Bitterly cold weather and frozen OAK's

It’s only -8 here rt now but snowing about 8”-10”an hour up here on tug hill. Quad is keeping it at 72 nice and cozy. Stay warm!

I had the same problem last winter in -30c. I solved it by putting a small fan blowing behind the stove blowing warmer air on the OAK pipe.

You could also wrap it with the insulated pipe wrap that comes in a small roll. This will create the thermal break between the cold and warm air and should stop the frost buildup

We're all the way up to 12°F/-11°C here in southwestern Connecticut. Bumped the stove up a notch, so the place is nice and toasty.

Frosting is normal. I, too, just put a towel under it to catch the melt.

Mine ices up on the coldest times of every winter. I too keep an old towel on the floor behind the stove. Never considered it an actual problem.

This was a year ago. I had to buy the flex pipe from 2 different stores. One must have been aluminized and one not. The bottom one now has considerable surface rust and the top one is still perfectly clean.

Mine is wrapped with a thermal insulation (leftover header pipe insulation, works for cold as well as hot). I put a corrugated plastic wire wrap cover over that and zip tied it.

Humidifier.

When it is super cold,you can loose lots of energy from your fire,as that incoming air has to be heated,on some stoves you even notice lower heat out put,smaller fire.That being said,I did the towel,then just unhooked the OAK and stuffed a rag in the opening,used inside air.Last year i found a nice aluminum 3" diverter valve Y,for wood shop dust collection,if I see frost,I flip the valve for a while,then flip it back.

bob bare said:

When it is super cold,you can loose lots of energy from your fire,as that incoming air has to be heated,on some stoves you even notice lower heat out put,smaller fire.That being said,I did the towel,then just unhooked the OAK and stuffed a rag in the opening,used inside air.Last year i found a nice aluminum 3" diverter valve Y,for wood shop dust collection,if I see frost,I flip the valve for a while,then flip it back.

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I am looking at putting OAK on two Harman stoves and was wondering how often you have to disconnect them? We both live in similar climates Idaho and Montana. Would you still recommend I install them? We do get down to -20 or -30 without this polar vortex.

Cyb33r said:

I am looking at putting OAK on two Harman stoves and was wondering how often you have to disconnect them? We both live in similar climates Idaho and Montana. Would you still recommend I install them? We do get down to -20 or -30 without this polar vortex.

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Not until -15 or lower.Rest of the time I use the OAK,house(cabin) is way less drafty,and that keeps the cat happy!

I guess the heat from the exhaust pipe keeps my OAK warm since so close together..

-26°F here last night. Winds were not as bad as the night before, not sure the wind chill this morning but yesterday we were at -20°F and wind chill was -47°F. It was warmer at 4:30am than at 7:00am each morning. Gave me time to warm the old car up and make sure the wife had a warm 4x4 to get to her work in.

Ya when it gets cold you will get frost on the OAK, like others said a towel under it or insulate or a fan will help.

As far as seeing a drop off in stove output temps or flame, never have seen it in my stove and I run three different temp indicators and have kept great records since my first year burning. Nope can't say I've ever seen a drop off and we have been as low as -34°F straight up temp a few years back.

I don't have any problem with heat output at -20F with my oak hooked up. Remember cold air is denser than warm air so you should be getting more oxygen to the fire.
Ron

railfanron said:

I don't have any problem with heat output at -20F with my oak hooked up. Remember cold air is denser than warm air so you should be getting more oxygen to the fire.
Ron

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Yes,as i said,some stoves.If you took chemistry in 10th grade,it takes more heat to release oxygen,in colder air.The heat required to do this is wasted up the flue.I am not here to argue/create problems,I am giving the OP the best info.

I couldn't disconnect mine because the house is so airtight the stove won't run without it.

It's been about 6 weeks of -30 Wx here with a few days reprieve now and then to -25
anyway my OAK iced up and drips a bit so I put one of my wife aluminum cake pans under it to catch the drips... so far it's only completely melted off once so I'm glad I had the cake pan since it got 2/3 full of melt water... after I emptied that its back to severe cold and a solid ice covered OAK pipe...
try the cake pan... alum won't rust and look awful

Tonyray said:

I guess the heat from the exhaust pipe keeps my OAK warm since so close together..

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btw: the OAK pipe was silver and I spray painted it black...

only problem with disconnecting oak in really cold temps is now you are pulling air from every crack in your home. Fire may be hotter but now you have to heat the cold air that you are drawing in from other places.

Zrock that was exactly my point. Which is worse sending some BTU's out the exhaust or heating the -20 degree air that is infiltrating to make up for the 70 plus cfm's that are coming in to make up for what's going out. In less than 12 minutes of run time you evacuate all the air in a 10 x 10 room. I'm also not here to create problems and want to give the original poster what I believe is the best info.
Ron

My hearths go all the way to the wall so I don't even worry about it.

Just checked and the P43's OAK is frosty. The P61a's OAK is just damp because it runs up above the stove so stays warmish.