My husband and I are new to the northern climates (Wisconsin). We bought a new HearthStone soap stone wood stove. It is beautiful, but when not running, often there is an ashy smell in the room. My husband thinks that the soap stone contracts when not in use and that is why we are getting the ashy smell. He thinks that we should cover it with a quilt to stop the smell. I haven't see such an accessory sold anywhere. So I am not sure that covering it is the thing to do. Any thoughts or suggestions before I break out the sewing machine?
Covering a Soap Stone Wood Stove?
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Hubby's hypothesis has holes. Instead this could be negative pressure in the room. Is this located at the bottom floor of the house?
The problem probably is that the room is a negative pressure zone. When the stove and chimney cool down, the draft reverses and cool air leaks out of the stove. This has popped up a lot this season on the forum.
Does the stove have a flue system going up in the interior of the home through the roof or does it go through the wall to an exterior chimney? How tall is the chimney?
Does the stove have a flue system going up in the interior of the home through the roof or does it go through the wall to an exterior chimney? How tall is the chimney?
As begreen is alluding to, you're likely getting a down-draft through the chimney that's causing the smell.
Go ahead and make the quilt anyway...you're gonna need it in the Land of Cheese.
Where are you, by the way? I lived up there for 32 years..
Near Mt. Horeb in the Driftless.As begreen is alluding to, you're likely getting a down-draft through the chimney that's causing the smell.
Go ahead and make the quilt anyway...you're gonna need it in the Land of Cheese.
Where are you, by the way? I lived up there for 32 years..
Gorgeous area! My best bud up there lives in Cross Plains. That's more temperate than further north in the state, no doubt.
I'm not the expert, but I think that's worse; If the chimney is inside, it is warmer and less prone to draft reversal.
I'm afraid that the chimney plus the lower floor location and maybe a bit of local terrain are working against you.
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jetsam
Minister of Fire
You may notice that the smell is worst when you are using the dryer/bath fan/range hood. That is because these appliances are pulling air out of the house and the easiest path for replacement air is through your stove's flue.
The fix is to rectify the negative pressure situation. In the summer that could just mean opening a window.
You may want to look into an ERV or HRV to supply makeup air in the summer if you have air conditioning. In the winter the house will need even more air for the stove; an outside air kit for the stove can supply that.
If you want to try stopgap measures, put a damper online on the flue and close it, turn the stove's air down to minimum when it is not in use, and maybe try adding a few feet to the height of your flue. (This stuff may help a little but doesn't really address the root of the problem).
The simple, free answer is open a window, but that's only good a certain number of days per year.
The fix is to rectify the negative pressure situation. In the summer that could just mean opening a window.
You may want to look into an ERV or HRV to supply makeup air in the summer if you have air conditioning. In the winter the house will need even more air for the stove; an outside air kit for the stove can supply that.
If you want to try stopgap measures, put a damper online on the flue and close it, turn the stove's air down to minimum when it is not in use, and maybe try adding a few feet to the height of your flue. (This stuff may help a little but doesn't really address the root of the problem).
The simple, free answer is open a window, but that's only good a certain number of days per year.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Possible solutions:
1. Outside Air Kit (OAK), if your stove has provisions for a direct-connect. Any draft reversal will simply vent outside.
2. Top-mount damper. The prior owner of my house had one installed on one of my wood stove chimneys, and it worked just fine, just remember to open it before use, and leave it open until all coals burn out. These aren’t air-tight, so it will minimize but perhaps not 100% eliminate the issue.
3. Heat-recovery ventilator (HRV)? I really don’t know much about this, but I’ve seen it mentioned in the past, as a potential solution to this common issue.
1. Outside Air Kit (OAK), if your stove has provisions for a direct-connect. Any draft reversal will simply vent outside.
2. Top-mount damper. The prior owner of my house had one installed on one of my wood stove chimneys, and it worked just fine, just remember to open it before use, and leave it open until all coals burn out. These aren’t air-tight, so it will minimize but perhaps not 100% eliminate the issue.
3. Heat-recovery ventilator (HRV)? I really don’t know much about this, but I’ve seen it mentioned in the past, as a potential solution to this common issue.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
I listed that as a secondary fix because (check my thinking here) right now the house is drawing through the flue and out the stove's intakes. Add an OAK and it will probably draw from the flue and the OAK, the flue being larger and drafting backwards to start with.
No question that any stove you put on this flue will need an OAK to be a reliable and safe heater in the winter, but I think it may or may not help with the original problem.
Easy fix, no. There have been some good suggestions made. If the problem is minor then a damper in the stove pipe may be sufficient. If not, you may need to pressurize the space with an HRV or move the stove up a floor.
It is very possible it isn't negative pressure anyway. Just a cold exterior chimney reversing draft like they naturally will. No easy fix
Ashful
Minister of Fire
The same reason smoke comes out of everywhere on a stove if you try lighting it with a reversed draft oak or not. Stoves really aren't air tight. The last time we dealt with one like this. Which was a hearthstone with an oak. We ended up giving them an easy way to disconnect and plug the flue
jetsam
Minister of Fire
I'm thinking because "the house is pulling air through the flue" and "the cold exterior chimney reversed draft" are functionally if not conceptually the same thing.
If the stove is venting through its intakes, it is free to pull from the flue and the OAK both at that point.
If this is happening because of depressurization, the most air will come from the path with the least resistance (probably the flue)- but it will take from both.
Now let's say the chimney is actually reverse drafting on its own due to local terrain and weather, and would be pushing air into a perfectly pressure neutral house. Now the stove will vent air from the flue exclusively with or without an oak regardless whether the house is depressurized, until the overpressure in the house overcomes the flue's reversal. Fluid dynamics may be complicated, but one intake is under pressure and one's not.
Not an expert but mulling it over here!
I suspect the reason we don't see a simple backflow prevention device on wood flues is the same reason you don't see any woodgas powered cars on the street- they get gummed up to the point that they're more trouble than they're worth.
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My hearthstone heritage had an oak that fed all combustion inlets unlike some stoves that only feed one of several intakes with the oak. That means that an outside air supply to this stove really would stop stinky chimney air from being sucked into the home. That is, unless, the house suction is so strong that an appreciable amount of stank is sucked through the minuscule gaps in the chimney connections or door gaskets but this is a far cry from the huge hole available on a non oak equipped stove.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Shouldn't matter a lot. OAK feeds the intakes, but the intakes connect to the firebox on the other side, and the firebox directly connects the intakes and the flue.
Turning down the air controls should make it worse instead of better in this configuration, which is counterintuitive.
Having a hard time following you. The air control is irrelevant when there is no available opening between the combustion system and the interior of the home.
The OP has no oak so the draft reversal is just puking stank out through the intake. Noncats, especially hearthstones, have lots of uncontrollable intake area to allow this but I am not certain if the OP’s specific model of hearthstone has all of the intake holes routed through the oak stub as my heritage did.
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jetsam
Minister of Fire
If the OAK isn't installed, there IS an opening between the house and the firebox, even if it's the OAK port. But I think you're right that if her stove takes all its air from the OAK port, capping it might solve her original issue.
It'll be exciting for her if she tries lighting a fire with the cap on, though.
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