Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to Short of wrapping home in BAGGIE

Woodburning stoves
Larry J — (archived)

If you install one, be sure to provide outside air for combustion. Without that, the air used for combustion will come from the inside of your house. As a result, cold air from outside will be drawn in to replace it. In some homes, a fireplace or a poorly installed woodburning stove can actually result in a net heat loss.

One warning about the outside air - be sure the air intake is in a location that can't possibly be blocked by snow. Eight years ago this week, we had a particularly nasty winter storm that left big snow drifts against the walls. Our furnace air intake was about 18" over a deep window well, but the drift somehow managed to block it. Meanwhile, our furnace was running constantly. It damned near killed my wife and myself. I'd been dosed by carbon monoxide a couple times before, so I recognized the signs (dizziness and shortness of breath). We broke through the snow to let in the air, opened some windows to vent the house, and bought a CO detector when the storm ended. It it had happened at night, my wife and I could well have died. Carbon monoxide is no fun at all.

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (89 posts)