Osburn 1800 Insert - Outside Air?

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hortonct

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Jan 26, 2009
2
Southern CT
I recently installed an Osburn 1800 insert - I'm very happy with it, but can feel the cold air being pulled in thru the far side of the house as it burns, even with the damper at its mosted closed level. Has anyone had any experience with using an outside air source? Any other ideas? My Chimmney does not have a vent in it already, but does have a cleanout. My basement is finished, but if I were to run a small vent thru the cleanout, I could probably vent it to the outside easier than chopping a hole thru my chimmney. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, to any Osburn 1800 insert owners, anything a rookie needs to know? Thanks.
 
I use an OAK and don't have cold drafts. I also have a HRV so it provides general make-up air to the house.
 
I installed my 1800 insert January 3rd and it's been a trial and error process. The great folks on this forum helped me allot. More than allot!
I installed a full 6inch ss flex liner with insulation as a block off around the damper and also insulation inside the chimney below the cap. I am wondering what you have, a full liner, a block off plate, insulation, etc?
 
I have a 6" flex SS liner - no insulation yet - Cap is attached to liner but not chimney yet. What type on insulation did you use - I've been told that fiberglass is fine, but I'm nervous. I contacted Osburn regarding an exterior air source - the 1800 is not set up to attach it, but I'm planning on removing the cleanout behind the stove and open it in the basement - the room in the basement (my workshop), has a 4" vent pipe to the outside for fresh air to the furnace so I can close the door and hopefully it will pull from there.

In setting up the 1800 i noticed a couple of things: first, the door is slightly off kilter, causing it to scrape the fan unit - I'll probably have to play with the hinge screws to fix it., second, thefour black shet metal screws holding the faceplate to the unit don't seem to be the right size - I tried one size smaller from my supply and they seemed to work better, but they are silver, not black - I'll probaly fix that some day.

How do you like the performance of the stove, I'm pleased, but expected more heat than Im getting.
 
Before you try adjusting the door----mine did the same thing---check the blower housing first. There are tabs where the screws go in and should allow you to adjust the height. All we had to do was push down on the housing a bit and tighten the screws.
 
I like the operation of the 1800 although it took me some getting used to (thank you again Kate).
I am a little dissapointed in the quality of what I think is a pricey stove. Mine also came with the door sagging slightly on the right side. It scraped the blower unit as did yours. I realized that I needed to adjust the large bolts that level it to the firebox floor to make it higher up in the front. Then I was able to loosen the blower unit screws that Kate mentioned and I was able to lower the blower unit so the door does not scrape it. My door still has a sag, and when I close it the straight pin on the door handle hits the stop on the stove, ever so slightly, making a distinct "clunk" sound. I was going to adjust the door hinges but had second thoughts. (I created a post about it and did not get any replies). When I close the door if I lift up very slightly, it closes without scraping the stop. I will wait until warm weather to adjust it. Maybe by then I will have some info. on how to do it properly.
Also, the door gasket was fraying where it joins on the bottom of the door. after a few weeks it frayed enough to have a slight gap. I put a dab of 500 degree silicone inside the gap and mushed the frayed ends into it. It now looks like it never frayed and is ok.
I am still learning the how's and why's about the firing techniques and am ever concerned about chimney fires, especially when sleeping. It can really get a fire going and sometimes it looks like it will just melt right through the floor and keep going to the center of the earth!
 
My door leans a bit too---there was a thread about that some time ago and it seems to be common and not stove-specific. When my installers were here for some work I pointed it out, and the guy looked at the hinges but didn't think they could be adjusted---if you figure it out, brink, please let me know. I also have a gap in the bottom-center of my door gasket, but that happened when I shut the door on a big fat hot coal I didn't see---oops. We globbed it up with furnace cement but that's crumbling now so we'll replace the gasket come spring. So how's she heating for you these days? Let her rip for a good 20 mins or so a day and you shouldn't get creosote, therefore not much chance of chimney fire---especially with a full insulated liner.
 
hortonct said:
Has anyone had any experience with using an outside air source? Any other ideas?

The subject probably warrants reasonable investigation. There seams to be as many safety concerns as there are reasons to do it. I couldnt find the article I read but it had issues with the theory - mostly regarding the possibility of positive pressure (from windage etc) in your make up air vent. It was code in parts of Canada in the late 80's but was then dropped.
 
She's heating very well. I average 65F throughout the house after it's been running a few hours and the coals are glowing red. I've been keeping it between 300-400 as best I can. Burning all sorts of hardwoods so it varies. Nice flames when the secondary kicks in. I get hypnotic staring at it. Wondering where all my time has gone.
 
I have s imilar situation with fesh air intake. I do have an ash dump with a door on the outside of the chimney, if I open that door I get a great source of fresh air, butthe problem is when the fire goes out, in rushes the cold air. Now since the wife and I both work we don't maintain a constant fire, and opening and lcosing the ash dump door is a pain. anyoen have a solution to install and automatic door or a dampner that will shut when not in use?

As for the heat, it cna put uot enough to keep the house warm using outside combustion air. When pulling air fomr the hosue the rooms tend to get a bit cold. The fan could be a bit quiter too. Mine unit was installed in fall of 06.
 
I really don't understand the fresh air intake idea. I've heard for a tightly sealed house a window should be cracked for CO concerns. Isn't it best for the stove to be heating the inside air of the house so at some point it is all the same temp? How does the house get warmer when cold outside air is used to fuel the stove, rather than using warmer inside air?
 
Could it just be the natural circulation of the air? You have a single point source of heat. It warms the air in that location. The warm air rises & is replaced with the cooler air from the rest of the house. Stop & think. If that does not happen, how are you going to get any warmth to the rest of the house?
Al
 
If I draw cold air from my fresh air supply located in the basement of my house this air must travel all the way to the fireplace to be warmed and then back to warm the rest of the house. If I draw my fresh air as near as possible ot my fireplace the cold air does not have to travel the entire house. It enters form outside gets heated and exits the front. This also redcues the amount of cold air drawn through windows and cracks in the house.
 
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