Our family is in the process of having a new home built next to my mother’s house. Part of the build includes a Blaze King Sirocco 30.2 woodstove. The stove is fairly central to the house, and the installer ran four-inch pipe from the back of the hearth through the basement to the outside. The run is perhaps sixteen feet, and so he used four-inch pipe for better air flow per Blaze King’s recommendation.
The stove was installed some time ago, but the fresh air kit was not connected at that time. In talking to the supervisor from the builder about it last week, I finally understood that the installer was missing the Blaze King Fresh Air Kit. I was able to show the part number to the supervisor in the manual, and he or his hearth shop ordered one. I know the supervisor was aware of the four-inch piping, and so I don’t know where things went wrong, but the kit that arrived last night had a three-inch faceplate and flex pipe rather than the four-inch we had expected. I was there when the supervisor saw the box this morning, and he was pretty unhappy.
I’m not sure what decision-making went on between the builder and the stove installer who was scheduled to come out first thing this morning [there was time pressure here because a county inspection had been scheduled for today as well, though I’m not sure that happened], but I was surprised to find this evening that the three-inch kit had actually been installed. It may be that because the four-inch vent pipe makes the run from the outside up to the hearth, and the reducer and the three-inch pipe occur only above the hearth to the back of the stove which is installed at minimum clearances from the wall that it will work just fine. I make no claims to understand much about physics or air flow dynamics, so I’m wondering if you folks who have a better understanding than I do on this matter can help me know if it’s fine to leave it the way it is, or if I should ask to have it corrected. They did a nice job on the install, and if it will work, I’m happy not to have a larger pipe in view from the side [the pedestal blocks it from the front, but the side is still quite visible because of the layout of our house. I plan to camouflage it a bit by storing some soapstone bed warmers on the hearth ], but most of all I want the best performance for the stove. I’d welcome any feedback. Thanks.
The stove was installed some time ago, but the fresh air kit was not connected at that time. In talking to the supervisor from the builder about it last week, I finally understood that the installer was missing the Blaze King Fresh Air Kit. I was able to show the part number to the supervisor in the manual, and he or his hearth shop ordered one. I know the supervisor was aware of the four-inch piping, and so I don’t know where things went wrong, but the kit that arrived last night had a three-inch faceplate and flex pipe rather than the four-inch we had expected. I was there when the supervisor saw the box this morning, and he was pretty unhappy.
I’m not sure what decision-making went on between the builder and the stove installer who was scheduled to come out first thing this morning [there was time pressure here because a county inspection had been scheduled for today as well, though I’m not sure that happened], but I was surprised to find this evening that the three-inch kit had actually been installed. It may be that because the four-inch vent pipe makes the run from the outside up to the hearth, and the reducer and the three-inch pipe occur only above the hearth to the back of the stove which is installed at minimum clearances from the wall that it will work just fine. I make no claims to understand much about physics or air flow dynamics, so I’m wondering if you folks who have a better understanding than I do on this matter can help me know if it’s fine to leave it the way it is, or if I should ask to have it corrected. They did a nice job on the install, and if it will work, I’m happy not to have a larger pipe in view from the side [the pedestal blocks it from the front, but the side is still quite visible because of the layout of our house. I plan to camouflage it a bit by storing some soapstone bed warmers on the hearth ], but most of all I want the best performance for the stove. I’d welcome any feedback. Thanks.
