Exterior air intake for new construction

[Bstanford]

We are about to begin building a home which will have a brick-and-mortar fireplace and chimney. The IRC states we must have a make-up air from a level that is at or below the fireplace height. (I suppose if from above it could act as a chimney itself?) For the fire box on the main level, thats easy enough - we plan on getting a cast iron direct vent that goes directly through the firebox to the exterior.

What do we do for the basement? We're going to install a thimble for a stove, but it will be well below ground level and 30' or 2 rooms away from the walk out basement side of the house. Can anyone provide any insight on what to do here?

Thanks

 

[begreen]

This is often a challenge with basement installations. For some stoves the air is brought into the general vicinity of the stove's air intake without a direct connection. Sometimes this is done in the pedestal base of the stove, or the air break is built into the stove. Our stove is like this. In other cases an HRV is used to keep the area under positive pressure.
How close is the nearest exterior wall to the proposed stove location?

 

[Bstanford]

Well the chimney and stove will be on an exterior wall but underground by 9’ and a patio on top of that. 30’ away from an exterior wall I could possible use.

Would you have a link to a kit that works for a remote application or is it like using dryer ductwork to make the run?

 

[begreen]

30' is too long a run and even then there is the concern about issues with a direct connect.

 

[EbS-P]

What part of NC are you in?

I am of the option that any new construction should be so air tight that an energy recovery ventilated must be installed. Second if you are in a humid location you seriously need to consider a whole home dehumidifier. It can function at the fresh air ventilator.

Last piece of unsolicited advice/opinion is open masonry fireplace are gratuitous in their upfront cost and energy cost. You can Can completely ignore this but not the first two.

 

[begreen]

If the goal of the fireplace is heating as well as ambiance, I would be putting in a high-quality ZC fireplace instead of a masonry unit.

 

[Bstanford]

We live in the foothills of NC. Definitely like the look of a traditional FP although I’ve looked at some ZC units.

I’m going to discuss with the inspector this week before moving forward.

 

[begreen]

A good ZC fireplace installation can easily look like a masonry fireplace with glass doors.

 

[NickW]

You can have a masonry surround around a ZC. My Stratford II has the option of a snap in screen frame to use as an open fireplace for "ambiance burning" when not used as a heating appliance. Just make sure you make appropriate structural accommodations for the additional weight. In our case it involved changing some I-joists to LVL's.