Air intakes fors stoves?

[Stihl-ing Trees]

I am wondering if I should install the outside air intake? Would it help or hurt? I am going with the Hearthstone Manchester, hoping to have it installed in the next couple of weeks. Just wanting some pointers on if it will work better. Thanks.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It all depends. Some love them and others not so much. They certainly can't do much harm. We have had them and haven't had them and I can not say that one way is better than the other. The only time we had a problem with the OAK is during some high winds.

One other thing is what else might be going on in the house. If a clothes dryer is running a lot and exhaust fans like over the stove and especially in bathrooms, then an OAK can help out a lot.

One thing about it too is that if you decide to put one in and later decide to not have it, there is no problem getting it out.

 

[stoveguy13]

My advise is do some of your own research on it. one of the best sites to do this on is woodheat.org they get pretty in-depth on the topic.

 

[bag of hammers]

If installing an OAK after the fact means a lot of re-work (eg vs an easier install now before the stove goes in) then prepping for it now might make sense even if you're not sure about using it. For example on my pedestal stove the oak feeds from underneath. I built the hearth to include the OAK feed in the hearth otherwise I'd have to move the stove and break thru the hearth to accommodate later. It's just capped in the crawl space now, easy to run to the outside vent later.

 

[begreen]

My advise is do some of your own research on it. one of the best sites to do this on is woodheat.org they get pretty in-depth on the topic.

Tom's site has a thoughtful discussion on the topic too.
(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/hooa3.htm)