Fresh Air Combustion - Wood Stove Insert

[theRog05]

Hello all,

I purchased a Drolet 1800 wood insert to go in my existing fireplace. I called up my town for a permit and they are saying that I need to install it with an intake from outside based off of code R1006 (New York). I find it very hard to believe that it is a requirement. I have a couple friends that have had professionals install their wood insert and they did not need to install a fresh air intake.

Secondly, my chimney is between the garage and living room, so there is no access to the outside other than up and part of the code says the intake must be below the firebox.

Can anyone help shed some light on this? I'm sure many other people are in a situation where they have a fireplace in the middle of their house.

Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Seems like this might be an interpretation. R1006 appears to cover masonry and factory built fireplaces.
R1006.1 Exterior Air
Factory-built or masonry fireplaces covered in this chapter shall be equipped with an exterior air supply to ensure proper fuel combustion unless the room is mechanically ventilated and controlled so that the indoor pressure is neutral or positive.

The goal may be to bring the existing fireplace up to code. If they demand an OAK can a 3 or 4" round duct be run from the fireplace to the exterior wall along the interior garage wall in order to bring in outside air to the side of the fireplace and comply?
https://up.codes/viewer/new_york/irc-2015/chapter/10/chimneys-and-fireplaces#10

 

[HomeinPA]

Unless the stove requires it through the manufacturer's instructions I'd tell 'em to pound sand. The fireplace is an existing structure and you are not changing it's function or construction. If you were tearing the fireplace apart and rebuilding it then they would have a valid argument but you're not so.... I get into debates with this stuff all the time. Just because they say something doesn't make it so every time. Of course there are those that will do whatever they say regardless of how stupid or even wrong it is but I'm not one of them. Some of these people get a badge and a little authority and it goes straight to their head.

 

[theRog05]

begreen, since the fireplace is in the center of the house, I don't really have any way to introduce a fresh air intake. There is too much obstruction on the garage side to make it possible. I called a local installer and asked for some advice and they said they would talk with a technician and get back to me. Hopefully they can help point something out.

HomeinPA, I was thinking the same thing, since it's not "new" construction, it should be grandfathered in. I've worked with the code inspector in the past for my deck and pellet stove install, and he a nice guy so I'm hoping we can work something out. It's hard to contact him through phone so I've been emailing him. I think maybe we just need to find time to have a conversation about the issue at hand.

 

[theRog05]

***UPDATE***

I spent some time looking at the NFPA 211 code and was able to reference a couple sections to my code enforcer and he agreed that it is not necessary to install the stove with outside air. The main reason he's allowing it is "Chapter 17 of the IRC re-enforces your point that for a solid fuel “appliance” to default back to manufacturer instructions."