Outside air for a Hearthstone Mansfield

[Rich L]

Has anyone hooked up an OAK to their Mansfield not using the Hearthstone OAK system? If so how did you do it ?Thanks.

 

[edthedawg]

Once I get my bathrooms rebuilt upstairs and have some time to work on Other Things again, I have the pieces to assemble an OAK for the Heritage . Just grabbed a bunch of straight pipe, flexduct, and adjustable angle sections. Only issue left is where to put the hole up from the basement so it isn't too obtrusive. Might do something crazy w/ the old ash cleanout trapdoor and run in there, but that would require a lot of dirtywork that I may opt not to bother with...

 

[Rich L]

Once I get my bathrooms rebuilt upstairs and have some time to work on Other Things again, I have the pieces to assemble an OAK for the Heritage . Just grabbed a bunch of straight pipe, flexduct, and adjustable angle sections. Only issue left is where to put the hole up from the basement so it isn't too obtrusive. Might do something crazy w/ the old ash cleanout trapdoor and run in there, but that would require a lot of dirtywork that I may opt not to bother with...

Hi Ed,how will you attach the piping to the Heritage?

 

[Buck1200]

I think the Heritage has about the same style opening- I just jammed the 3" aluminum pipe in where it's held via friction. The hole is kind of oblong however, so there will be a little leaking of outside air into the room when the stove is cold... but ours never is. The rest of it is assembled with 3" pipe through the wall to the cellar, and around the main carrying beam where I switched to 4" for the long run to the sill. I doubt the 4" is really necessary given the low flow rates however.

Our 1911 balloon framed two story is now so much tighter after dense pack cellulose in the walls and spray foam in the cellar that the stove wouldn't run without a full load of wood due to insufficient makeup air. It was weird- secondary flame would hardly engage and I had to leave the damper half open much of the time once it did. It's back to it's old self with the addition of outside air (and the house is MUCH warmer). I was hoping to avoid installing outside air because I liked the idea of the stove aiding in venting the newly tightened house, but it had to be done.

 

[Highbeam]

I used the HS adapter and couldn't have done it properly without it. The adapter provides a 3" nipple that nicely slides into the 3" aluminum duct and then I clamp the duct onto the nipple for a dang good connection. Why not buy the adapter? You could do a halfa$$ OAK by just providing ventialtion near the stove and that would solve the burning problems that people often solve with OAK but you wouldn't get the benefits of a sealed combustion system. That loose fitting OAK line would be dumping air into your room all the time. My OAK tube would flow a healthy current of air before I hooked it up to the stove.

In a pinch you could stuff the aluminum duct into the stove and seal with furnace cement, maybe aluminum foil too.

 

[Buck1200]

The loose connection would be dumping into the room if it wasn't for the extremely good draft of chimney, hot or cold. I've checked- you cannot feel any spilled air when the stove is warm, and barely any when it's cold. Even with a closed flue, the path of least resistance is through the always open secondary air manifold rather than through the house.

You're right, I should buy the part, and will when I get around to it.

 

[edthedawg]

yeah i hadn't yet gone back there and test-fit the piping i bought to the opening, but I envisioned it going something like...

1. stick it in the hole
2. maybe bend it a little
3. stick it back in the hole.

and if THAT doesn't set someone's innuendometer off the scales, I don't know what will. cheers!

 

[Rich L]

I used the HS adapter and couldn't have done it properly without it. The adapter provides a 3" nipple that nicely slides into the 3" aluminum duct and then I clamp the duct onto the nipple for a dang good connection. Why not buy the adapter? You could do a halfa$$ OAK by just providing ventialtion near the stove and that would solve the burning problems that people often solve with OAK but you wouldn't get the benefits of a sealed combustion system. That loose fitting OAK line would be dumping air into your room all the time. My OAK tube would flow a healthy current of air before I hooked it up to the stove.

In a pinch you could stuff the aluminum duct into the stove and seal with furnace cement, maybe aluminum foil too.

Hi Highbeam,thanks for the encouragment.I think I'll go with the HS adaptor.Take care.