Air drafting into home.

[olesmoky]

A little backstory on the issue. This house is from the 50s and originally had two fireplaces. One upstairs and one down. They have both been amateurly replaced in the 80s with Fisher stoves. Upstairs is a modified insert, and downstairs is a 1979 Mama Bear. I am located in central Minnesota so it gets pretty cold.

The issue is the air that gets drafted into the house from negative pressure. What's actually happening, and alarming, is that my hot water tank vent is not venting. because air is being pulled down through that pipe into the basement where the Mama bear lives. Even after running hot water and having the tank on for a while, cold air is still pulling downward through the pipe, pushing the exhaust fumes back into the room.

I guess what I'm wondering is, if there's any way to remedy this other than a direct air intake into the stove room? Maybe I have to isolate the laundry room more so it can't be a source of draft air? I don't know.

Anyways, thanks!

 

[WoodScrounger]

Are you using the Mama bear? I am quite sure that your water heater should not be venting into a chimney that is even connected to a stove.
I’m assuming from the problem you are having ,that your water heater isn’t power vented.
Do you know what is causing the negative pressure in your house?

 

[jatoxico]

As you read up on this issue you will probably find that the greatest heat loss leading to negative pressure in the basement is through the roof. That would be the first place to start examining and doing any air sealing. For instance an attic stair case that's really leaking warm air up and out can be a major culprit.

That said some basement stove installs are "unfixable" and your most reliable fix may be to wall off the hot water heater and supply air directly to it.

 

[olesmoky]

Are you using the Mama bear? I am quite sure that your water heater should not be venting into a chimney that is even connected to a stove.
I’m assuming from the problem you are having ,that your water heater isn’t power vented.
Do you know what is causing the negative pressure in your house?

Oh goodness, I should have clarified that the stove and the hot water tank aren't using the same chimney. The wood stoves have their own dedicated chimney outside of the house.

As you read up on this issue you will probably find that the greatest heat loss leading to negative pressure in the basement is through the roof. That would be the first place to start examining and doing any air sealing. For instance an attic stair case that's really leaking warm air up and out can be a major culprit.

That said some basement stove installs are "unfixable" and your most reliable fix may be to wall off the hot water heater and supply air directly to it.

That's funny that you mention the roof because that's the only recently modified piece of this home as far as insulation goes.

The homeowner said the roof was recently redone and well insulated... but I can't take his word on that because he also told me the chimney's were clean when I moved in only for me to discover they had likely recently experienced a chimney fire and I had to replace broken clay liner.

Too much heat loss is the issue though, that's my gathering... and to remedy that would be several thousand dollars just in replacing really poor quality original single pane windows.

I guess for now I'll just keep an eye on it.

 

[bholler]

Oh goodness, I should have clarified that the stove and the hot water tank aren't using the same chimney. The wood stoves have their own dedicated chimney outside of the house.

That's funny that you mention the roof because that's the only recently modified piece of this home as far as insulation goes.

The homeowner said the roof was recently redone and well insulated... but I can't take his word on that because he also told me the chimney's were clean when I moved in only for me to discover they had likely recently experienced a chimney fire and I had to replace broken clay liner.

Too much heat loss is the issue though, that's my gathering... and to remedy that would be several thousand dollars just in replacing really poor quality original single pane windows.

I guess for now I'll just keep an eye on it.

What type and size chimney is the water heater venting into?

 

[olesmoky]

What type and size chimney is the water heater venting into?

Looks like 3" double wall gas pipe. I know the pipe coming out of the roof is a larger diameter. It's also worth mentioning there's a blocked off hookup right next to that where there used to be an LP furnace that was exhausted as well. I wonder if before when the LP furnace was in use it kept that exhaust pipe warm more regularly than my once a day showers do and so it wasn't an issue.

 

[MR. GLO]

A little backstory on the issue. This house is from the 50s and originally had two fireplaces. One upstairs and one down. They have both been amateurly replaced in the 80s with Fisher stoves. Upstairs is a modified insert, and downstairs is a 1979 Mama Bear. I am located in central Minnesota so it gets pretty cold.

The issue is the air that gets drafted into the house from negative pressure. What's actually happening, and alarming, is that my hot water tank vent is not venting. because air is being pulled down through that pipe into the basement where the Mama bear lives. Even after running hot water and having the tank on for a while, cold air is still pulling downward through the pipe, pushing the exhaust fumes back into the room.

I guess what I'm wondering is, if there's any way to remedy this other than a direct air intake into the stove room? Maybe I have to isolate the laundry room more so it can't be a source of draft air? I don't know.

Anyways, thanks!

Maybe this video will help in some way. Maybe install a passive air vent.

I am trying to locate y source of smoke smell as I burn down around 250 degrees at night. I am wondering if its outside chimney smoke dropping to the ground and coming in the vents, erv or cracks. either way i run down to basement and open air inlet. This does clear it up outside.