Englander 30 nch Draft Issue

[Megaramsey]

Hello, I am having trouble getting my wood stove to draft properly. My house is airtight (so it seems.. new windows, doors, siding, .... ) so to get a good draft on the wood stove should we install a pipe from the 3" hole in the back down through the floor (wall behind stove is an interior wall)? I cannot find an example or mention on this. Thanks for your help!

 

[Highbeam]

I doubt your house is that air tight but I like outside air feeds. I’m sure someone will ask you to explain why you think you need this.

The nc30 has 4 seperate air inlets and that big 3” pipe is only for one of them.

My outside air connection to my BK stove goes from the 3” nipple straight down through the floor into the vented crawl space. Works great and was required by the permit.

 

[Megaramsey]

I doubt your house is that air tight but I like outside air feeds. I’m sure someone will ask you to explain why you think you need this.

The nc30 has 4 seperate air inlets and that big 3” pipe is only for one of them.

My outside air connection to my BK stove goes from the 3” nipple straight down through the floor into the vented crawl space. Works great and was required by the permit.

Thanks for your reply. Smoke does not draw properly and the house fills with smoke unless I open the window... so?? We had this stove in another house, installed it here when we moved. It worked great in old house.
That said, I was wondering if running a pipe to the crawlspace from the pictured 3" hole is okay to do? Here's a pic of the pipe on the roof, we thought for sure we had the stack high enough... ?

 

[moresnow]

What is your complete pipe length from stove top to cap? Are you meeting the required length?

 

[kennyp2339]

Add another 3ft section of class a chimney and adjust the chimney brace to get your self closer to the 15ft height mark, judging by the pics your more like at 12ft from stove top to chimney cap.
To test a few things, #1 - remove the chimney cap and take a piece of single wall black snap pipe (its very cheap) and add that to the chimney for height, try burning the stove that way, if no improvement try cracking open a window, only an 1" of theres a remarkable improvement then you have a tight house air supply problem, while trying to trouble shoot this problem dont run any appliances that use air - dryer, bathroom fan, range hood ect...
Wood supply - what kind of wood are you burning, how long has it been split? is it dry (not asking for seasoned, is the wood dry) do you have a moisture meter, can you take a room temp split, re-split it and then test the fresh face?
Has the stove been used there before and now theres issues with all the house improvements?

 

[jetsam]

The air line for the oak has to stay completely below the level of the firebox, so putting a hole in the floor and running it through the basement is okay.

If you are on a slab, that is a tough spot.

 

[Megaramsey]

SOLVED The problem was that the house is too air tight. We cut a hole in the wall behind the stove, then cut a hole (through to crawl space) in the floor of the hall closet which is located behind said wall, and Twala!! Works perfectly now! We did not attach any pipe to the stove, the air intakes on the stove just sucked it in from the new vent set up. Very happy with how it worked out! Thank you all for your replies, I greatly appreciated your input and help!

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

Glad you're happy with the results! Thing is, I think you just made your house somewhat less air-tight. It's obviously still pretty tight, since you had an issue with the stove, but there have to be leaks somewhere. With an open hole to the crawlspace, if you had leakage that was tending to create a negative pressure in the house, it will no longer have that restriction. I have found that restricting outside air entry to my furnace room is the best course for me. The stoves still burn fine, but it seems the leaks somewhere on the second and third floor of my somewhat leaky log house, are a little less effective in cycling cold air through the house.

One other thing to think about - you're now pulling outside air into your crawlspace. Depending on the climate, and what a bunch of outside air in your crawlspace could do (plumbing, uninsulated floors), that might not be a good idea.

Using a solidly connected OAK tube would prevent both issues, as the stove becomes a part of the outside atmosphere, without any communication with the house or crawlspace air.

I'm sure your setup is fine. My reason for this post is to stir thought among folks who are reading this thread thinking about how to solve their own problems. I once had a disconnected OAK tube in a crawlspace create a serious plumbing freezing issue in a previous house. It was the functional equivalent of just pulling air from the crawlspace.