Guys, So last year was the first winter that I used my stove it’s a Regency F2450 with a blower. It’s a really nice stove and functions super well most of the time. On two separate mornings last year when there was just coals in the stove around 8am my carbon monoxide detector went off. I called out the installer to the house just to make sure all of the connections were tight and he checked and didn’t see any issues. After doing some research I stumbled upon some information in regards to my setup and why I may be experiencing some back draft especially when the fire goes out/ gets cold in the morning. #1 my stove is in my basement which is in a negative pressure zone. #2 The installer used a 5.5” single wall liner ( Couldn’t get the 6” down the masonary chimney ) it’s about a 18’-20’ chimney not sure that makes a difference in regards to stack effect. Now there are some possible solutions the first being an outside air kit which Regency does make for my model stove. The second is possibly a ERV or HRV. Just for some information my house is definitely not air tight ( I’m going to check my attic steps, they make an insulation cover I can get through Amazon) it was built in 1954 it’s a rancher. I’m going to include some pictures of my setup up so you guys can get a better grasp of the situation. My solution for the time being is to wake up early before work and load some more wood or remove the coals ( depends if my girlfriend is going to be home so she can watch the fire). I have noticed that when I leave a window cracked downstairs in the basement I don’t have the back draft problem ( but I’m throwing $$ out of the window by doing this). I know I’m throwing a lot of information at you guys but let me know what you think?
Opening the window is the equivalent to the outside air kit. So I would install that first. Being brick siding you may be tighter than many other houses. Also clean the chimney to see how much it's plugged if any. Being the first year of the setup, you need a base line for cleaning. How is wood supply? Alot of purchased wood isn't exactly dry.
Looks to me like you may have the perfect storm there...a chimney that likely is the minimum height (or at least just over it) for that stove, and a basement install with a possible leaky attic (look up Florida Bungalow Syndrome) I doubt the 5.5" liner matters much, except for the fact that since you had to use a 5.5" instead of a 6" very likely means that you didn't have room for insulation on it either...insulation will help the flue stay warm (and cleaner) so it will not lose draft as quickly. Insulate and seal up everything you can in the upper part of the house...that will help greatly with the FBS I mentioned above. Installing an OAK might could help, but beware that with a basement install that can cause new problems too...if the OAK is direct connected, the OAK itself can act like a chimney in just the right (wrong) situations...that can cause reverse draft and smoke into the house too...so you'd have to do a cold air trap on it, and just dump it near the stove, so to try to prevent this issue...but if you don't fix the attic leak, the warm air leaking out the top of the house can still pull extra cold air in through the OAK then, defeating some of the heat made by the stove...and making a cold draft if you are nearby. Best solution in my opinion is to concentrate on air sealing the house, especially anything egregious, or toward the top...next best solution would be to have the tile liner broken out of the chimney and insulation installed on the liner (and that would bring the chimney up to code too...since all too many chimneys out there were not built to code, as far as clearance to combustibles (CTC) internally goes...mine was one of them...and this would be the last house that you'd expect it on, as they did not cut corners anywhere else, they paid for tons of upgrades!)
Thank you very much for the detailed reply. That’s what I’m going to focus first on the leaky attic. I’ll report back what I find. Do you have any opinions on HRV’s or ERV’s from what I read it’s a mixed bag hard to make heads or tales?
Yeah I'm not sure if an H/ERV would help or not...those are usually used for buildings that are really tight and need some fresh air without losing heat. I'd concentrate on the insulation/air sealing...that will offer more bang for the buck...its amazing the difference a few cans of spray foam can make too...people forget that insulation is only half the game...air sealing is the other half
I resolved my down draft problem by trial and error.What I found is you need a stove that will heat long enough for you to sleep through the night and until you get up to put more wood into it before it cools down to the point of causing a downdraft.
One thing I failed to ask is if there could be any vent fans that could be putting a negative pressure on the house...bathroom, kitchen, clothes dryer, central vac system, possibly even a radon evac system? An old school natural draft gas water heater could be fighting the stove for makeup air too...
Hey PAsuburbburner Things sound pretty good for the most part. I put in a stove in my inlaws old house and we also had to go with a 5.5 inch pipe to get it to fit. Stove ran fine so that alone in my experience shouldn't be a problem. I think you got some good advice regarding insulating whatever you can, especially at towards the top of the chimney to stop cold air getting down around the pipe. There's one thing I see and one question I have. First is it almost looks like a wood screw going through that pipe, but whether it is or isn't I'm wondering if there's a gap between the two pipes you've got just before that 90 degree elbow. I think if that were my set up I'd seal that area where the pipe joins the elbow. Second part is to know if the CO detector is going off in the morning after the fire has died way down. If that's the case it would suggest to me that the chimney is cooling down and now allowing the smoke to rise and exhaust out of the building. No expert here but got a few degrees from the school of hard knocks. Done it wrong enough that I eventually stumbled across some of the right ways.
If I was experiencing this issue with this stove I might be inclined take a look at page 31 in this manual. In particular the oem angle/clearance/opening gap of the pictured (vertical deflector). F2450-English-Manual.aspx (regency-fire.com)
I have a oil furnace w central heat and electric hot water heater. I have a dryer down in the basement.I do have an exhaust fan in my bathroom, we don’t run it that often though.
Yes, the CO detector is going off in the morning around 8am. That’s why on days my girlfriend won’t be home to add wood to the fire I remove all of the coals in the morning it’s a huge pain in the butt.
Is it possible the oil furnace is running long/often enough early AM sucking air down the wood stove's chimney just as it is not making enough heat for much of an upward draft and also enough smoke to eventually set off the co detector ? Would explain your solutions working. Edit: I would get an OAK for the furnace, not the wood stove.
If it’s only happened a couple of times it could be something as simple as a wind direction change combined with… I’m seeing an outside the home chimney (which cools quickly as opposed to an inside the home chimney that remains more warm) located not too far above a gutter. Gutters are usually a great bit lower than a roof peak. …possible down draft of wind down over the roof line towards the chimney as opposed to across the chimney. It might not happen with a certain wind direction.
