Barometric damper in wall for wood insert?

[acordeon]

Man, I am confused. The 1st post you stated you'd open a window to burn but opposed to an oak. No matter how tight your house is you have to go out at some point. I'm betting the oak is equivalent to opening the door 1-2 times more a day. I'd go through to the crawl space and out. Summer time you can just cap the pipe if needed or wanted.

See my reply to bholler in post # 22 above. I'm not opposed to an OAK, I'm opposed to putting a hole w/ a flapper valve in my living room wall, which is what the dealer suggested I do. I thought I couldn't do an OAK due to the location of my fireplace, and it may be too expensive, but am looking into it.

 

[bholler]

Yep that's what I think too. But apparently it's quite a common setup around here, I guess b/c people don't want to pay for a true OAK setup? Anyway I'm asking the dealer what the options/costs are for a real OAK.

Most of the time an outdoor air kit really doesn't cost much certainly no more that whatever goofy damper they are recommending. Yours may be a bit more because of the circumstances. But shouldn't be to crazy

 

[rwhite]

As as I understand the manual, an oak is basically removing your ash pan cover on the fireplace. So essentially putting a hole in the floor.

 

[acordeon]

Update from the dealer. They said the following:

• Wood stove inserts (as opposed to freestanding stoves) never have direct connections for combustion air (i.e. no true OAK), and instead you're just supposed to supply either the masonry fireplace or the room w/ combustion air. Can anyone confirm this is true?
• They don't want to do the job of drilling down through the masonry to install an air duct/pipe. They agree it can be done but they say it's time consuming and prone to problems because the masonry often contains voids & rebar. So they just don't do it as a matter of policy. They are by far the most reputable and full-service dealer/installer in the area.
• They only install one model of (plastic) damper in walls, and don't know of any model of damper that includes a lock-out. Sounds like they might be open to me finding one myself, but are dubious that the county would approve that. And I actually haven't found one w/ a lockout.

So overall I'm hitting roadblocks at every turn, and am pretty frustrated. If anyone has suggestions at this point lemme know.

 

[begreen]

Is there an ash cleanout in the fireplace floor? If yes that might simplify things. Otherwise there may be a need to bring makeup air into the room another way if you find that the fire is competing for combustion air. You are right that a barometric damper in the wall is common in this area for supplying makeup air. Our winter temps are mild enough that this is a common, cheap solution, though not energy efficient. An HRV is a better solution, but more expensive.

 

[acordeon]

Is there an ash cleanout in the fireplace floor? If yes that might simplify things. Otherwise there may be a need to bring makeup air into the room another way if you find that the fire is competing for combustion air. You are right that a barometric damper in the wall is common in this area for supplying makeup air. Our winter temps are mild enough that this is a common, cheap solution, though not energy efficient. An HRV is a better solution, but more expensive.

Nope, no ash cleanout.
I don't understand how an HRV helps here, and the planning dept. did not offer it as an alternative. My understanding is that an HRV is balanced in terms of air pressure (same amount coming in as going out) so wouldn't provide additional combustion air to replace what's going up the chimney. And even if it did, doesn't it run on a schedule or controlled by the central HVAC system? So it wouldn't just automatically run when the fire needed more air, right?

 

[Shaun643]

Why are you making this so complicated. Is the insert installed yet? If not bore a 4 inch hole back anywhere in the wall or the floor down into the crawl space then buy some 3" flexible duct the same stuff used for bathroom exhaust fans and run that down through the crawl space to the outside where you could attach it to a vinyl dryer vent. Just remove the vinyl flaps that open and close and put window screen over it. Job complete. Total cost less then $100

 

[maple1]

HRV should be completely independant from HVAC. Or ours and all I have seen are, at least.

 

[begreen]

Nope, no ash cleanout.
I don't understand how an HRV helps here, and the planning dept. did not offer it as an alternative. My understanding is that an HRV is balanced in terms of air pressure (same amount coming in as going out) so wouldn't provide additional combustion air to replace what's going up the chimney. And even if it did, doesn't it run on a schedule or controlled by the central HVAC system? So it wouldn't just automatically run when the fire needed more air, right?

I think you are confusing a fresh air make-up system with an HRV. An HRV can be tied into the forced air furnace but then it's operation and benefit is intermittent. A good HRV is independent and adjustable.

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[john26]

I left my ash dumps open so the inserts good draw air thru them. At some point grates were installed in them inside and out so not really an ash dump anymore, but my Lopi has sheet metal on the bottom that sealed it off so not functional and I can feel it draft air from the room below the blowers. My Napoleon is more open on the bottom and I believe drafts thru the old ash dump but the down side is it also drafts cold air into the house when I am not burning the insert.