Outside Air

[buckeye1]

Looking for some guidance from experts here and with this being my third season burning a HARMON TLC 2000, I have some concerns about the introduction of outside air to the house. Here are some details

1. Without proper research I purchased and installed a coal / wood burning unit into a 1994 Manufactured house, house wrapped and insulated, 1600sq. Ft, cathedral ceilings throughout.
2. 13' metelbest chimney (6") with cathedral ceiling kit, through wall fan close to ceiling peak on opposite side of room to bring heated air to ceiling fan for distribution to other parts of the house.
3. House equipped with propane forced air furnace for primary heat source (never runs when using stove), saves a bunch of money.
4. House came with an approved for manufactured home wood Burning fireplace with air kit vented to vented crawlspace located at opposite end of the house.
5.The past two heating seasons I would crack a window in the bedroom which is located in the next room to stove, wife cant be to hot to sleep.
6.The past two heating seasons with the wall fans I would also put small window fan in kitchen on opposite end of house to pull warm air through kitchen exhausting to enclosed breezeway. (Not until stove begins to throw out heat)
7. FOUR CO detectors, four smoke alarms, never make a peep only when time change/battery replacement BI-annual testing.
8. I learned you need to have a good fire in stove or fireplace first before starting the other appliance, due to competition of draft.
9. I burn free wood in the stove in the fall and spring,so baro damper is probably not an option. Coal through the winter for longer burn times and heat output.
10.I have never experienced draft, smoke issues except the time I tried to fire up both appliances at once.
11.The stove and chimney are located on the southeast side of the house with the prevailing winds coming from the west and north.
I Know this is alot of information but I recently became unemployed for the first time in 30 years, quit smoking so I have alot of time to get ready for winter, and worry unnecessarily (wife quote).
I am not really trying to circumvent codes but need financially viable options or assurance.
One thought I had was to cut a register size hole in the brick and flooring under the stove (1.5" gap), install a register boot and vent to outside through crawlspace vent.
This seems like it would bring in fresh air around stove without an outside air kit through the wall.

Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum buckeye1.

First I'd be absolutely certain that you really need an OAK. (You can also do a search on this forum using OAK for the search and find much information.) In our case, we intended to install an OAK but found that it really was not needed at all. Supposedly it will cut any drafts in the house but we just do not notice the drafts any more but perhaps that is because we also move the warm air. However, we move it much different than you have described.

Look at my signature line and you'll see we've heated with wood for a few moons now. In most of that time we simply moved warm air to cool parts of the house by blowing the hot air. Then here on hearth.com I read something that really made my head shake and wonder what was the matter with some of these folks. Yes, I'm one who is not afraid to try something different so I tried their way and WOW! A huge difference. In essence, the trick is to not attempt to move the warm air but to move the cool air instead. Yes, it sounds backwards, but it works. For example, in our house we have a hallway and it can get a bit cool in the back. In the past we simply blew warm air towards the back but now we place a small fan on the floor and blow the cool air towards the stove room. I could hardly believe the difference when this was tried.

By blowing the cool air into the warm room, you really force the warm air out and cooperate with the natural movement of air. The same goes for ceiling fans. I always thought that warm air rises so let's blow it down in the winter and reverse in the summer for air conditioning. Now we cooperate with the natural movement of air, which is, the coolest part is along the walls so the air moves down along the walls and up in the center. So, we put the fans so they blow up. It works.

As for your idea of getting the air from the crawl space, it has been done by many. However, remember that if you remove air from the crawl space, that air has to be replaced. Where is that air coming from? Will that had an effect on the warming of the home? Perhaps for an OAK, sucking the cold air from outside the house might be the better idea.

Good luck.

 

[buckeye1]

Inferno
Thank for the reply and insight especially concerning the movement of internal air within the house back towards the heated area this would be simple enough to accomplish. Maybe by cracking a window in the room opposite the stove room and reversing the through wall fans to bring in cool fresh air to the stove area would accomplish both fresh air and better circulate the warm air. The ceiling fan concept is true and does work well.
My initial thought was snorkeling the OAK through the crawlspace to the outside through an existing foundation vent 20 feet away.
By placing the return air vent directly under the stove, it seems that fresh air would be introduced at a point where it would be needed the most, without bringing outside air to the entire house. By placing the OAK directly under the stove I am a concerned about possibly overfiring the stove.
The biggest concern that I have is oxygen depletion within the house, which so far has not seemed to be an issue, maybe my house is not as tight as I had thought.

 

[vvvv]

if it worx, dont fix it or why fix it

 

[Backwoods Savage]

On the through-the-wall, that would depend upon how high the fan would be. If up high then it would have to stay as is rather than reverse it else the fans would be working against each other.

I'm not certain I understand your OAK. You state the vent would be directly under the stove. Will it not be fastened onto the stove where the draft comes in? If not, then you would be introducing cold air into the house.

Cracking a window is not a bad idea if needed and many folks will do that when reloading the stove or starting from a cold stove. Once the fire is going good though it does not require very much air to keep the fire going so then the window could be closed.

 

[buckeye1]

My fans are located high on the wall negating the reversal process.
The stove pedestal base footing has a 1.5” by 16" gap on the sides between the hearth floor and the bottom of the stove.
Thinking that the OAK located under the stove would pull air directly from under the stove creating an envelope of constant flow around the stove and through the air controls that I can control. Direct venting to the stove would restrict me in controlling air flow to the firebox, espcically when burning coal.
I know that the burn principles are different as far as where the air comes from for each fuel so I have also submitted this to the folks at NEPA(coal burner forum)for advice, no response yet.
Maybe BLIMP is correct.

 

[madison]

Oxygen depletion from the stove? Worry about the lung cancer. Well, good thing you quit smoking. I would agree with your wife, don't worry about the O2 depletion.