Outside air intake

[oosik]

I built a log plank cedar home( PanAbode ) here in '82. I bored a 4" hole thru the wall right behind the wood stove. Bored, lined with 4" PVC pipe, screened on both sides. Helps stop "back draw" thru the clothes dryer vent.

 

[ruffdog]

Ok, thanks for the input guys. I'm going to install one and see what happens this burn season. The stove I have does have provision for direct hook up. I'll report back later with the results.

Cold air will cool the firebox a bit so you will need to push the burning process a little to make up for it. My mid 90's house lets enough air into the structure to burn and use the bath vents. Normally, we don't use the bath vents in the winter because we want the moisture. My parents have a earth home that is VERY tight and they benefit from a controlled fresh air inlet. You should check into the condensing and freezing of moisture on the inlet tube too.

 

[arrow]

Cold air will cool the firebox a bit so you will need to push the burning process a little to make up for it. My mid 90's house lets enough air into the structure to burn and use the bath vents. Normally, we don't use the bath vents in the winter because we want the moisture. My parents have a earth home that is VERY tight and they benefit from a controlled fresh air inlet. You should check into the condensing and freezing of moisture on the inlet tube too.

Thanks RD. Little details are sometimes the deciding factor. I'm not looking to use more wood. I guess we'll see. Oosik, noticed a while ago that when the dryer is running which is also in the cellar, draft slows to about half at the wood stove. Can't rejuvenate the wood stove well at all when the drier is running. Put up cloths lines in the cellar and just hang em occasionally.

 

[KennyG]

I have outside air ducted to my stove in the basement. I would have problems without it. I have a large two story house and, in the winter, serious negative pressure in the basement. I have a couple of trapped outside air intakes in the basement and still have negative pressure. I think you will like having the combustion air duct.

 

[atsah]

How many SF are you heating and with what stove?

 

[MossRoad]

Having heard various opinions about getting combustion air for your wood stove from an outside source rather than the room its in. Wanting to listen to some real world experiences, just wondering what anyone truly noticed with any warmth advantage or not who decided to go the o.a.i. route.
I do suppose like everything else, the devil is in the details but my wood stove resides in the unfinished cellar heating it, the main floor and the second floor. It struggles when temps get to 25* and below to keep the entire house warm as it does with temps above that. Cellar sills are insulated and caulked.

Thanks RD. Little details are sometimes the deciding factor. I'm not looking to use more wood. I guess we'll see. Oosik, noticed a while ago that when the dryer is running which is also in the cellar, draft slows to about half at the wood stove. Can't rejuvenate the wood stove well at all when the drier is running. Put up cloths lines in the cellar and just hang em occasionally.

That kinda tells you your cellar is tight if running the drier affects the stove that much. You might indeed benefit from outside air for the stove.


Also, how are you moving the heat from the cellar to the other floors?
How is the air returning to the cellar from, say, the 2nd floor?

 

[Ford850]

I added an 4" O.A. pipe to my utilities room which houses my furnace and water heater. Keeping those two fed with fresh air 24/7 reduces my negative draft days. That room is close to my wood stove in the basement, so air flows under the utility room door when the wood stove is burning, feeding the stove with air. It definitely evens out the peaks and valleys of home pressure, making it easier to keep a steady heat coming from the stove. It's eliminated those tough days when I just fought with getting the stove lit due to mediocre draft. The worst days were weekend mornings due to showers (bath fans and water heater exhaust fan), big breakfasts (stove exhaust), laundry (dryer exhaust), furnace (exhaust). Trying to get a hot fire going with all that negative pressure was exhausting.

 

[Grumpycat]

Experience with fireplace finds a fire will suck cold air through the cracks in the house making distant rooms colder.

Replaced wood fireplace with manufactured propane unit that draws combustion air down around the outside perimeter of its chimney, warming it as it enters, cooling the exhaust as it exits. Makes a big difference in the rest of the house.

 

[PILOON]

A mason I know quite well does not suggest piping outside cold air directly to any double walled fireplace 'boxes'.
He claims that it only accelerates serious rust/corrosion to the firebox.
Makes sense to me, drawing humid air sure can't be good for hot steel.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Problem with all these tight houses is air quality and things like MOULD! I have no particular interest in having electrical ventilation equipment running 24/7 because the house can't breath.