stove location near a/c air intake?

[Pauly]

I have only a few options for placing my stove. the one I am looking at is the Morso 1440. One possible location in directly across ( about 8 feet away) from the air intake for my a/c- heatpump. When it starts up there is definitley a sucking ( toward the air intake) of a bedroom door which is adjacent to where I want to put the stove. Will this cause draft problems or smoke puffing out of the stove?

 

[nshif]

It may be a code violation. If I recall correctly a stove cant be within 10' of an air return. Check with your local inspector if you care about meeting code.

 

[Pauly]

I understand codes are there for a reason - what is the reasoning behind this? What are the potential problems and issues?

 

[LLigetfa]

What are the potential problems and issues?

Just as you described, the possibility of back-drafting/smoke puffing.

 

[BrotherBart]

And sucking fire, smoke and CO into the vent in case of a fire near the stove and distributing it.

 

[fossil]

Mechanical codes in most of the country require 10' minimum separation between a solid fuel-burning appliance and any ventilation return register. Supply register, no problem. Return register, problem. Rick

 

[nshif]

Mechanical codes in most of the country require 10' minimum separation between a solid fuel-burning appliance and any ventilation return register. Supply register, no problem. Return register, problem. Rick

Ive never heard of supply air coming from indoors, seems rather dangerous in a relativly air tight home

 

[BrotherBart]

Mechanical codes in most of the country require 10' minimum separation between a solid fuel-burning appliance and any ventilation return register. Supply register, no problem. Return register, problem. Rick

Ive never heard of supply air coming from indoors, seems rather dangerous in a relativly air tight home

He is talking about supply air for the central heating unit. I bet you have never heard of a central unit that sucks air from outside and then blows it into the house. :coolsmirk:

 

[fossil]

Mechanical codes in most of the country require 10' minimum separation between a solid fuel-burning appliance and any ventilation return register. Supply register, no problem. Return register, problem. Rick

Ive never heard of supply air coming from indoors, seems rather dangerous in a relativly air tight home

Terminolgy. OP said, "...the air intake for my a/c- heatpump." He's talking about a central heating/cooling system in the house. When he says "air intake", I'm assuming he's talking a "return" register (one through which the air handler fan returns room air to the heating/cooling unit), as opposed to a "supply" register (one through which the conditioned air flows back into the living space). These terms are all about the central system installed in the home...nothing whatever to do with the wood burning appliance. The central HVAC system typically is a closed loop, completely contained within the envelope of the home. (Some systems have fresh air makeup provisions, but only rarely yet do you find this in residential installations). With respect to the wood burning appliance, if you're talking about the combustion air supply for it, then unless it's got an OAK installed, all of its combustion air supply comes from within the living space...which is the case in probably north of 90% of the installations out there. Maybe I just don't understand your comment. Rick

 

[fossil]

Damnit, Bart...gimme a chance to tell the whole joke before you spill the punch line! %-P Rick

 

[BrotherBart]

Damnit, Bart...gimme a chance to tell the whole joke before you spill the punch line! %-P Rick

Not being an engineer, I am a little more crude with my answer. :coolgrin:

 

[Archie]

I have only a few options for placing my stove. the one I am looking at is the Morso 1440. One possible location in directly across ( about 8 feet away) from the air intake for my a/c- heatpump. When it starts up there is definitley a sucking ( toward the air intake) of a bedroom door which is adjacent to where I want to put the stove. Will this cause draft problems or smoke puffing out of the stove?

Not discounting what others have said, but you live in VA, as I do, and it's usually not so cold that the air handler is running full time. Kick the temp on your thermostat down a few degrees to buy you some time (i.e., turn the handler off), and start your stove. When the stove hits steady state, put the thermostat back to its normal setting. I do this successfully with my stove all the time, as I have a return (one of several around the house) directly above my stove. Codes must have changed in the past 30 years. On another note, if your door is moving when the air handler kicks in, your system may not be properly balanced between supply and return.

 

[Pauly]

thanks everyone for your replies

Rick as you said

"The central HVAC system typically is a closed loop, completely contained within the envelope of the home. " This is what I am asking about.

Archie- I was wondering about whether that could be done. When you say you have a return directly above your stove do you mean a it is sucking or blowing air?

thanks again all.

 

[Archie]

thanks everyone for your replies

Rick as you said

"The central HVAC system typically is a closed loop, completely contained within the envelope of the home. " This is what I am asking about.

Archie- I was wondering about whether that could be done. When you say you have a return directly above your stove do you mean a it is sucking or blowing air?

thanks again all.

It's a return, sucking air, and helps take a load off my heat pump as it sucks in very warm air. During start up (about 10 minutes), I also open the nearby window about an inch, just to facilitate air flow.

 

[EL DRIFTO]

i'm starting to love this forum
i just installed my stove in the corner of my poured concrete basement
it takes a while to get the general area heated
but once it's going, the whole house stays 1 degree overnight
20.5" next to my HVAC
i opened up the hvac cold air return/inlet above in the two joist spaces over the stove
set up an ac thermostat in the ceiling, of the basement, in the cold air return, above the stove
that turns on just the fan circut in the furnace above 91F
i also set the hvac fan on the lowest of 6 speeds internally
to keep the draftiness down & match the input btus better
often called a "comfort" setting on most hvac fan motors
i'd have to turn it back up to let the wife start the furnace or ac for that matter
right now the gas valve is closed

it takes 40-60 minutes to get the fan to come on automatically
then it's pleasant upstairs
with the fan on such a low speed, i can't even hear the furnace fan running
obviously it runs for an hour or two to (ac) the basement ceiling
after the best of the fire goes out so does the fan
it's hard to tell how cold it is outside since the floor & everything stays warm silently all night

between the corner concrete basement location
& the seamless air handler install
i couldn't be happier with my new stove so far

my only drafting problem comes when i turn on the ex fan in the basement for smoking purposes
i wont do that anymore
i crack the window next to the stove open 1/8" always

hope this helps

 

[EL DRIFTO]

well i've had some more time with my stove
the fan was running too much so it is now fed off the heat thermostat upstairs also
if it gets over 71 upstairs, it shuts off
then into the basement ceiling thermostat still
that way it doesn't get too hot upstairs

when i would come downstairs, it would be hotter than it was upstairs &
the old gas furnace fan is still going too fast
i can certainly hear it down stairs too much
i madeup a new cold air intake location, closer to the stove
it's a bit close...

i wondered if the air filter would catch fire
while the wife was @ work, i tried to light it on fire
i tried with the fan running
it seemed to deep clean the filter better, but certainly wouldn't catch flame
i put a metal screen over the inlet, next to the stove, to keep anything substansial out
i put a thermometer inside to make sure the intake temp never exceeds 90F
or the fan motor may overheat
i'll get some pictures if my cell cam ever works again