Told there are no sealed direct vent wood fireplace inserts.

[pc_ras]

I live in Wisconsin and had a Installer for Quadra-Fire give me an estimate on installing their Grand Voyager insert. The fireplace is the correct size the installer recommended against installing a outside air source telling me that only gas inserts were true direct vent sealed systems. He couldn't answer why wood inserts were not. The fireplace is brick on a outside wall with a brick chimney and is build to code both structurally and to zoning ordinances.
While I had glass doors in front of the fireplace to seal it off and it had not been used for years, I would like to use it again. I would like to get a wood burning insert that does not draw any air at all from the inside in any form. Is there such a insert that is efficient catalytic or non catalytic that would does this. Any advice wood be appreciated, since I am not comfortable with the installers explanation.

 

[Charles1981]

There are lots of woodstoves with the ability to hookup oaks (outside air kits). You may not really need one...but it can be done and there are many proponents of it here. I don't know about the logistics of installing an oak on a flush insert. Someone with that experience will have to pipe in. I assume it is still possible.

 

[pc_ras]

There are lots of woodstoves with the ability to hookup oaks (outside air kits). You may not really need one...but it can be done and there are many proponents of it here. I don't know about the logistics of installing an oak on a flush insert. Someone with that experience will have to pipe in. I assume it is still possible.

Living in Wisconsin, with temperatures that drop down to -25 below where I am at, I would think a oak would be much more efficient. Is there any advantage in not having one? Perhaps I am missing something.

 

[Grisu]

OAK's are not common in inserts as they usually require drilling a large hole into the fireplace wall which will make it inoperable for future use. Something to consider if you ever want to sell the house. Other than that there is no real downside to having an OAK as it is indeed more efficient than using conditioned room air for combustion although it is easy to overestimate the effect. Maybe read this article first before making your decision: http://www.woodheat.org/the-outdoor-air-myth-exposed.html

The Voyageur has the ability to put one in so if you still like to have one go for it.

 

[pc_ras]

Thanks everyone for the info, I feel better about not using an oak. Now all I have to do is find that "Right" insert for me, that combines low emissions, high btu output with long burn times.

 

[blades]

I do not know if any company truly makes a " sealed wood stove or insert" as all the ones I have seen have air wash intakes and secondary intakes which are in addition the the main air intake that is assigned for possible OAK connection. That said anything that I can use that reduces the amount of air drawn internally from the house I am going to use. That air drawn from inside has to be replaced therefore infiltration comes into play from outside increasing the amount of btu's needed to overcome the temperature differential.

 

[lopisided]

Thanks everyone for the info, I feel better about not using an oak. Now all I have to do is find that "Right" insert for me, that combines low emissions, high btu output with long burn times.

Well, I'm in Maine and my Lopi Revere insert has done the job for almost 15 years. It's a well-designed and built stove made of rolled steel and heavy fire bricks. It was one of the cleanest burning stoves on the market when I got it (non catalytic) and has required just a little maintenance over all this time.

Good luck with your search.

P.S. I do not use an OAK and have never had a problem with draft or a lack of oxygen.

 

[Hatrackr]

I'm in wisconsin too, we just put an Enviro kodiak 1700 in our fireplace and are very happy with it. We don't have an oak system and not sure it's available on this insert but on a 1/2 load the other night during a test burn I started the fire at 7 added 2 splits at 9 and had plenty of coals left at 7 the next morning to start another burn and this thing throws some serious heat both radiant and through the fan plus it was considerably less than the other models we looked at and is a well built insert got it from a local dealer in Milwaukee