Will I see any benefits with an OAK?

[Scrib]

Hey all... I've had my P68 in for over 7 weeks now and outside of a few initial kinks, it's been awesome. At install time, the dealer didn't have any pipe to make the outside air connection on the OAK. During this time, I was using the stove and it was impressive.

The dealer came back last weekend (took a while to get the pipe for whatever reason), and finished the job. It's been too warm to use the stove lately, but today we fired it up... First time really the stove has run with pulling the outside air.


Will I notice any increased performance? Just curious.

Thanks.

 

[nailed_nailer]

I did.

I no longer have a cool breeze flowing towards the stove.

I can't say if it is any more efficient but the room feels warmer.

---Nailer---

 

[MCPO]

Theoretically it makes a lot of sense and I believe in it since the fire will no longer be consuming room air thus reducing drafts, but in actual practice in some homes (old drafty ones) it becomes less of a necessity than in newer tighter homes.

 

[Xena]

What nailed nailer said.
I too had an annoying cold
draft at floor level which was
no more after I installed the
OAK. The floor level draft
I'm guessing was from the
stove pulling in the air.
All things considered, imo my
particular stove works best
with an OAK. Ymmv.

 

[Dr_Drum]

Like Gio said, in theory you should notice a benefit, but I think there are too many variables involved to know for sure, and it depends on what you consider a benefit. I also notice a draft moving toward the stove. This can mean you are wasting heat, sure, but for me I am creating a thermal cycle. As the cooler air (floor level) is moving toward the stove to be used as combustion air, a slight vacuum (negative pressure) upstairs is created which helps pull the hotter air up to replace it. This may or may not happen in every house depending on lots of factors. When I tried connecting an OAK the room with the stove stayed much warmer and the upstairs was cooler. I had to use an additional fan to move the air upstairs faster. The thermal cycle is a noticeable benefit for me. Try both ways to see what works best for you. Watch out for condensation/frost build-up on the OAK vent as well. That can sometimes happen, and then melt and drip on the floor.
Mike -

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

i have often wondered about the energy it takes to raise room temp air to combustion temps vs freezing cold outside air.. it takes more energy, but how much? does the stove just run less efficient? or does it take more pellets to maintain the same temps?

 

[Dr_Drum]

i have often wondered about the energy it takes to raise room temp air to combustion temps vs freezing cold outside air.. it takes more energy, but how much? does the stove just run less efficient? or does it take more pellets to maintain the same temps?

Well, good questions. One of the benefits of an inter-cooler for a turbo charger in a car is to cool the compressed air which lowers engine temps. So I'd guess that using colder outside air could lower the stove temp some, but using pre-heated room air has it's obvious inefficiencies as well. Just got to try it both ways to see what really works best for each situation. There is a wall thimbal design out there that uses an outer fresh air pipe surrounding the exhaust vent pipe to pre-heat the incoming combustion air, but I don't know the manufacturer.
Mike -

 

[smoke show]

Selkirk direct temp draws outside air in thru outer chamber.
http://www.selkirkcorp.com/Metalbest/Product.aspx?id=7390

 

[mnkywrnch]

I have the selkirk venting on my st croix prescott it really IMO works well,I switched between diffrent brands of pellets with little to no adjustment on the damper and they all burned very well,the pipe is 6 inches 4 for the exhaust and 2 for fresh air,the other benefit is only one hole in the wall.

 

[smoke show]

I have the selkirk venting on my st croix prescott it really IMO works well,I switched between diffrent brands of pellets with little to no adjustment on the damper and they all burned very well,the pipe is 6 inches 4 for the exhaust and 2 for fresh air,the other benefit is only one hole in the wall.

I also have selkirk, but in a vertical configuration as you can see by my avatar.
What I liked about it was it resembles normal stove pipe being a 6 inch outer and the joints don't need sealer.

 

[mnkywrnch]

Your right no pane it does look good,my setup goes up 4 feet on the inside wall and out 3 feet with this setup I never have had smoke in the house when we lost power.BTW your avatar looks good.

 

[geek]

Selkirk direct temp draws outside air in thru outer chamber.
http://www.selkirkcorp.com/Metalbest/Product.aspx?id=7390

so this is one single pipe carrying the exhaust and the outside air through different outer channel?

 

[smoke show]

yes, heres mine

 

[geek]

no pane,
thanks, looks like a hell of a pipe, what's the diameter?
is that a pellet stove?

I thought this type of pipe can only be used on wood stoves.....

 

[geek]

I think your post mentioned it is a 6" pipe, correct?

So, it is 4" inside for the exhaust? what much per foot is this and all that?

.

 

[smoke show]

4 inch inner, 6 inch outer, good for all biomass
click my link and view product literature on right side of screen
I have approx. 25 or 26 ft of vertical run

 

[geek]

do you have a wood stove or pellet stove?

 

[geek]

sounds like a good option having both the exhaust and the OAK combined into one single pipe, however you end up making a much bigger hole, do you have any picture showing the outside coming off the wall?

 

[smoke show]

biomass stove, my avatar is my vent setup

 

[harleysporty1200]

the cooler incoming air is denser & rich with oxygen, in theory it should burn cleaner & hotter.

 

[MCPO]

the cooler incoming air is denser & rich with oxygen, in theory it should burn cleaner & hotter.

I set a thermometer in my heat exchanger tube and ran the stove with the OAK in place for a couple hrs and then disconnected for a couple hrs. I saw no significant change in temperatures other than occasional 10 degree +/- temp fluctuations up/down during both testing procedures.
I`m gonna stick with the OAK since I already have 2 bath fans, kitchen exhaust fan, clothes dryer, and a direct vent oil furnace .
Obviously they would rarely be running all at once but it`s possible and I`m not willing to add yet another appliance that could be the final straw and cause a change in house pressure.