Are outside air kits worth it?

[Stillson lives]

This is a great site with some great folks. I've learned so much already! I have a quadra fire stove that's rigged for an outside air kit. My question is, are they worth it?

 

[KD0AXS]

Depends on your situation. From the discussion in your other thread, it sounds like you are getting more than enough air and you probably don't need one.

 

[Grisu]

There is no real disadvantage to them while on the other hand they save money by using cold air from outside to supply the stove instead of conditioned air from the inside. It may be small energy savings but over the long haul it can be worth it. However, I remember you said your stove is in the basement: If that is below ground you may have problems installing one.

 

[NHcpa]

FWIW, I have an insert on the first floor with a center of the house located chimney. I had two people (chimney person and install person) both say I was too far from the outside wall to get outside access. this included running a line down the cleanout, to the basement, and then again, to an outside wall. Otherwise, I would have gone with OAK.

 

[Hoozie]

The air for the stove to burn has to come from somewhere. Without an OAK, it will pull air from any leak it can find the in the house, potentially making drafts of cold air you can feel.

With an OAK, since it has its own dedicated input, it won't need to pull air from the leaks, so in theory, the house should 'feel' warmer.

 

[Stillson lives]

There is no real disadvantage to them while on the other hand they save money by using cold air from outside to supply the stove instead of conditioned air from the inside. It may be small energy savings but over the long haul it can be worth it. However, I remember you said your stove is in the basement: If that is below ground you may have problems installing one.

Yes it is in the basement but as the fates have it it is right next to the old dryer vent. I thought I could utilize that to get outside.

 

[DougA]

I'd go OAK if your home is tighter build but I would also put a damper or some other way of shutting it in case you have a run-away fire or chimney fire sometime. Many of us have had that happen and you want to close everything as fast as you can. If your house is leaky already, even though you are burning already heated air, I doubt you will see any difference since the OAK would represent such a small %.