I'm just over reaching.
But I have little doubt that most of the air loss inside the home is going up the flue.

I was hoping someone would say.......... "Boy, after OAKing my stove turned the corner."

Thanks for the comments.

If you have new/tight construction, then I think you have a reasonable concept, but 5 minutes seems too long for a cause/effect relationship.
The depressurization/repressurization would take seconds to reach equilibrium. Repeat your test a couple times watching the stove and show
it recovers when you recrack the window. Then we will all believe.

 

[FyreBug]

Not to add fuel to the fire (pun intended) each situation has to be evaluated to determine if an OAK will help. Since they are typically inexpensive an easy way to find out is just to try it. Not an easy thing thought if you have to do some major hold punching & renovations in order to install. However, the device might just be masking symptoms that you should not disregard (like taking 2 aspirins to mask some major illness).

I have seen where an OAK was drawing so much fresh air in the room it ended up being iced over by condensation! On the other hand, I have seen many instances where if provided a quick fix and the owner were quite happy with the results.

 

[John_M]

troutchaser, I am unable to provide a before/after comparison of burning wood with and without an oak because my stove has had an OAK since the day it was installed. I built my house six years ago and one of my goals during construction was to prevent as much air infiltration as financially possible.

For five hears I lived in the house before installing the stove w/OAK. Each winter during those years I had my usual episodes of asthma and other respiratory distress. I started burning wood in the fall of 2009. Last winter my asthma and other respiratory issues were greatly diminished from the five previous years. Can that respiratory improvement be attributed to the wood stove and/or the OAK? I do not know.

I do know my stove draws air very freely and never shows any signs of air starvation. There is a double hung window almost directly behind the stove and I sometimes keep the top of that window open about 1/8" whether or not I have a fire going. I believe a little fresh air infiltration provides benefits for me and the house. The stove draws air just as freely whether the window is open or closed. I have not experimented with closing off the OAK to determine what effect that would have on the stove's ability to draw properly.

Others can make their own decisions whether or not they should install an OAK with their stove. If undecided, I would suggest a person experiment burning with a nearby window open about 1" to see if that improves the stove's breathing. If an open window helps perhaps an OAK would also help.

The one and a half days I spent installing the oak were time well spent.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Instead of the usual, To Oak or not to Oak thread, I hoped to hear some real success stories.
I admit I'm thinking hard about it. If I crack a window, a stiff breeze rushes into the house.
The way I see it, after burning for a couple of hours that has got to affect how the stove is drafting.

Anybody install an OAK and see a night and day difference in stove performace?

Before installing an OAK, make sure your fuel is not the problem. It is common for folks to think it is all lack of draft when in fact it is a case of burning not quite ready to burn wood. Doing this requires more draft. So an easy fix is to have dry wood and that is done only in one way; have the wood split and stacked for a minimum of one year from the time of splitting. More time for other woods, like oak, which takes 3 years most of the time.

 

[LLigetfa]

I have a perfect set-up for an OAK. Probably couldn't hurt anything.

I tend to agree with you but not knowing all the details of the home, if it were leaky topside and overly sealed at the bottom, an OAK could actually push smoke into the room when you open the door as the OAK would try to provide make-up air to the room. While the OAK will help, you also need to provide make-up air to the home.

If you find that there is still a pressure deficit after installing an OAK, closing the air on the stove and opening a window may be required to prevent smoke coming into the home.

My home has a HRV and in theory it should provide the needed make-up air but one year I neglected to clean the fresh air intake screen on the outside and as a result, the HRV was exacerbating the pressure deficit rather than mitigating it. I struggled with and was puzzled by smoke pouring in when I opened the stove. It was a DOH moment the next Fall when I saw how badly clogged the HRV intake was.

I was hoping someone would say.......... "Boy, after OAKing my stove turned the corner."

I've read such anecdotes on this forum. You can surmise same by leaving a window open a bit to equalize the pressure and monitor the effect on the stove. Sounds like you already did that. All that's left is to reconcile any additional sources of air loss and the need to provide general make-up air to the home.

 

[Troutchaser]

Good food for thought. I thank you all.

Like Dennis said, the wood can fool you, and I admit I'm questioning my 1yr. old ash. I'm losing good draft with bone dry soft maple too though.
But I can't deny that the house is sucking air when that cold breeze helps to swing the door open.

Will give it some thought.

 

[LLigetfa]

But I can't deny that the house is sucking air when that cold breeze helps to swing the door open.

I worked at a coal fired generating plant that had a huge stack, probably about 400 feet tall. I couldn't get over how hard it was to open the man-door at ground level due to the draft creating negative pressure against the door. Once I got the door open, it was like standing at the wrong end of a wind tunnel. It would suck you in like a giant Hoover but you had to watch the door didn't hit you in the butt on the way in. I wondered why the door didn't open inward but then that could be a real surprise to open.

