question - outside air intake for stove

[netmouse]

I have a very old victorian house that I am looking to insulate and air seal. I have a serious problem with negative air pressure, and heated air goes out the top of the house. The attic will get upgraded. A contractor mentioned I should also look into getting an outside air intake kit for my wood stove that is in the dining room. He said the stove would be pulling heated air from inside and sending it up the chimney, (once it gets going I close the damper), pulling cold air into the house. I do feel a bad draft, and there is a huge draft of cold air from under the basement door into the dining room where the stove is.

Can an old (1980) Vermont Casting Defiant woodstove use a kit to convert it to use an outside air intake? There is that little thermostat and "hole" on the back to control the temperature. My chimney sweep thinks not.

 

[SolarAndWood]

An OAK isn't going to stop that draft under the door from the basement. Get some expanding foam and find all the places that air can enter the basement and fill them with it. If you have a hard time finding them, have someone stand outside with a flashlight after dark and work your way around the house.

 

[fossil]

Seal the old house up the very best you can. If that results in the stove having a difficult time drafting well (which I seriously doubt it will...if you manage to get that old house that tight, you'll have gone where no man has gone before). But if you actually are able to achieve that, then consider upgrading to a new stove to which an OAK addition is a manufacturer's option. There are other benefits to upgrading/modernizing the appliance, as well, but they weren't part of your question, so I'll leave it at that. Rick

 

[begreen]

To address the negative pressure, try sealing up leaks on the upper floors first. Pay close attention to windows, attic door, open fireplaces, recessed lights, etc. Then see how the negative pressure is affected. The idea is to stop the house acting like a chimney.

If you can have a home energy audit done with a blower-door test, that can be very helpful in locating leaks.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

you might try this trick, select a window close to the stove , open it and take a 3 inch flex hose from the outside through the window and suspend it a couple inches above the floor inside a 5 gallon bucket (set the bucket on the floor and insert the hose into it) and seal up the crack in the window with a block of foam or somthing cheap for the test.

essentially the bucket will recieve cold air from outside but should not release any more than is necessary to supply the stove. the rest of the cold air will be trapped by its own weight relative to the warmer air in the room within the bucket. if the trick works you might consider a more permanent version in a less obtrusive place using a dryer vent instead of "through the window". simple, cheap, and if it doesnt help you arent stuck with a hole in your wall.

 

[netmouse]

Really great ideas ! Thanks everyone.