Fresh air intake

[Ravenvalor]

Hi Folks:

We are putting in our first wood stove and was wondering if anyone could advise us on a fresh air intake for the stove. Our home is 53 years old but I sealed it up pretty good with caulking. It seems like a good idea just for the fact that I won't be using warm inside air to feed the stove.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[fossil]

That's the idea. Certainly won't hurt. Rick

 

[Ravenvalor]

Do you have it in your home?

 

[fossil]

Do you have it in your home?

I have two stoves installed, and neither has an outside air kit installed. But that's not because I think there's anything wrong with it, it's because in both cases it would have been a non-trivial complication in my stove installations. There's a forum member here who goes by "highbeam" who has an OAK installed, and from what I gather he's very pleased with it. Rick

 

[Ravenvalor]

Sawdustburners, I looked at your link titled outdoor air myth and am relieved to believe that I do not need fresh air intake. In fact I do not mind a little bit of exhaust at about 10 - 25 cu. ft. of air per minute. I like some exhaust in my tight home.
thanks.

Jim

 

[thechimneysweep]

This is not the one-sided issue the cited article makes it out to be. Outside air is mandated in our trade area, and with thousands of OA installations under our belt, we see many advantages to not burning room air. If you're interested in another point of view, you can read more in our online Sweep's Library at (broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/hooa.htm)

 

[Ravenvalor]

Hello Tom:

Thanks for the link. It stated the cfm's of a fireplace. Do you know what the cfm's is for a wood burning stove?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[retiredff]

Not to hijack the thread but, if using an OAK will this cut down on the moisture leaving the home? Maybe enough as to not need a humidifier?

 

[thechimneysweep]

I've never seen a hard-and-fast flow rating for airtight woodstoves. Given all the variables unique to each installation, such as flue size and height, firebox size and temperature, load size and species, as well as draft control setting and changes in air demand at various stages of each fire, it would have to be a very flexible number. I've seen ratings ranging from 40 cfm to 250 cfm, which sounds reasonable, but I'm not sure how those numbers were derived.

Whatever the chimney flow rate, consider that at times, it will be in competion for room air with clothes dryers, kitchen & bathroom exhaust fans, etc. Regardless of the chimney flow rate at any given moment, the combined outflow can be pretty extreme.

 

[Todd]

FWIW, I hooked up outside air to both my fireplace and Woodstock Fireview. I believe it made a big difference in heating efficiency, especially for the fireplace. I no longer have cold drafts and the house is just warmer. Is it absolutely needed? No, unless it is required in your state or the house is very tight. I highly recommend them.

 

[Ravenvalor]

Hello Todd:

Would you mind explaining to me where it hooks up to on the Fireview?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Highbeam]

I have one, required by "law", and I am an engineer so a little dorky. I see no reason at all to not have an OAK. I see many good reasons to have an OAK with most listed on the chimney sweep site. The only excuse for not having one is if you have physical constraints making it very difficult or expensive to get the 100% connection to the stove or your solid fuel burner is not capable of it.

Mine has worked very well through the heating season to reduce cold drafts towards the stove. When I first built my hearth with the internal OAK ducting to the crawlspace below I was pleasantly surprized to see that air flows through the OAK duct just as a chimney with a healthy draft. All the time, even in the summer, to the point where I had to tape a ziploc bag over it to prevent the cold crawlspace air from cooling the house. This tells me that I am effectively venting my crawlspace 24/7/365 and also supercharging my stove to some extent. All as a bonus.

The hearthstone heritage uses a 100% outside air snorkel that is a 3" nipple off of the back so that ALL air that this stove burns is passing through the duct.

 

[Ravenvalor]

Thanks for the input Highbeam. I hope my new Fireview has a means of connecting a fresh air intake to it. By the way what does OAK stand for?

jim

 

[fossil]

Outside Air Kit.

 

[Todd]

Hello Todd:

Would you mind explaining to me where it hooks up to on the Fireview?

Thanks,
Jim

There are a couple allen screws on the back of the stove directly under the stove collar, you remove them and place the OAK there and screw them back in. Very simple, however I had to modify mine with tin snips because the hole where the air control lever is, was to small and the air control was limited to the #2 setting. You may want to call Woodstock and ask if they corrected this. Maybe they sent me the wrong one? Don't know, don't care, it works great.

Oh yeah, the OAK has a 4" diameter hole and I used 4" aluminum dryer vent for the outside hook up after I spray painted it black.

 

[doug60]

There are two sides to every story,
.
For me the OAK makes good sense. Im going to give it a try this year.
I will report my findings. I plan on taking the outside air from my fireplace clean out door.

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks fossil, typing out the words Outside Air Kit is always a bugger. I also used aluminum semi rigid dryer vent for mine though I didn't paint it so it is silver. It sits low and in the back though where not many folks notice it. I kind of like using the flex duct since in a bad bad situation like when you see molten creosote gurgling out of your chimney and onto your roof you can stomp the air supply shut.

Look at it this way... if for any reason you ever decide that you don't like the OAK then just unhook it.

 

[fossil]

Thanks fossil, typing out the words Outside Air Kit is always a bugger.

You think it was easy for me? I'm an engineer too, remember. %-P Rick

 

[Ravenvalor]

Highbeam it looks awesome.

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks Raven. Since you'll be using a side loader too, excellent choice by the way, I thought I would give you an idea of what you'll be looking at all winter. Here is a load from the end of this last season. The soapstone allows you to really pour the coals on.

 

[Ravenvalor]

Highbeam, you've got that puppy full. I can't wait for cold weather in order to have one of those. By the way do you burn softwood only in your stove?

 

[Todd]

Thanks Raven. Since you'll be using a side loader too, excellent choice by the way, I thought I would give you an idea of what you'll be looking at all winter. Here is a load from the end of this last season. The soapstone allows you to really pour the coals on.

Hey, why is there a metal plate on the top part of the door opening?

 

[fossil]

I think you might be looking at soapstone, Todd. Rick

 

[Highbeam]

That metal plate is part of the door frame and is the side of the secondary burn chamber. The ceiling of the firebox slopes up like that. I suppose they could have used a smaller side door since the top of the current door does nothing for loadability but it would look funny if the top of the front and side doors weren't at the same height.

I burn nothing but softwood since that is what our forests grow up here in the NW, that particular load was cottonwood which despite rumors otherwise burns just fine once you dry it. I have never held a split of hickory or oak in my hand. Evergreens, cedars, alders, some low density maples, and cottonwoods are pretty much the staples around this part of the country. Notice how small the splits are and that if they were any bigger I couldn't have loaded it up as well without setting wood on the glass. Us small firebox guys need to plan for this daily jigsaw puzzle.

 

[fossil]

I think you might be looking at metal, Todd. Rick