Out side air debate
Home | FLUE - RADIATOR | SELF BUILD. WOOD STOVE | Stove build process | Free wood stove Drawings | PERRY STOVE FOR SALE | How it Works | Video and "How to " Page | FUN things you can do with your stove. | Technical stuff | Fire Wood Trolley "INSIDE OUT TROLLEY" | Wood Bundle Saw Horse | Air Valve | Some other Projects I am working on | Place ORDER HERE

"Out side air supply" debate

WOOD STOVE style and function in one, like no other!!

Holistic look at the debate

out side air.jpg

It seems quite simple to me. There is not debate, if you have modern house or an old one and you want to be efficient,

 

So now if you do not have an out side air supply, to your fire, you have to heat the room and heat the air entering the room, as there is now no air to recover, as it is going up the chimney.

Already you can see things are going horribly wrong for the camp that said “to have out side air directly to the fire has no advantages!!”

Now here is proof by experimant
outside air house2.jpg

Proof by experimantation.

OK so I had a house, not a new one with gas central heating.
 
  • I would set the timer to heat the house befor I got home so that (rooms A & C and pasage b where warm. 20C)
  • on ariving home I would close of heating to radiator F
  • and not make a fire.
  • by the end of the evening room A was cool 12C

next I put in a stove with no out side air supply. Air came in via room A

  • I would set the heating to come on befor I got home
  • arriving at home the house and rooms and passage would all be 20 C
  • getting home I would turn off the gas E and make a fire
  • at the end of the evening, even though there had been water from the fire circulated to room a via radiator F it would be out side air temp -2C
  • pasage B would be cold, 5C and the only warm room would be room C with the fire in 20C

next in installed an out side air supply to the stove. D

  • I would set the timer to warm the house till I got home then I would make a fire
  • rooms A B C would all be 20C
  • by the end of the evening the room C would be 20C
  • room A would be 18C and B would be 18 to 19,
  • with an out side air temp of -2C

the reason the room A and B would not maitain temp is a fire the dose not have a big enoph back boiler/heat exchainge.
 
this is a personal choice, to save wood.

So My conclusion from testing is: "if you dont have an out side air supply: 
  1. You will be cooling parts of your home 
  2. You will have cold drafts.
  3. You will not be as Efficient. 
  4. It will cost more to heat your home.

Lastly



DO I NEED additional Supplemental AIR VENT??
Read your manual first, but here is my "rule of thumb"



DEPENDS ON YOUR FIRE



So:

If you got a completely room sealed fire like a pellet stove



No



If you have a fire that you load with logs, that has 100% outside air capability



I would say as long as the operator knows that they need to have the door closed at all times, alternatively a balanced inlet air supply or closable air vent might be a good idea.



Fire that has partial outside air.



The partial bit can be worked out and if it is over 5 Kw you need to have a vent to accommodate the air requirements.



No outside air vent



Replace this fire

Just a small note: as far as I am awhere, my fires are the only to use the last bit of, what would be waist heat going up the flue, to heat the incoming out side air.

PS

As for homes needing fresh air, yes they do! But they should not use the fire as part of the air ventilation system!! Air ventilation should be a separate entity altogether.

ok so here we have , on the left the two common senarios.

© 2015, All Rights Reserved.