 

[Renovation]

Good luck keeping this thread from turning into yet another OAK debate. People are so firmly entrenched in their opinions which are often based solely on theory.

I cannot give you before and after anecdotal evidence since I installed the OAK with the stove. I have however read such anecdotal evidence on this forum several times.

If I crack a window, a stiff breeze rushes into the house.

That is but one symptom (which an OAK might not even cure) and there are other factors. What you need to start with is a good air leakage audit of the house. The stove is just one potential source of a pressure deficit and the house will require make-up air regardless. Start by sealing where air is lost.

A hot air balloon has a huge hole at the base yet stays aloft because air doesn't leak out the top. Sealing the holes on the bottom and ignoring holes on the top is a common approach many do with their houses, mainly because it's easier to find where the cold air leaks in. Try that approach on a hot air balloon.

Thanks LL, that's an excellent point that I hadn't considered.

 

[Nic36]

I installed my OAK when I installed the stove, so I can't really give a success story per se. I do however know it pulls in plenty of air from the outside when the stove is burning. I can put my hand near the outside intake and feel the air rushing by my hand. So, that's less air it would have to pull in from elsewhere in the house. I told myself I was going to disconnect it for a while to see if I noticed anything different. But, I figured if it ain't broke, don't mess with it.

 

[Troutchaser]

I installed my OAK when I installed the stove, so I can't really give a success story per se. I do however know it pulls in plenty of air from the outside when the stove is burning. I can put my hand near the outside intake and feel the air rushing by my hand. So, that's less air it would have to pull in from elsewhere in the house. I told myself I was going to disconnect it for a while to see if I noticed anything different. But, I figured if it ain't broke, don't mess with it.

Exactly. Don't tempt fate. You'll hook it back up and things will never be the same.
I would just go ahead and put one in if LL handn't mentioned the real possibility of smoke spilling into the home because of the OAK.
Hmmmmm. I have a top load. Wonder if that could still happen.

 

[LLigetfa]

LOL
I didn't mean to scare you off from the idea. Just saying that the entire house needs to be factored in. Every home needs air and often people seal up where they can feel cold air enter the home rather than find where warm air exits.

I looked at the instructions for the Lopi Leydon OAK and it doesn't look like the inside air intake gets blocked by the addition of the OAK. If you added a positive shutoff to the OAK, you could regulate the ratio of outside versus inside air and closing the OAK should prevent smoke being pushed out of the stove when reloading.

 

[Renovation]

If you added a positive shutoff to the OAK, you could regulate the ratio of outside versus inside air and closing the OAK should prevent smoke being pushed out of the stove when reloading.

Hmmm... maybe I'll include this in my install--shutoffs to switch between house air and outside air. Thanks for the idea!

 

[Troutchaser]

LOL
I didn't mean to scare you off from the idea. Just saying that the entire house needs to be factored in. Every home needs air and often people seal up where they can feel cold air enter the home rather than find where warm air exits.

I looked at the instructions for the Lopi Leydon OAK and it doesn't look like the inside air intake gets blocked by the addition of the OAK. If you added a positive shutoff to the OAK, you could regulate the ratio of outside versus inside air and closing the OAK should prevent smoke being pushed out of the stove when reloading.

Now there's an idea!!
I haven't burned since last night and I can still feel cold air rushing through the door entrance when I leave it cracked 2"'s or so. I think this is telling me that I might be losing some air out of this 23' cathedral.
Again, thanks all. The information and help on this site is wonderful.

 

[LLigetfa]

The chimney will still draw even without a fire and air intake on these stoves can never be completely closed. That might account for some of the cold air you feel.

Before I added the positive shutoff to my OAK, with the flue drawing and the OAK pushing, I would get frost on the stove and glass in really cold weather if there was no fire.

 

[Troutchaser]

Before I added the positive shutoff to my OAK, with the flue drawing and the OAK pushing, I would get frost on the stove and glass in really cold weather if there was no fire.

:bug:

 

[nojo]

I was hoping someone would say.......... "Boy, after OAKing my stove turned the corner."

Thanks for the comments.

In my case this is true. My 1880s house IS NOT tight. I dont have attic insulation yet.

Last year I couldnt get drafting unless my stove was really hot after the door was open. After I installed the outdoor air intake it drafts MUCH better. I havent gotten one puffback since.

 

[madison]

From a previous thread, an OAK failure story:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/49363/

 

[RRJ22]

My OAK made a big difference in comfort, mainly because my old drafty house leaks air like a sieve. When I installed the OAK, the stove quit sucking cold air in through my bedroom. The hallway to my bedroom no longer has a current of frigid outdoor air rushing down it headed toward the stove. The stove itself burns the same as it did before, of course, lack of air was never a problem. My bedroom, which is the farthest room from the stove, used to be ten degrees cooler than the main living room. With the OAK, it is between three and five degrees cooler (and this is with twenty degree outdoor temps). You could say the OAK has equated to a happy wife, which we all know makes for a happy home!