Wood Stove OAK?
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My stove has an outside air kit.
Since it's my first stove, I can't make any comparisons as to what it would be like without it.
I think it's mainly used for houses that are really tight. If you are in a house that is tight (not drafty) and using indoor air to feed the stove, it could affect the stoves ability to pull air (draft) or hinder the stove's performance. I'm sure theres some other reasons for it too. It would have to be really tight house, because houses leak air in many places. (windows, doors, vents, etc).
I personally like the idea of an outside air kit, so the stove is not using the indoor air. Any air pulled from inside, gets replaced by cold outside air being sucked into my home thru cracks - which to me seems counter productive.
Not sure if the OAK has any affect at all about faster start ups or warming the house faster.
Since it's my first stove, I can't make any comparisons as to what it would be like without it.
I think it's mainly used for houses that are really tight. If you are in a house that is tight (not drafty) and using indoor air to feed the stove, it could affect the stoves ability to pull air (draft) or hinder the stove's performance. I'm sure theres some other reasons for it too. It would have to be really tight house, because houses leak air in many places. (windows, doors, vents, etc).
I personally like the idea of an outside air kit, so the stove is not using the indoor air. Any air pulled from inside, gets replaced by cold outside air being sucked into my home thru cracks - which to me seems counter productive.
Not sure if the OAK has any affect at all about faster start ups or warming the house faster.
Don, we presently do not have an OAK but have had one in the past. I did not like it. Sometimes it seemed to work really well and then there were the times, especially during windy days when we'd have been better off without it. They claim it cuts down on the drafts inside the house but we could not detect any difference when we put it in. Therefore, on our present stove, we chose to install without the OAK.
And no, we could not heat the house faster with it than without it.
And no, we could not heat the house faster with it than without it.
I have an OAK. I much prefer that cold air not have to draft around my ankles to replace what goes up the flue.
Yes, Same reason as LLigetfa. Also less frost at windows and door openings. Easier to keep the house humidified.
I would examine how the connection is made to the stove (sealed/airtight), would it be prone to leaking the outside air into the home if the outside air is pressurized - (ie wind).
Even if a little air leaked into the hose near the stove, I cannot think of a better place to provide the house with make-up air. I mean, you have that great concentration of heat there so it's not like you would have an uncomfortable draft. The house needs the air and it will get it one way or another. My house gets make-up air piped directly to the furnace cold air return duct and some of it spills out the nearest cold return register in the hallway. The dog doesn't seem to mind it though.
LLigetfa said:
Agree, but i recall a forum member last yr, "Ribs1", starting a thread regarding OAK's reporting a very strong cold "breeze" from the front of his insert. If I recall, he disconnected and plugged the OAK. I only wish our home was tight enough to require an OAK. If the OAK's were/are a direct/airtight connection to the inlet of the stove, I would be all for using one.
If I recall, an airtight house (relatively speaking) can also present a problem when you have a clothes dryer, kitchen exhaust fan, bathroom vent fan, etc., all competing for air with the woodstove. The OAK means the woodstove doesn't have to compete.
This year on the 30nc an oak is installed, last year on a different stove ( which was capable of it) it did not. Yes, For my install, there is a difference. House is from 60's and is sealed up decently. Enough so that to get the dryer or stove exhaust fan to work correctly I have to crack a window. Last year with the stove running I found just which windows needed additional attention. As to the issue of cold air flowing into stove when not in use that can be alleviated by putting a loop down to the floor and then back up along the wall or where it would be out of the way( in basement if you have one or could be done outside also). There are times if the wind is just right that you could get a negative pressure in the OAK, but if you have a good drafting flue it is over come quickly. On mine I have not noticed any issue with neg. pressure to date. The outside portion is turn up then over then down ( 3 90 deg. elbows) then runs horz. along the basement ceiling between the joists, couple little wiggles in there and then up through the floor to the stove. Also note that not all stoves are completely dependent on the oak connection point for combustion air so your mileage might vary.
Hello
Well I got the Boiler OAK and the Wood Stove OAK in. Now do I need a Clothes Dryer OAK like this one??
(broken link removed)
Clothes dryers use about 5% of all the energy used in a home. Usually, they are electric dryers which use electric resistance heat to warm the air in the dryer. Electric resistance heat is one of the most expensive forms of heat. So, running the dryer for a few hours per week can add a few hundred dollars to the annual household energy bills.
In addition to using heat within the dryer itself, clothes dryers also pull heated air for the house and exhaust it out the dryer vent. Heated household air goes in the dryer air intake and out the dryer exhaust vent. A typical dryer air flow is about 150 cubic feet per minute. That is 7,500 cubic feet of air per hour. After 2 hours, a clothes dryer will have pulled all the heated air in a 2,000 square foot house out through the dryer vent.
Well I got the Boiler OAK and the Wood Stove OAK in. Now do I need a Clothes Dryer OAK like this one??
(broken link removed)
Clothes dryers use about 5% of all the energy used in a home. Usually, they are electric dryers which use electric resistance heat to warm the air in the dryer. Electric resistance heat is one of the most expensive forms of heat. So, running the dryer for a few hours per week can add a few hundred dollars to the annual household energy bills.
In addition to using heat within the dryer itself, clothes dryers also pull heated air for the house and exhaust it out the dryer vent. Heated household air goes in the dryer air intake and out the dryer exhaust vent. A typical dryer air flow is about 150 cubic feet per minute. That is 7,500 cubic feet of air per hour. After 2 hours, a clothes dryer will have pulled all the heated air in a 2,000 square foot house out through the dryer vent.
