Osburne 2000 outside air intake - Take from basement?

[Will A]

I have a 1968 home near Buffalo NY. It has 3 fireplaces all in line from basement to 2nd story. The basement fireplace has an outside air draw built into the brickwork. We recently installed an Osburne 2000 insert on the main level as normal fires were not generating much heat and "burning" through wood quickly.

We spend a lot of time on the floor in the living room and receive quite a bit of cool air being drawn to the insert. I've also noticed that the stove doesnt produce as much heat as i'd like. While we keep the main HVAC at 68, we tend to see 73 or 74 in the living room with the Osburne burning full capacity.

I'm considering adding on the outside air kit and drilling a 5" hole into the floor next to the mantle... drawing the cold air from the basement vs drawing the cold air from outside.

Beyond the cosmetic ickiness (that i can cover with a wood box), is there anything in my plan that would be dangerous or counter productive? Please remember that the basement already has an external draft built into the basement fireplace which is directly below the living room fireplace.

 

[begreen]

Before drilling, is there a block-off plate sealing off the damper area above the insert? Is there room to put an inch of insulation behind the insert? Often these 2 steps can greatly reduce heat loss to a cold exterior chimney and fireplace, while increasing the heat output from the insert.

 

[Will A]

Before drilling, is there a block-off plate sealing off the damper area above the insert? Is there room to put an inch of insulation behind the insert? Often these 2 steps can greatly reduce heat loss to a cold exterior chimney and fireplace, while increasing the heat output from the insert.

Thank you for the response.

I instantly packed the free space to the sides, back and top of the stove with Roxul. All behind the metal cover. We utilize the fan to move air across the back, top and out as designed. Should i not have?

 

[begreen]

The top shouldn't be covered with insulation. Was a block-off plate installed?

 

[Will A]

The top shouldn't be covered with insulation. Was a block-off plate installed?

ok, i will remove the insulation on top.

No, a block off plate was not installed. Instead, i packed it with insulation. Maybe thats where i need to focus

 

[stoveliker]

I agree with the above.
But on your original question, if the basement has an open connection to the outside then I believe there is no safety issue with making an "outside" air kit that ingests air from the basement.

(If on the other hand the outside air connection from the basement place is closed off, you're going to create (more) negative pressure there, leading to possible "first floor" smoke being sucked into the chimney of the basement fireplace - leading to stink and whatever else.)

 

[Will A]

Here is what it looks like.

 

[begreen]

Is that an Xmasneed thermometer? If so, it's a flue thermometer and the colored ranges can be ignored.

It looks like the face temp showing is about 350º. I'd like to see that higher, more like 500º. It will never read as high as the stove top due to the location, but 500º in that corner may be in the 600-650º stove top range. Is the blower being used? I don't see the cord.

 

[Will A]

Is that an Xmasneed thermometer? If so, it's a flue thermometer and the colored ranges can be ignored.

It looks like the face temp showing is about 350º. I'd like to see that higher, more like 500º. It will never read as high as the stove top due to the location, but 500º in that corner may be in the 600-650º stove top range. Is the blower being used? I don't see the cord.

It is an xmasneed. I've been searching for a better thermometer, but as you indicated, there isn't much room for one.

I am using the fan.

I'll focus on keeping the heat at the 500 mark

 

[Will A]

Well, after writing, i pulled out all of the insulation and REALLY packed the back side and area surrounding the flue. I also lined the brick, but left the top exposed. The installers made it look like they put insulation behind, but they just put a small piece at the top to give the impression it was insulated (grumble grumble)

Temperature difference is INTENSE. My normal packing shot the temp to 700 within an hour. I had to pull a couple pieces out to bring the temp back down.

I'm comfortable stating i could get this thing to a strong 5/600 degrees with half the wood i normally pack. I now have fans pulling the air throughout the house where it could barely impact one room before. Really appreciate the input gents!

 

[begreen]

Great! It's nice to hear it was a pretty simple change.

The xmasneed will work, it's just the scales that are wrong for stovetop use. Condar makes a good stovetop thermometer. There is also the ReoTemp.

Stove top thermometers

Condar stove top thermometers magnetically attach to the surface of your stove and help optimise stove's performance by showing best temperature range.

www.condar.com

ReoTemp thermometer