FINALLY PULLED THE TRIGGER

[jackiec]

After hanging around here for several years, I have finally placed an order for a Santa Fe Insert. For me, it was a tossup between the Castile and the Empress, with enamel. I took my wife to a stove shop for her to help choose, and she fell in love with the looks of the Santa Fe..... Whatever I know about pellet stoves has been learned here. My main concern was picking the right stove for our masonary chimney and now that it's been done......a host of new questions confront me. Install is 3 weeks away, and I need your help now, morethan ever.
1) Should I have a chimney sweep clean the chimney or just leave it be? It last was cleaned 5 years ago.

2) Whom do I talk to about a block-off plate? chimney sweep, installer, or should I attempt to do it?

3) Should the chimney be insulated? It's about 10-12 feet.

4) I am a big proponent of OAK, having added it to oiler burner a few years ago and it has made a huge positive impact. To my surprise, every dealer (8 or 9) has said not to do it. One guy told my wife that bugs enter through it (she is now against it) and that it allows for rusting from the moisture. My dealer wouldn't even put the OAK in the price until he spoke to techs about it. Does a hole have to be drilled through the brick? Am I missing something? Should I forget about the OAK? The house is tight.

5) Is there a preferred brand of pellet pipe to use?

Thanks for making this the best forum on the internet!

 

[MCPO]

Kinda irresponsible of those dealers IMO.
Many of them don`t like to install the OAK because it is extra work and mat`l and adds to the price . But then they often install the vent straight out the back with no draft to keep it simple so IMO they are more interested in profits off the sale than a proper install.
They have to know that an OAK is almost always recommended by the stove maker and the proper way to go.
Sure bugs and moisture are possible in the summer but the OAK can be sealed from each end quite easily at the end of the heating season and by the user in a few minutes.
It`s silly to spend a lot of money and end up with an incomplete installation. You should insist upon the OAK.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I'm sitting here typing this while my Sante Fe is merrily burning! ) It is also an insert with 17 feet of flexible 3" pipe running up the chimney to a plate and cap. After 5 years of burning your fireplace, I would suggest that you have the chimney cleaned first. The flexible pipe comes in 25' rolls so you would have enough to reline your chimney twice. Put the extra pipe in the attic for later.
As for the OAK, you will awaken a sleeping giant with that one. ) For me, my fireplace is internal to my house and there is no way short of running it also up my chimney. For me, 17' was too far. For you, 10 feet is doable. It could run also up the chimney, through the block off plate and then turned downward with 2 90 degree elbows. You have to keep the exhaust a certain distance away. Your manual will show that option at 12" of distance, I believe. It shows a regular cap on the OAK, but other manuals show the 180 degree turn, which I think makes more sense.

Actually, after burning a wood insert for 20 years, this Sante Fe draws MUCH LESS air than the wood burner. I don't notice any draft. It is a very small blower. You have to make that call.

 

[MCPO]

As for the OAK, you will awaken a sleeping giant with that one. ) For me, my fireplace is internal to my house and there is no way short of running it also up my chimney. For me, 17' was too far. For you, 10 feet is doable. It could run also up the chimney, through the block off plate and then turned downward with 2 90 degree elbows. You have to keep the exhaust a certain distance away. Your manual will show that option at 12" of distance, I believe. It shows a regular cap on the OAK, but other manuals show the 180 degree turn, which I think makes more sense.

Actually, after burning a wood insert for 20 years, this Sante Fe draws MUCH LESS air than the wood burner. I don't notice any draft. It is a very small blower. You have to make that call.

Only if the OAK install was very difficult (as in your case) would I consider not doing the OAK.
But it might be wise to know up front what your local / state codes and inspector requires or how he interprets the manufacturers install requirements. In my area the bldg inspector would definitely require one especially if the installation manual recommended it. I understand some makers do require the OAK in their install manual.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Only if the OAK install was very difficult (as in your case) would I consider not doing the OAK.
But it might be wise to know up front what your local / state codes and inspector requires or how he interprets the manufacturers install requirements. In my area the bldg inspector would definitely require one especially if the installation manual recommended it. I understand some makers do require the OAK in their install manual.

Building Inspector ??? In rural Georgia???? ha ha ha. Y'all got tyres on that there house???? Pellet stove??? What be dat??? Y'all burnin rabbit pellets???

 

[jackiec]

I have now been to approx. 20 stove dealers and when I mention OAK, they look @ me like I have 2 heads. Not one has recommended having it installed. The Santa FE manual (insert) even has a picture showing the air tube for a masonry chimney. It has me thinking that maybe I should just do the install myself. Could it be so little air is needed that it doesn't make much of a difference? I would like to know how much air a pellet stove draws compared to that of a typical oil burner. If it's some crazy ratio like 100:1, maybe I will forget about OAK.

 

[MCPO]

I have now been to approx. 20 stove dealers and when I mention OAK, they look @ me like I have 2 heads. Not one has recommended having it installed. The Santa FE manual (insert) even has a picture showing the air tube for a masonry chimney. It has me thinking that maybe I should just do the install myself. Could it be so little air is needed that it doesn't make much of a difference? I would like to know how much air a pellet stove draws compared to that of a typical oil burner. If it's some crazy ratio like 100:1, maybe I will forget about OAK.

The truth is an OAK is in most cases not gonna make a noticeable difference in most homes and that`s one reason why so many folks don`t install one (plus the work and cost) and I`m sure most pellet stoves will operate just fine (for the most part) without the OAK.
That said , I can`t tell you how many people have kitchen hood fans and bath exhaust fans that aren`t vented directly to the out doors but in all the above example situations the fans do continue to operate fine but the intended efficiencies are indeed compromised even if the benefits of a vent are not readily noticed or appreciated.
I`d say the OB draws considerably more air than a pellet stove but it could be somewhat irrelovent if you consider the other additional conditions that could happen or already exist to pressurize your house such as (properly vented fans, clothes dryer, oil burner)which could possibly all run at the same time. An OAK kinda takes any blame off the pellet stove as being the cause of that condition existing or otherwise since it provides the stove with combustion air .

 

[imacman]

jackie, the decision to install the oak has to be made by you based on a couple of factors:

-is your house very "tight" energy-wise?

-would installing the oak be relatively easy?

-would you rather NOT have cold air drafts when the weather is really frigid?

IMO, there is NO downside to an OAK. There are definite upsides, though.

 

[jtakeman]

I'm with Gio and macman,

Go with the oak. I actually feel warmer since I installed mine. It reduced the draft from my front door. Plus my stove seems to burn cleaner.

 

[kbjelka]

When my installer came by prior to the install I inquired about an OAK install. He turned his head and looked around my circa 1935 house and said I had plenty of outside air. At the time I tended to agree, my house is anything but tight. After burning for a solid year I think I should have done the OAK. Despite having an old leaky house I can feel a steady stream of could air from under the basement door. I don't bother to try to seal it up because it will just suck air from elsewhere. If you can do the OAK without too much cost or trouble I would go for it.

 

[krooser]

I vote for the oak.

I have a free standing stove so my install was simple. I used Selkirk vent pipe which uses an integral OAK around the exhaust vent.

I, too, have a leaky old house but my dealer said I should expect more drafts without one.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Most people vote for the OAK but for my Quad Castile, the combustion blower on HIGH is 80 CFM If you have a forced draft furnace, your drawing at least that much. Since I switched from wood burning inserts to the Quad, the draft, obviously, is a LOT less. I'm sure if I went to a pellet stove from nothing, I might feel a draft or at least talk myself into feeling one after spending the time and effort to install it.