Farmers' Almanac s Predicts Nasty Winter - Is your stove ready? If not what are the improvements?

Hello

Farmers' Almanac Predicts Another Nasty Winter
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/farmers-almanac-predicts-another-nasty-winter-n188101

I want to upgrade the exhaust blowers on my stoves.I did one stove so far see pic.
Exhaust blowers can slow down when they get older. The glass getting dirty faster is a good sign that is the problem!

What would you like to do or need to do to improve your stove for this season?

 

My upgrade was selling my Jotul Oslo and purchasing a Woodstock IS.
Posting pics soon.
Nice thread idea...

 

My upgrade last year was replacing a very old Old Mill smoke dragon, with a Lopi Liberty. Perfect for what I wanted to do. The last "phase" of my firewood process is getting my Bilco firewood bin built, along with 2 rolling wood boxes for it. Prolly wait until the cold is nipping to get me fired up...

 

I would make my stove acquire gainful employment, so it could afford it's own pellets. Seems fair since it lives here and I PAID for it lol.

All kidding aside, I'm very happy with my Vistaflame, the biggest issue I have is needing to tighten up the house just to save money on pellets.

 

After 6 seasons I'm finally installing an OAK for my P68 to see if it makes a noticeable difference in performance / efficiency. There is so much info out there about the OAK concept. Some think it's a no-brainer to do, others say it just doesn't make enough of a difference to be worth spending the money or time on it. So...I just have to try and see for myself! I do have to say I'm a little skeptical, only because my wood stove and oil burning furnace both draw a lot of air when they are burning, and there's no such thing as an OAK for them, so on the grand scheme of things...how much of an impact can installing an OAK on my pellets stove *really* have? Time will tell!

 

Please read. http://www.structuretech1.com/2013/03/combustion-air-ducts-why-houses-need-them/

 

Great article and I agree with it to a point. Homes older than what the newer version of the energy code has affected will still be 'leaky', meaning most of the pics seen in that article, wire holes, door seals etc. this is my house ( built in 1880 but getting tighter) I don't need an OAK because of it but anything built in the last 5 years to today is affected by the new code and will most likely need an OAK for their stove or pellet.

 

No need for an OAK in our 80 something year old house. When its windy outside the curtains are moving inside. Some day I'll insulate and replace the windows, when my ship comes in. Unfortunately that ship has been hung up on a sand bar in the bay for several decades now.

So far most of my firewood has been free so its cheaper to just throw a couple more logs in the new IS stove.

 

I installed a new auger motor the old one quit (well stripped is more correct) after 30+ tons, that piece of corrugated card board was the last straw.

Has a nice quiet new Gleason Avery in it. I also stopped some harmonic noises by using some gasket material. The stove is a lot quieter now.

 

The best oak is the one that warms and dries out the burn air. I just installed one on a Whitfield yesterday. The vacuum cleanout makes vent cleaning a breeze! It's like a Whitfield on steroids now!

 

3 adapters on the oak?

 

I just used a hose clamp around the adapter on mine. It sealed it up pretty good. It's not the best looking rig I've ever done, but it's in the basement and on the back of the furnace and nobody looks at it but me.

 

Same thing I did. I was lucky enough to have an exhaust adapter from years past in the bottom of the toolbox.

I can pop it right off the air intake if needed on those rare winter days when we have a strong east wind.

 

Yes, I am lucky I could find any adapter! The code is that they must be fire proof! Yet no stove or venting company makes an adapter from 3"to 2" and most stoves are 2" !!
So I put a self tapping SS screw and clear RTV to secure them and make them air tight!
The wall plate screwed into the wall studs is Very Strong! Nothing is going anywhere!
Also very easy to remove them from the stove for service!

 

Yes, cutting slits and clamping it Dexter that does work well! I have done that too.

 

Looks more like a Turbo charger to me