Outside air kit question

[dcouture29]

I'm in the process of building a house. The house is insulated with foam and the area I need to heat is about 800 Sq Ft so I'm getting a small stove. I haven't bought it yet. Since the insulation causes the house to be air tight, I am planning on installing a clean air kit. My dilemma is that I need to install my granite hearth before the floors go in and I can't install a wood stove until the granite is in. I'm afraid to have the granite guy cut the hole at the factory just based on the specs on the stove. I can't cut the hole for the clean air kit on site because the biggest hole they can cut is 2". I've heard the O.A.K.'s are 3".

Does anyone know if a 2" pipe would work to get enough fresh air for the stove?

Looking for suggestions!!

 

[dougand3]

Welocme, dcouture29. Only ones I've seen are 3" OAK ( Outside Air Kit). Look at the specs of the stoves you are considering and see if you see 2" OAK. I'm guessing here having never used one but bet you would SEVERELY impact burn of fire and cause poor draft decreasing surface area of inlet tube so much. (Unless stove had potential to suck room air - replacing lost air from OAK restriction). Somebody with OAK experience will chime in.

 

[dcouture29]

thanks Doug. I'm actually looking to buy the acclaim. how do you like it?

 

[dougand3]

Well, I love the Acclaim - but it's a 1992 model...If I was replacing today - I wouldn't buy a VC or Dutchwest...just don't trust the corporate turmoil they've gone thru, rumors of quality degradation (although I eyeballed a new Acclaim 2490 in stove shop last week - and it looked good) and expensive (monopoly) repair parts. It is quite a handsome devil, tho.....but I'd buy an Englander 13-NC when replacing - NOT as handsome but dang functional for cheap.

 

[zr2yz125]

My OAK is 3" at the inlet, but where it actually connects to the air intake on the stove is about 1.5" square. I'd say it depends on the stove....

 

[Highbeam]

Some stoves require a 4" hole. It is much easier to fill a 4" hole around your 3" pipe. You don't need the hole in the granite to be exact since you just use flex pipe anyways. See the link in my sig for my photos of the outside air plumbing. It's not an exact science.

No, I wouldn't use a 2" hole and I really like my OAK.

 

[dcouture29]

Thanks for the pic Highbeam. I guess I have been a little too concerned about the exact specs.