Condar air supply ventilator location???

[DIYstoveGUY]

Where did you guys mount your condar?

Mine should be here tomorrow and not sure where I'm going to put it yet. I have a spilt level house and my VC Montpelier is in a exterior chimney. I don't really have an exterior wall across from the insert. Just a wall that seperates the garage from a playroom for the kids that's 3 steps down from the living room that has the insert, even though its pretty cold and drafty in the garage that's not the exterior. So I was thinking of putting on the exterior wall to the left of the insert between the window and base trim.

Any input, thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I attached a picture so you see what I'm working with. Thanks in advance

 

[canboy]

I tried bringing fresh air up thru the fireplace cleanout underneath the insert. I realized that it slightly improved draw in my woodstove, but created a cold draft in the room when the insert wasn't running. Disconnected the fresh air and haven't looked back. I still occasionally open a window if I feel a downdraft in the stove, before I light the fire. Once the draft reverses, I light the fire and close the window.

I think pulling the fresh air from the garage would be a bad thing (think exhaust and gas fumes) and lightly totally contrary to your local building code. The spot that you are talking about under the window (or beside) would be good assuming there is sufficient clear space to put the 4" pipe thru the wall, without cutting any studs.

 

[DIYstoveGUY]

Thanks for the reply. As far as the garage goes, there hasn't been a car in there in 15 years if that's what you were trying to say. The only reason I thought about it going there is because that's where I believe the draft I have comes from. You can feel the draft coming up the steps from the playroom/ garage area that is directly behind me in the picture. I figured rather than trying to introduce a new path for draft, maybe make the one I have stronger by putting the condar there????

The other location between the fireplace and window and above the trim would be the next best place. The outside area is free of obstructions and is the direction the wind usually is blowing towards. Hitting a stud isn't a problem but the electrical panel that's in the basement rite below the window could be one. Luckily my house is a split and above my living room is an unused attic that has no home runs to the panel in the basement that I can see coming from up there. Might have to make a exploratory hole first lol

Do you think trying to create new draft is a better idea than trying to improve the draft from the direction that it's already coming from?

 

[canboy]

I'm not sure that I can give you a reliable answer on the best place to put the air supply (it's definitely not into the garage though - regardless of how it is currently being used). It doesn't sound like you have an air shortage problem (which would justify the outside air supply), but rather you have a draft problem. Maybe there is some sealing/caulking/insulating that you can do in the playroom/garage area (like doors/windows/seals/thresholds etc.).

I have the reverse setup to you. My living room (with the Montpelier) is sunken down 3 steps from the rest of the house. So the warm air rises out of the living room and cool air from the upper space comes down the steps across the living room and into the fireplace - so, a constant cool draft at your feet in the living room. A lot of the air movement is caused by the blower in the Montpelier. So, to make things more comfortable when I am sitting in the living room, I will turn the blower off or at least down to it's lowest level. That helps a lot with draft reduction and provides more radiant heat in the immediate area of the stove (the stove and the brick get much hotter).

 

[DIYstoveGUY]

Am I not correct thinking that by installing the condar air supply on a exterior wall that if will HELP with draft? I had a small insert before this one and it was literally half of the size of this Firebox. I feel that my draft is not as strong due to this. I checked my convection via lighter and incense test and have no leaks. I feel that introducing a fresh air kit will allow the stove to maybe draft a little better with less resistance by taking in air from the nearby condar. Besides the condar I also bought a flue extension kit and plan on installing that tomorrow to see if that helps as well

These are all assumptions that may or may not work but from all the posts I've gone through, the combination of, or one of the 2 things should help.

Don't think the wife is going to take much more of me throwing time and money at this thing. If things don't get better it may have to go and put the old stove back in.

 

[canboy]

Aaah, looked at one of your other posts and realize that you are concerned that it isn't drafting well enough. You are correct, that by adding a fresh air supply, it should improve draft. You could try leaving a window open a crack for a while to see if it helps (before putting holes in your walls). I find opening a window isn't instantaneous, it takes a while for pressure levels to stabilize. Adding the flue extension kit should help as well, assuming that you have a short chimney.

My Montpelier does not draft very well either. But, I only have 14 feet from the hearth to the top of the chimney, and it should be 15-35 ft. I added a special "anti-downdraft" cap a few years ago that may have helped a little. Also colder temperatures help a lot. Anything above freezing is not good for drafting.

