Direct air feed wood burning stove , couldn't go back to room fed.

Effician

After a full winter burning to heat the whole house & approaching our 2nd burning season we couldn't be happier with the performance of the 7kw stove. We've burned much less wood than with the pevious15yr old stove & had a more even heat. ( 3 large ceiling fans to distribute warm air)

Been able to fully draught proof our 145yr old mid terrace now we dont need to draw air into the house to feed the stove,  ( cold air in winter ), but as a precaution against condensation which we have always suffered with i've picked up a ecoair desiccant dehumidifer for a fiver .

Anyone else gone down this route & are there any tips & tricks to get more out of it.

Verdigris

I shall be fitting an air-source heat pump in my new house, with a 5kW woodburner for "psychological" warmth and as a backup in case of power failure. I shall be connecting it directly to outside to prevent draughts and, as I'll be in a Radon area, to minimise infiltration of radiation.

Which stove did you install?

Effician

I went with a ecosy+ snug7, i know it's not the best quality but it does work well.

My biggest gripe with all defra & eco stoves is the lack of facility to shut them right down. While i understand the need to always have airflow to give a clean burn this also means that if the fires not lit in really cold weather the cold air flows through the stove, creating in effect a cold bolck of steel in the living room.

Verdigris

Effician said:

I went with a ecosy+ snug7, i know it's not the best quality but it does work well.

My biggest gripe with all defra & eco stoves is the lack of facility to shut them right down. While i understand the need to always have airflow to give a clean burn this also means that if the fires not lit in really cold wether the cold air flows through the stove, creating in effect a cold bolck of steel in the living room.

That's interesting about the permanent airflow. It needs some sort of foolproof system where you could shut the air inlet off, when not in use, but somehow wouldn't be able to light it without opening the damper.

I shall have to put my inventor's hat on.

Effician

A flue damper could be fitted but this is still not airtight by design ,the problem is any modifications to the inlet side means it's no longer defra spec. 

The air feed on mine is a 70mm dia hole set inside a boss to take 100mm ducting, this should vent direct to outside without obstruction .

I know they have to spec the stoves as a one size fits all & it does make sense in smokeless zones as a lot of folks have no interest in the correct operation of a stove, anything that cuts down on a smoke chugging flue has to be good.

QrizB

Effician said:

The air feed on mine is a 70mm dia hole set inside a boss to take 100mm ducting, this should vent direct to outside without obstruction .

I'd be tempted to stuff something in the duct out of season; a large bit of sponge, say.

Effician

QrizB said:

Effician said:

The air feed on mine is a 70mm dia hole set inside a boss to take 100mm ducting, this should vent direct to outside without obstruction .

I'd be tempted to stuff something in the duct out of season; a large bit of sponge, say.

No need to block it up out of burning season as the temps are fine.

Tried something similar with a bung last autumn/winter,  we benefit from full sun through windows til mid afternoon which is enough to not need the stove on, however on such days in the middle of winter the air can be very cold & the wind biting ( can make the stove very cold.)

You may have noticed i said  "should vent " I do have my own workaround for this season though which so far is working well, Not something i'd care to share on an open forum though for obvious reasons.

Effician

A quick update as we're now half way through what seems like a very mild winter or is it just me.

Our concerns with regards to increased condensation have not happened , infact with a little more understanding gained from the anticipated problems we now have less issues due to proactive measures.

The stove needs even less fuel than expected (due to the draught proofing & mild outside temps etc) to keep  the whole house warm & provide enough hot water for our needs via kettle boiling , which as an added bonus has meant a reduction in electric usage to <5kw/h per day averaged over 3 months.

Will keep looking for further improvements but for now i'm feeling quite chuffed.