OAK for the 30

I know it's June, but I've been thinking very hard (if you were here, you'd see the smoke coming out of my ears) about putting in an OAK for the new NC30.
I've read all kinds of opinions about how great they are, then how they don't do much.......so I'm on the fence.
You don't need to have the 30 to chime in.
I'd like to hear fresh thoughts on the effectiveness of doing this, and how it should be done.

 

I didn't run my 30 for long without an OAK, and I don't have any data for with and without, but my seat of the pants data says it works better with one. I like the idea of an OAK on any stove...just makes sense to me. I used solid 3 inch metal tubing for the whole length, then hooked to a standard through the wall dryer vent that I installed in the sill of the basement, my stove is in the basement.

 

Totally agree.Inbetween built house you will never notice.You should go to the "other site" and read all the stuff in the pellet forum,a lot of theories,some people!I personally do not have one on my pellet stove,but it is not a totally sealed unit,is in a dirt floor basement,which is where most of my air leakage is,and promotes convection through cabin,as it is square,3 stories.Works well with the floor vents.Have had many pellet people tell me I should have one,but you have to judge everything.Heck my dryer vent ends in basement,through a filter I made.But it is cooler longer out here,sooo.Well guess I will grab a beer and popcorn,here we go!

 

House is drafty when the stove is running......and it runs all winter, so...........
My thought is that if the stove is pulling combustion air from outside, it won't try pulling it in through all the little air leaks in the house.
I can go west, north, or east with the vent. The east would be out to the front porch. West is where our prevailing winds are.
North is basically right behind the stove/hearth.

 

Well if your house is drafty might be a good idea.As far as installs,I never did a smoke dragon,just pellet stoves,sorry.You will not gain any savings,however,the house will breathe a different way.However by knocking down the drafts house will be more comfortable.As you have a wood burner flue and oak not on same side of house,I would put in some sort of quick disconnect or t just for those strange wind days.Also long runs do not work as well,very short runs bad in sub zero because air has to be heated before consumed in fire(this ought to start a good one!).Should not be a problem "over here" wherever that is,unless you are in the yukon.

 

Now that's good feedback.Certain conditions can cause that,which I reccomended a disconnect.Explains why european oaks have a flap built in.

 

I feel like my house has more of a draft with the Mansfield than I'd did with the old King. I think an oak would help but I'm to lazy to put a hole through the 2'+ brick wall.

 

I've read of people putting in a shutoff, sounds like a good idea.

 

lots of good info above , my take is that it falls under "every home is different". in some cases the stove and flue will do just fine without one , in other cases it may not perform as well due to tight houses and the like. its really uncommon to hear of a unit which performs worse with an OAK connection that without though.

 

Thanks Mike. My home is definitely different.
The house isn't exactly tight. I feel cool/cold air around me all winter. It's gotta' be coming in where the builder got lazy (which seems to be the whole house), and I really think at least some is due to the stove draw.
The hole would/will be 3' over and 1' down from the stove, then out the wall, so maybe less than 5' total. I'll save the cutout in case I don't like the result.

 

well, you know if you think about it the air that leaves the house through the flue has to be replaced from somewhere. without an OAK it ends up being replaced through all the little leaks around windows and such due to the negative pressure created by the outflow of the chimney.

adding an OAK should negate this leakage simply because the negative pressure is not being created by the outflow of the chimney. one should note however that the flue is not the only thing which removes house air , clothes dryers, bathroom vents range hoods etc. so just adding an oak is NOT going to alleviate All of the cold air intrusion, but it will tend to reduce its volume

 

Yep.

 

Whats an OAK? Is it an Outside Air Kit?

 

Yep

 

I'm heading to Alpena on Tuesday, and plan to get some flex pipe for this.
Might just get a dryer termination and lose the flapper, then add some mesh (thanks Dex).

 

30 has 2 intakes on back side plus a couple up front behind the legs. large one in back is where Oak gets hooked small sq. one is secondary intake. I have always used an oak on my stoves. Good bad indifferent I do not know but when I think back to the way various fireplaces operated over the years and the small hurricane of cold air running across the floor to feed the fire, to me it certainly can't hurt and I do not feel a cold air draft to the stove in my place.