im heating my house with a uss stove company 5510. my neighbor did the install last year. he has the same stove and told me that the outside air kit isnt necessary. im fairly happy with the stove but i struggled last year when the outside temp was sub zero. i was wondering if the outside air kit has any merit and what its purpose really is. will it make the stove any more efficient, produce any more heat or make it burn better? my house is a 1,500 sq ft farm house and is fairly drafty. the stove is my only real source of heat since my furance is an old oil burner that was converted to natural gas long before i bought the house, its really an old piece of junk that i dont even bother to keep the pilot lit on. its only used in extreme emergencies. thing is that my wife is now pregnant and i want to make sure this old house is warm enough by next winter for the new baby. the previous owners were using an old wood stove to heat the house but we removed it becuase the chimney is unsafe since it has seen many chimney fires. the previous owners were too bright and they were "cleaning" the chimney by intentionally allowing chimney fires to burn..... very dangerous.
anyways i was wondering if the outside air kit would give me an improvement. as it is right now in the coldest days, we can keep the house in the low 60's on the coldest days with the stove running on max. i would like to get the house to be in the high 60's, low 70's on the coldest days.
if i cant achieve that, then probably by next winter i will buy a us stove hotblast furance and burn coal in it. i refuse to invest in any natural gas furnace, national fuel is a total rip off in ny state. they pump the gas full of air in the winter and charge even more for it when you need it most. that orange flicker you see on your gas stove burner explains it all. i would prefer to continue to use my pellet stove as my only source of heat since it almost paid for in full but want this house warm enough for a newborn child next winter.
if worst came to worst i would use the pellet stove as a secondary source of heat or maybe install it in the garage if i decide i need more heat.
the thing i love about the pellet stove the most in filling the hopper every day or two and forgetting about it. it takes care of itself, only requires cleaning every 4-5 days. on the other hand a hotblast would be nice since it can use forced air ducts.
right now the outside temp is in the low 30's, stove is on medium, and the house is a comfortable 70 degrees, if i could get that temp all of the time i would be thrilled.
ps
i did also replace 5 additional windows last year but it hasnt been cold enough to tell the difference. i think it helps already, but its not single digits yet. i only have a couple original windows left now
anyways i was wondering if the outside air kit would give me an improvement. as it is right now in the coldest days, we can keep the house in the low 60's on the coldest days with the stove running on max. i would like to get the house to be in the high 60's, low 70's on the coldest days.
if i cant achieve that, then probably by next winter i will buy a us stove hotblast furance and burn coal in it. i refuse to invest in any natural gas furnace, national fuel is a total rip off in ny state. they pump the gas full of air in the winter and charge even more for it when you need it most. that orange flicker you see on your gas stove burner explains it all. i would prefer to continue to use my pellet stove as my only source of heat since it almost paid for in full but want this house warm enough for a newborn child next winter.
if worst came to worst i would use the pellet stove as a secondary source of heat or maybe install it in the garage if i decide i need more heat.
the thing i love about the pellet stove the most in filling the hopper every day or two and forgetting about it. it takes care of itself, only requires cleaning every 4-5 days. on the other hand a hotblast would be nice since it can use forced air ducts.
right now the outside temp is in the low 30's, stove is on medium, and the house is a comfortable 70 degrees, if i could get that temp all of the time i would be thrilled.
ps
i did also replace 5 additional windows last year but it hasnt been cold enough to tell the difference. i think it helps already, but its not single digits yet. i only have a couple original windows left now