Harman accentra - outside air kit not necessary?

[Kyle6286]

We operated a 52i last year without an OAK, and this year we have an OAK installed. The difference is night and day as far as burn quality (more active flame) and heat retention. We seem to be burning less pellets as well. The glass stays cleaner, longer. And the drafts are gone. Additionally, it used to take up to 10 minutes to ignite, sometimes longer... now it ignites in 5.

On ours, I took the OAK down through the cleanout and out through a side basement wall. Maybe you could do that too, OP. Not to sound like a broken record, but it's well worth the effort.

Interesting. Sorry for my lack of knowledge with fireplaces since this is basically our first home with one, but when you say clean out, are you referring to the ash catcher thing? In the basement below our fireplace, there are two small cast iron doors in the wall that you can open where I assume the ash collects or drops down from above. I've honestly never checked them inside, but I'm assuming they're there for a reason. You ran it down the chimney, out that door, and then out your basement that way?

Mind sharing with me your kit? This sounds like a pretty simple way to address this whole oak situation with my chimney. Did you just wing it, or did you follow along with a visual of some sort to ensure you did everything correctly?

To be honest, I'm kind of shocked it's this difficult to find a pellet stove dealer or company willing to install an oak around here. And as much as I'd like to do it myself, I don't trust myself with chimney stuff and I also want to be confident it's installed and operating properly. However, your way does sound like something that's pretty straightforward.

Thanks for the help!

 

[MapleHill]

You COULD run it way down to the ash door near your basement floor but on mine, in the basement and up near the ceiling there was already an empty inspection cap where I guess the previous owners were possible going to run another wood stove into the chimney. I went out that cap. Your basement will probably not have that port so you'd likely have to drill a hole (in your block).

It sounds like you may want to try what fmfsm did here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...de-air-kit-not-necessary.185413/#post-2490187 (run the fresh air intake from the top of the chimney).

One thing you will need is the outdoor air welded fitting for the 52i. It's expensive but replaces the damper on the back of your stove with a gasketed fitting that you can attach 3" hose to. I used a combination of aluminum dryer hose, and rigid 3" hose.

No matter what route you pick, you will need that Harman part. The Harman OAK fitting I purchased here, it seemed like the best price: https://www.bonanza.com/listings/Ha...utside-air-assembly-Kit-1-00-574350/765518906

 

[LobsterParty]

Without an OAK it's like a exhaust fan running continuously...

This explains why the doors in my house , the basement door, and the apartment side door. Have ice cold air blasting in. Through the bottom Gap. It's Freezing cold air, so this is an example of the Negative or Positive pressure. Don't know what to call it. But you are spot on. The pellet stove is currently installed as an exhaust fan . Making things difficult to heat up to maximum potential