Northstar wood burning fireplace - new construction - lots of cold air rushing in

[ColdInSD]

I need some guidance on how to handle a new construction Northstar wood stove installation.

Our fireplace is located in a room in the corner of house and the chimney is in an exterior chase.

Our house is in South Dakota and our first winter has had a few really cold days. If we don’t have a fire going, the room temp drops to 55ish degrees. We have to close the door or our furnace constantly runs to heat the cold air coming from the room with the fireplace.

Also, you can feel a decent cold breeze coming through the bottom of the fireplace when there isn’t a fire going. For those wondering, yes the air inlet box is closed when not in use.

Based on the manufacturer’s installation instructions, cold climate installs should have insulation in the chase and p-traps in the insulated ducts. Neither were installed as the installer (authorized Heat N Glo dealer) said it wouldn’t make a difference.

Install Instructions: https://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installmanuals/Northstar-C_Install_Manual_4187-901.pdf

So, my question is - is it to be expected that this room will always be cold in the winter and I fully expect hot in the summer because of the missing insulation and duct p-traps? Was the install done wrong?

 

[DAKSY]

Is it cold air rushing in or is it a reverse convection caused by the unit being located outside of the heated envelope of your home? Your set up has a steel box sitting in a cold chase. Any warm air in the room can enter the cold upper venting of the heat exchanger, become chilled & flow downward & out thru the intake vent for the blowers. This will feel like a cold draft. Bout the only to mitigate the effect is to block the lower vents when there is no fire with a towel or a rolled up rug, or even a piece of cardboard. It’s not aesthetically appealing, but it’ll stop any air movement.

 

[ColdInSD]

Thanks for the response!

Recently, it’s been really cold, so perfect for troubleshooting.

One morning, the fire was out from an overnight burn. The chamber and upper surround were still warm, but cold air was coming through the bottom grill. Room temp was probably 70 degrees or more. The cold air coming through felt more like outside temps than cooled inside air.

Would insulation in the chase and duct p-traps help? It’s a new build and I paid a lot of money for things to be done right. Should I hold the installer and dealer responsible for correcting things?

Clearly I’m new to this game, so I’m just trying to figure out what is to be expected of a unit like this and if the installation was done correctly. Ultimately, I want to be reasonable, but now is the time to hold people accountable if it wasn’t done right.

I really appreciate your feedback!