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I am finishing my basement right now. I had put a deposit on an EZ Breathe unit (broken link removed to http://www.ezbreathe.com/about/how-it-works.aspx) for my basement to improve air quality in my home. After much thinking about how this unit works, I called and got my deposit back. Basically, my stove does the same thing. Exhausts inside air to the outside so that it is replaced by inside air. The ez breathe unit is just a fan with a rheostat and a Humidity sensor. When humidity increases it just kicks on a fan to exhause inside air outside through a dryer vent type connection.
"Clothes dryers use about 5% of all the energy used in a home. Usually, they are electric dryers which use electric resistance heat to warm the air in the dryer. Electric resistance heat is one of the most expensive forms of heat."
But if you install an OAK, you are going to be using the electric resistance heating to heat the cold outside air up to dryer temperature. Seems to me it would be more efficient to let the dryer use (cheaply generated) interior warm air and just make up the needed warmth with the resistance heaters. This assumes, of course, that the dryer has a thermostat to sense how much heating of the intake air, regardless of source, is needed.
After looking at the diagram you attached, I wonder how long it would take to payout the investment in the "solar heater". And if it worked that well, why not use it for more than heating clothes dryer air?
But if you install an OAK, you are going to be using the electric resistance heating to heat the cold outside air up to dryer temperature. Seems to me it would be more efficient to let the dryer use (cheaply generated) interior warm air and just make up the needed warmth with the resistance heaters. This assumes, of course, that the dryer has a thermostat to sense how much heating of the intake air, regardless of source, is needed.
After looking at the diagram you attached, I wonder how long it would take to payout the investment in the "solar heater". And if it worked that well, why not use it for more than heating clothes dryer air?
Hello
Thanks Dan, that is a good analysis.
Since do not know anyone with a clothes dryer OAK I am not sure how pratical that diagram is.
I do have propane for the Fireplace so I could switch to a gas dryer, However my neighbor has a gas dryer and a gas stove in the kitchen and his electric bill is about the same as mine plus he is spending more money on propane. Right now propane is very expensive at about $2.69 a gallon.
Thanks Dan, that is a good analysis.
Since do not know anyone with a clothes dryer OAK I am not sure how pratical that diagram is.
I do have propane for the Fireplace so I could switch to a gas dryer, However my neighbor has a gas dryer and a gas stove in the kitchen and his electric bill is about the same as mine plus he is spending more money on propane. Right now propane is very expensive at about $2.69 a gallon.
I do have a HRV installed and while it is balanced to provide as much air into the home as it takes out, when in a serious deficit situation, it will only provide a little more in while taking less out, still leaving a deficit. Both my clothes dryer and my gas water heater power exhaust air that can cause the OAK to actually push smoke into the room when I open the stove door. Depending on how much draft I have at the time, I may have to close the outside air before opening the stove and/or crack open a window near the stove.
One year I forgot to clean the intake screen on my HRV and so it was not letting in as much make-up air as it was taking out. I kept accusing the wife of leaving an upstairs window open as I struggled with smoke coming in every time I opened the stove.
One year I forgot to clean the intake screen on my HRV and so it was not letting in as much make-up air as it was taking out. I kept accusing the wife of leaving an upstairs window open as I struggled with smoke coming in every time I opened the stove.
Hi LLigetfa
Sounds like an OAK for the clothes dryer and another OAK for the gas water heater would be the real fix for your drafting issues. After I put an OAK on my oil boiler it helped alot!!
The clothes dryer should have a pipe for an OAK but they do not. The diagram I found said to put the intake air hose in the bottom. If the intake air hose is long enough like 10 to 15 feet then the air will be tempered by the warm air in the house.
Maybe if we put a piece of sheet metal over the bottom of the dryer and run an intake air hose in the back that would do it! In fact that really explains why there is not bottom, so the warm room air will go in the dryer and out the vent! With a cover on the bottom, there should be enough air in there to get warm.
Who knows, that may work great! It could be a nice warm solution!!
Sounds like an OAK for the clothes dryer and another OAK for the gas water heater would be the real fix for your drafting issues. After I put an OAK on my oil boiler it helped alot!!
The clothes dryer should have a pipe for an OAK but they do not. The diagram I found said to put the intake air hose in the bottom. If the intake air hose is long enough like 10 to 15 feet then the air will be tempered by the warm air in the house.
Maybe if we put a piece of sheet metal over the bottom of the dryer and run an intake air hose in the back that would do it! In fact that really explains why there is not bottom, so the warm room air will go in the dryer and out the vent! With a cover on the bottom, there should be enough air in there to get warm.
Who knows, that may work great! It could be a nice warm solution!!
For as infrequently as the dryer runs, I can simply live with opening a window near the hearth when reloading the stove. As for the powervent water heater, that was a bad decision made in haste. I originally had a passive State tank that had its own OAK but when it sprung a leak in the middle of Winter, the only tank immediately available was the powervent. The State tank was discontinued and while I could have special ordered a passive vent tank, it was a taller tank and would have required the hole in the wall be raised. My next water heater will be tankless and draw outside air.
Another consideration for going with an OAK on the woodstove is that it draws dry air instead of humidified air. This not only reduces the amount of humidity you have to add to your indoor air for comfort but it also reduces the amount of humidity that you send up the flue which can in some situations, condense and increase creosote buildup.
Another consideration for going with an OAK on the woodstove is that it draws dry air instead of humidified air. This not only reduces the amount of humidity you have to add to your indoor air for comfort but it also reduces the amount of humidity that you send up the flue which can in some situations, condense and increase creosote buildup.
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