Outside air on harman p35i

[pelletkid]

Hi folks been reading here for some time know and gathering a lot of info from you all. I Just got my harman p35i and am working on installing it in a brick fireplace. I am wondering about the outside air is it needed? My dealer says that harman is back ordered 4 weeks on the kit. Not sure if i want to wait that long. What are the benefits of it. My house is 1200 sq ft and about 20 years old. There was a old pellet stove in here that just used inside air but it had a natural vent not a powered one like the now stoves do. It work just great unless the central heat was on then it would go out and the house would fill with smoke. How much air does these new stoves take?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Hi folks been reading here for some time know and gathering a lot of info from you all. I Just got my harman p35i and am working on installing it in a brick fireplace. I am wondering about the outside air is it needed? My dealer says that harman is back ordered 4 weeks on the kit. Not sure if i want to wait that long. What are the benefits of it. My house is 1200 sq ft and about 20 years old. There was a old pellet stove in here that just used inside air but it had a natural vent not a powered one like the now stoves do. It work just great unless the central heat was on then it would go out and the house would fill with smoke. How much air does these new stoves take?

Up to 100+ cubic feet per minute the last I knew (this isn't a Harman unit and an OAK is mandatory on it). You need to check with your dealer or perhaps one of the Harman folks on here will let us know.

The benefit in your case would be that if the central heating kicks in the stove shouldn't smoke up the house.

What do you have for a central heating system and do you have any other air movers?

 

[pelletkid]

I have a heat pump for central heat that is a joke it dont heat at all when the temp is below freezing. Will the harman with powered vent use more air then my old pellet stove that just had natural draft? My harman dealer says that i dont need the oak but not sure if they are just saying that because they dont have it in stock and wont for 4 weeks or if they are mad at me for doing the install myself and buying my vent pipe from a dealer online that cost half as much.

 

[pelletkid]

Also if it is not needed then why does harman even make it? Just a question i am starting to not like my dealer.

 

[jtakeman]

Harman makes it because in certain circumstance's it is necessary. Tight homes and homes with too many air consumers just plain need them for proper burn!

Some here(including me) feel the pro's out weigh the cons. The air has to come from outside anyway. Why pull air from outside thru the heated areas as the stove consumes the internal air? When you can pull from directly outside and leave the heated air alone. If your house is drafty, Its a good bet you'll notice the difference.

Is there a connection on the stove for the OAK? If so you can make your own kit.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Also if it is not needed then why does harman even make it? Just a question i am starting to not like my dealer.

It is required by code to qualify the stove for use in a mobile or tightly constructed house.

Whether an OAK is needed depends upon individual installation situations.

An OAK provides an unimpeded source of combustion air from outside the building and thus not at the mercy of any other air using or moving item inside the house.

It also means that with an OAK installed you aren't pumping air you have already heated out of the house to be replaced by cold air drawn through various cracks and gaps in the building.

 

[pelletkid]

There is a connection on the stove but the harman kit makes it so when you slide the stove into the fire place it lines up and connects to the outside air. There is no way to connect it up once the stove is slid in unless you use the harman kit.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Do you have an ash clean out in the floor of your fireplace. It's a metal door that you open to push ashes from a wood fire into and then there's a clean out door on the outside of the fireplace. One of my fireplaces has the door and I ran a piece of metal flex pipe I got from www.mcmaster.com from my stove into that clean out. Then sealed all around it with fiberglass insulation. Like J said, if you have some thin sheet metal sitting around, you can bend a piece into a tube, pop rivet it, put slits in one end and bend them to make a flange. Screw that onto the stove over the hole for make up air or if your stove has a tube coming out, it's a no brainer. Just slip the flex over it.

 

[pelletkid]

Do you have an ash clean out in the floor of your fireplace. It's a metal door that you open to push ashes from a wood fire into and then there's a clean out door on the outside of the fireplace. One of my fireplaces has the door and I ran a piece of metal flex pipe I got from www.mcmaster.com from my stove into that clean out. Then sealed all around it with fiberglass insulation. Like J said, if you have some thin sheet metal sitting around, you can bend a piece into a tube, pop rivet it, put slits in one end and bend them to make a flange. Screw that onto the stove over the hole for make up air or if your stove has a tube coming out, it's a no brainer. Just slip the flex over it.

That is a good idea and that is also what i would do if i put the outside air kit on my fireplace has the clean out. Will look into making a kit myself to.

 

[PJPellet]

I highly recommend the OAK. For the reasons already mentioned above.

 

[tjnamtiw]

That is a good idea and that is also what i would do if i put the outside air kit on my fireplace has the clean out. Will look into making a kit myself to.

Go for it. The other thing I did outside at the ash door was to put several layers of fine hardware cloth (wire mesh) in there to keep the curious rodents out! I check it a few times over the winter to make sure nothing has been chewing on it.