Is your chimney high within spec? Is it direct connect 6 inch stainless steel pipe from top to bottom?

One of the problems that I experience is smoke in the house if I try to open the door too quickly to add wood. I try to wait until it's mostly down to coals before adding wood. I recently read the manual for another insert and it recommended that when your refuel, you open the door a crack for a full minute. Then open about an inch for another full minute and then slowly open the door, allowing the chimney to maintain the draft, not pulling the smoke into the room. It seems to help. But it is a pain in the butt and 2 minutes seems like an eternity. Once my fire is going, it burns well and no complaints - issue only occurs sometimes when I refuel at the wrong time.

Good luck. Hope it works out.

 

[DIYstoveGUY]

Yeah I posted another thread about secondaries and draft. If I leave one of the windows at either side of the stove cracked it does help but you definitely feel the cold air in the room. Probably because they are about 4ft tall lol. The chimney is a little under 16ft so you'd think I would be good and I have a insulated liner from collar to cap.

I ordered 36" of flue extension, quick connect coupling to add more liner inside the extension, new appliance connector and one of their nice terracotta caps with the set screws. The new appliance connector because my current one I had to cover the old holes with gasket sealer and furnace cement because the Montpellier collar isn't as deep as my old stoves was. I know I'm not leaking from there but one less possibility I don't have to consider. No real problems with smoke. As long as I crack the door for a second and wait until the ashes start swirling around then open her up, I'm good.

As far as the manual goes, my OCD caused that to be a daily read weeks before I even installed the the stove lol. The wife says I'm obsessed with this thing and it's consuming all my time... I just wanna get this thing rite before the cold is gone. That way I have the summer to change anything that may be needed and ready for next season, somethings gotta give

 

[canboy]

I looked back at your other post a bit more....

You don't get smoke in your house when you open the door. And your glass and brick are clean after you have a fire. I don't see that you have a draft problem.

You had a concern that you weren't getting secondaries, but now that is working. They are usually only going to run for a short period of time (30 mins), from my experience and then there won't be much.

You were concerned that all the coals didn't completely burn down on an overnight burn. That happens a bit to me as well, but typically only if I totally shut down the air supply. Usually there there are other red coals available in the morning and I pull the unburnt and burning coals together into a small pile to start the morning fire.

You felt that you had to wait too long for the fire to fully engage in the morning, that if you closed the door tight, too soon, the fire would die. I leave my door open a crack for 10-20 mins, then close the door and leave the air supply fully open for another 20-30mins and then start shutting the air supply down.

I think that you are comparing this stove to your old stove, and expecting them to operate the exact same way. They don't. Maybe this stove is a little tighter than the last one and you'll get longer burns, which is what you were looking for. The Montpelier has a bigger firebox, but it is still a "medium" sized stove, so has some limitations on that objective.

It is good that you are fixing up all these things like gaskets, fans, hinges, seals etc and restoring the stove to its original state. This will go a long way towards getting better performance out of the stove. Hopefully in the long it will meet your expectations.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

What is your moisture content?

 

[DIYstoveGUY]

Thanks for the positive thoughts and points. Maybe I am comparing to my old stove more than I should. I just figured a big nice stove would have comparable results if not better than my original small cheapy stove.

None of the things I really replaced, other than the door gasket were mandatory for function just tried getting the thing in tip top shape.

I usually leave the door cracked for 15 min and the air control on full during that and for about another 15 after I completely close the door.

Just added the flue extension and new top plate. It's around 50° today so not perfect conditions for a fire with good draft but we'll see what happens with the weather later. Condar is installed now as well.


Just bought more wood because I ran a little short this year and unfortunately had to pay a premium for kiln dried.... $170 for a half cord. My firewood that I've used so session and the killn dried I just picked up is all under 20%.

 

[canboy]

Wow! You get things done fast! Hope you get some cold weather soon, so that you can test things out.

 

[DIYstoveGUY]

Hahaha I ordered everything at the beginning of the week and planned to install yesterday anyway. Needed to get everything done before the cold weather is gone so if anything major needed to be done I would have the summer to get it done and ready for next season

 

[Cyb33r]

How did the condar work for you? I am on the fence about installing one too.


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