Reverse Drafts

[Skier76]

I know this isn't an issue for 24/7 burners...of which I'm not.

We got up to VT after midnight Saturday night (OK, technically "Sunday Morning" :lol: ) It was 13F outside. We leave the heat on around 50-55ish. The temp was 54 in the house. I opened the Jotul and was greated with a nice blast of cold air. I slightly opened a downstairs window. I hooked up my hair dryer to the 3" flex and let that warm up the firebox(hooked up the air intake on the back of the stove). Even after a decent amount of time, I still had cold air blowing down the chimney. So I fired up the ol' propane torch. There was still some cold air, but not as bad. I took advantage and lit the fire off. I had a decent amount of smoke swirling around the fire box, but it finally took off. No spillage into the room either.

How do you guys deal with this? My concern is driving up there because the power is out...and I won't be able to reverse the draft. I know the lighting newspaper should take care of it..but I'm thinking that would have just ended up smoking out the room.

It's an 8" exterior metal chimney.

 

[begreen]

I was concerned about that big, cold exterior flue. It sits below the roofline quite a bit if I recall. Was there a wind blowing across the roof from the other side?

The best solution would be to put a 6" straight up interior flue on the stove. For this winter, the propane torch with a fan tip may be the best solution in a power outage.

 

[LLigetfa]

Assume you have a Tee with clean-out on the outside, open the clean-out and send heat up the flue from there.

 

[gpcollen1]

Just crack the window and then do the newspaper trick. I just did it again on two stoves after being gone for 1.5 days. I have never smoked the place out except for when I forget to open the window.

 

[Skier76]

I just thought of something....while I was getting the fire ready, my wife fired up the Rinnai heater upstairs. It's a 1004FA....and I just looked up the CFM rating: High 360.6 CFM: Low 203.4 CFM I'm going to assume that's enough CFMs to effect things. Couple that with the fact that the stove is downstairs and the heater is on the main level; stack effect squared.

So! We're heading up late again this weekend. I'll see if we can leave the heater off while I get the fire going; and if the changes the amount of air coming down the Santa Chute.

BeGreen,
Thankfully, no wind. Yeah, the chimney does get mighty cold! 99% of the time, I can get things going in short order. I am amazed with how well the draft works once it's reversed.

LLigetfa,
Sure do! That's something I honestly never thought of.

CTwoodburner,
Maybe I'll give that a shot as well.

 

[begreen]

I would be surprised if the Rinnai was the issue. I think if it's correctly connected, it should have the combustion air supplied from outside. Because its fan is inside the case, not ducted to the lower floor, it's just circulating air and shouldn't create negative pressure I would think. But still, worth a try with it off to eliminate this as a cause.

 

[JotulOwner]

I know this isn't an issue for 24/7 burners...of which I'm not.

We got up to VT after midnight Saturday night (OK, technically "Sunday Morning" :lol: ) It was 13F outside. We leave the heat on around 50-55ish. The temp was 54 in the house. I opened the Jotul and was greated with a nice blast of cold air. I slightly opened a downstairs window. I hooked up my hair dryer to the 3" flex and let that warm up the firebox(hooked up the air intake on the back of the stove). Even after a decent amount of time, I still had cold air blowing down the chimney. So I fired up the ol' propane torch. There was still some cold air, but not as bad. I took advantage and lit the fire off. I had a decent amount of smoke swirling around the fire box, but it finally took off. No spillage into the room either.

How do you guys deal with this? My concern is driving up there because the power is out...and I won't be able to reverse the draft. I know the lighting newspaper should take care of it..but I'm thinking that would have just ended up smoking out the room.

It's an 8" exterior metal chimney.

I get a reverse draft from time to time and I use a similar method to correct it, but I am wondering how electricity factors into using a propane torch.

 

[LLigetfa]

A torch like this needs no electricity.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31o9l1qkNmL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

 

[hardcore]

On a side note, with a reverse draft, does it pick up ash particles from inside the stove and send them into the house even when the door of the stove is closed? A person might not see the particles, but would it be a good idea to shove some insulation in the intake?

 

[summit]

sometimes, just opening the door to a stove on a cold, exterior chimney for about 20 mins will correct neg draft: hovever, to correct this permantly, I would suggest chasing in the Chimney w/ a 2 x 4 chase with at least R13 fiberglass or equivalant.

 

[Jotulf3cb]

A torch like this needs no electricity.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31o9l1qkNmL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

Yes but a torch like that can still EASILY get blown out with even a little wind resistance. I ordered a "Draw Collar" and will advise on its performace related to this exact issue ...... scheduled to arrive on Thursday.

 

[begreen]

The draw collar will not solve the OP's concern of what to do when the power is out. This is a weekend cabin, so the stove and flue will be cold.

 

[grommal]

Flue warming with a torch is hit or miss with my exterior masonry chimney. If there's any breeze at all, what works better is to crack open a door or window on the upwind side of the house to force a positive pressure situation inside. That air rushing in the new opening has to go out somewhere!

 

[Skier76]

On a side note, with a reverse draft, does it pick up ash particles from inside the stove and send them into the house even when the door of the stove is closed? A person might not see the particles, but would it be a good idea to shove some insulation in the intake?

I've thought about blocking off the intake when we're not there. Problem is, there are usually coals in the stove when we leave Sunday night. I just close down the air control and hope for the best.

BeGreen,
I'm pretty sure the wall heater draws air from the inside of the house. It has intake grates on the side of the unit. The only thing gonig to the outside of the house is the exhaust. It's a pretty neat little unit and it can put out some heat when called upon.

Re: Power outtages---

Right now, I use a hair dryer, hooked up to 3" metal flex ducting and attach that to the OAK on the back of the stove (intake). I fire up the hair dryer, leave the door shut and let that warm up the firebox for a few minutes. Once that's warmed up, I pull off the ducting and light the fire. I've found that's much easier to let the hair dryer do it's thing while I get wood or do something else....vs sitting there holding the hairdryer or the propane torch aimed up in the space between the front of the stove and the baffle plate. I posted pics of this in a thread titled "Turbo Jotul".

The draw collar looks it would work nicely. But at $400, it's a little spendy. My hair dryer heater setup was about $30-$40.