Oh-oh I smell smoke!

[Harvey Schneider]

The other day I started smelling smoke. Not near the pellet stove, but on the second floor. It took me a while to figure out what was going on.
Over the past few years we have been improving the energy efficiency of our house, sealing leaks, insulating and finally this fall we replaced all of our windows.
Now when the oil burner runs, the house pressure drops below outside pressure. Coincidentally the top of the chase the stove's flue runs through developed a leak. Now whenever the boiler is running and the stove is running (OAK) smoke is sucked into the chase and through the access hatch on the second floor.
I placed a CO detector in the room with the hatch and it's sitting at zero.
There are several causes of negative pressure in the house. These include; bathroom exhaust fans, kitchen exhaust fan, oil burner, and clothes dryer. I know that I have to fix the chase, I have already hired somebody to do that (I don't to work on the roof anymore). My question is, how do I balance the house's pressure so that air infiltration isn't as much of a problem?

I just know that some wise-a$$ is going to tell me to open a window.

 

[P38X2]

Can you run an OAK to the boiler?

...or open a window?

 

[Harvey Schneider]

Can you run an OAK to the boiler?

Yes, but that doesn't do anything for the other appliances that suck air out of the house. The clothes dryer is probably the biggest offender. It moves a large volume of air and runs for an hour at a time.

 

[P38X2]

Is your dryer in the basement? Are dryers OAKable? I'd think a bathroom fans impact would be trivial, as they don't usually move squat for air(insert joke here)

The kitchen vent...idk.

 

[P38X2]

Hopefully someone with some HVAC knowledge will chime in as I know there's a product to alleviate house pressure differential. I just don't know what its called. I believe they're designed well enough to mitigate heat transfer as well.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

Is your dryer in the basement? Are dryers OAKable? I'd think a bathroom fans impact would be trivial, as they don't usually move squat for air(insert joke here)

The dryer is on the first floor and I have never heard of an OAK for a dryer. The bathroom vents move about 100cfm but can't handle much back pressure. The kitchen vent is a fairly powerful downdraft and moves several hundred cfm.
I really think that the solution is not in addressing each air mover, but in providing make up air for the whole house.

 

[hydes2004]

I'm sorry but what is an "OAK"??

 

[Harvey Schneider]

I'm sorry but what is an "OAK"??

It stands forOutside Air Kit.

 

[subsailor]

Outside Air Kit. Connects to your stove so it draws outside air rather than air from inside, which in turn leads to cold air being sucked into the house to replace the air the stove is using.

 

[P38X2]

I'm sorry but what is an "OAK"??

It's a large deciduous tree commonly foun...

Outside Air Kit. Uses outside air for combustion in pellet stoves, boilers, etc. Search button

 

[SwineFlue]

Hopefully someone with some HVAC knowledge will chime in as I know there's a product to alleviate house pressure differential. I just don't know what its called. I believe they're designed well enough to mitigate heat transfer as well.

I think you're referring to heat recovery air exchangers. Something like this:
(broken link removed to http://www.broan.com/products/product/hrv100hheat-recovery-ventilator-64--146-cfm-c8330dd2-b65c-48fc-a77e-8def78f2ae85/tab/overview)

 

[hydes2004]

Thanks p38x2. The search function is terrible when using tapatalk. Then again j may be getting crazy and dehydrated. Its 91 in here.....

 

[P38X2]

Thanks p38x2. The search function is terrible when using tapatalk. Then again j may be getting crazy and dehydrated. Its 91 in here.....

That's what happens with one of those wood burners

Go hydrate!

 

[P38X2]

I think you're referring to heat recovery air exchangers. Something like this:
(broken link removed to http://www.broan.com/products/product/hrv100hheat-recovery-ventilator-64--146-cfm-c8330dd2-b65c-48fc-a77e-8def78f2ae85/tab/overview)

Yeah, one of those. There ya go, Harvey. You may need a larger capacity version.

 

[moey]

Try hanging your clothes for a week see if it makes a difference.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Ok Harvey, since no other wise ass said the magic words I will, just open a window.

There are air to air heat recovery air exchangers sort of like a whole house OAKs, they normally are needed if you get your house sealed below 0.3 air exchanges per hour.

Normal air filters that just scrub inside air and aren't moving it between floors can't cause any major pressure change (this situation can cause a minor pressure difference between floors) , the devices like the dryer, kitchen vent fan, bathroom fans, etc ... all cause issues because they move air out of the house.