Alternative to Fresh Air Intake

I have a really tight house. I have a Woodstock AS. Sometimes I get back puffing. Wondering if I can help this by adding a vent or two in the floor so recovery air will come up from the basement. Do people think I would have enough recovery air in the basement to feed the stove?

 

Not trying to be the safety police but you care about code compliance open vents from one floor to another is a no go in mass.

Having said that I cut a big hole in the ceiling/ floor above the stove at the last house it was awesome. Can’t speak to return air. Why not run a pipe for outside air?

 

Oh yeah. I wasn’t thinking about that, but that’s definitely a no no.

I’m trying to avoid a fresh air intake. I would have to cut a hole in the floor of my hearth behind the stove and run the duct into the cellar and out. I don’t really want an ugly duct behind the stove and maybe that’s a no no too to run it into the basement? I also know someone who had a fresh air intake and the glass on their wood insert iced up when not running it.

 

Have you tried to crack a window near the stove while running to see if it makes a difference?

Sometimes OAK's are needed. We are the opposite here. Stack effect with an old house, stove around the corner from the laundry room and kitchen hood vented to the outside in the same room.

I planned for an OAK when I built the hearth. It will be directly below the intake on the stove. I figure I can put an inline gate to shut air flow when not in use. Similar to a blast gate for a wood shop dust collection system.

 

I’ve tried cracking a window, and it hasn’t seem to make a difference. I have much less problems now with back puffing than I used to when I was burning poor quality wood. And I am going to be improving the chimney by putting an insulated liner in, which may help?

On second thought, maybe I am okay without a floor vent or a fresh air intake. I have a heat recovery ventilation system, which has an intake and outtake duct in each floor of the house. I don’t always run it when the stove is running, but I was just looking at it. When the heat recovery system is turned off, the duct is still open to outside air getting into the unit and open to the ducts going into the house, I think, so theoretically, when the stove needs air because it is running, wouldn’t air be being pulled into the house thru those ducts?

 

Interior or exterior chimney?

Are you venting into a clay tile chimney?

 

Exterior chimney. Clay tiles. 8 inch round. Lots of condensation in chimney when starting cold. Gonna have it lined with preinsulated 6 inch. And new clean out door that I guess will keep it better insulated. Need to repair the crown too.

 

So by backpuffing, I mean that when it’s in cat mode and a black box, and it comes out of it and the gases ignite, sometimes it’s a gentle rolling of secondary flames, sometimes it’s strong and I’ve even had smoke come out of the stove thru the gasket at the top of the stove. This is much better than it used to be, I think cause i was using poor quality wood, but happens occasionally.

 

You should have a better draft with the flue liner the same size as the stove outlet. I would wait for the liner install and go from there.

 

Thanks. I think that’ll be what I do.

 

This ^ ^ ^

 

I am considering a stove in my house( I have an OWB right now) I also have an exterior masonry chimney with 8” square clay flue in it. Will that not work? Do I need to put something else in the flue? What are you going to be using? Thanks.

 

It likely will kinda sorta work...but keep in mind, the stove is the car, the chimney is the engine, if you have a chimney improper specs, you'll have poor stove performance...kinda like putting a small 4 cylinder engine out of an Escort in an F250...it'll go down the road, but you won't like it.
For best performance you'll want to put an insulated liner in along with the stove...and with an 8 x8" chimney, getting a standard insulated liner in there will be tight, if even possible (without knocking the existing clay liner out) a pre-insulated liner would give you a fighting chance of going in...they are a touch smaller OD, and have a tough aluminum or SS exterior, instead of the standard insulation blanket with just a SS mesh sock over it, that likes to catch on every mortar joint.

 

Thank you for the information! Is one pre insulated liner brand better than another? Is this one continuous piece cut to the length of your chimney or is it pieces?

 

Not that I've heard about...with standard liners there can be some differences...mainly in thickness or construction...with pre-insulated liners the main thing I've seen is just if the outer layer is SS or aluminum...I'd not have an issue with either really.
Generally people are talking flex liners when they are talking pre-insulated, but there are pre-insulated rigid liners too, they are even a bit smaller OD than the pre-insulated liners...but would not work unless your chimney flue is dead straight...little more $$ too.

The flex liner would be one piece...the rigid style comes in sections that get screwed together as they go in.