New wood burning stove and a hole in the wall...

[Ben100]

Hi All, I've recently had a lovely 8KW wood burning stove installed in my lounge which I'm really enjoying. However, what I didn't realise was that I'd also need a hole drilled in my external wall to provide 'fresh-air' in the room. This hole sits nicely behind my armchair and gives a nice cold breeze to whoever sits there.

 

Is there anything I can do about this air-vent? Some kind of heated air inlet or hear recovers vent? Thanks for the advice!

[ProDave]

Room sealed stove with a duct from the air inlet through the wall to the stove.

 

Should have asked here first.

[Ronan 1]

Have they the fresh air piped to the stove ?? If so why can't the hole be fully sealed so it's air tight? Have you any pictures to help out with showing what your issue is ??

[Ben100]

Pretty sure the stove doesn't have an air inlet. Also, the back of the fireplace doesn't exit the house, it goes into an extension.

[Carrerahill]

6 minutes ago, Ben100 said:

Hi All, I've recently had a lovely 8KW wood burning stove installed in my lounge which I'm really enjoying. However, what I didn't realise was that I'd also need a hole drilled in my external wall to provide 'fresh-air' in the room. This hole sits nicely behind my armchair and gives a nice cold breeze to whoever sits there.

 

Is there anything I can do about this air-vent? Some kind of heated air inlet or hear recovers vent? Thanks for the advice!

What sort of house are you in? Very few really need the air inlet, if in a new build sealed up house then I can probably see it.

 

 

[Ben100]

The air inlet is a few metres away from the stove.

[Ben100]

Just now, Carrerahill said:

What sort of house are you in? Very few really need the air inlet, if in a new build sealed up house then I can probably see it.

 

 

 

It's an old 1860's house. I'm sure the house is leaky enough for there to be no need for an air vent, but building regs requires it.

[Carrerahill]

27 minutes ago, Ben100 said:

 

It's an old 1860's house. I'm sure the house is leaky enough for there to be no need for an air vent, but building regs requires it.

Building regs requires it, as in you have a BCO coming to sign off work?

 

If just because building regs says so and no BCO vist then get it bricked back up, if BCO is visiting wait, then get it bricked back up.

 

Of the friends, family, holidays homes etc. that I stay in, including some new build pretty sealed up properties I have never seen an intake vent for a WBS actually being installed.

 

 

Some building regs are very important and very valid, some are just silly and some really need situational awareness, this is one that needs situations awareness and this vent is a general rule that is applied en masse yet ought not to be.

 

I have spent the last month or so tweaking our house and limiting air infiltration measuring, air pressures etc. I have now more or less sealed several rooms including the living room except for where I want air to move, the WBS is in here, there is free air movement from other directly adjoining rooms which could not be sealed up even accidentally and a small amount of air can be drawn in from the first floor ceiling void via lighting penetrations. Even at full blast the WBS cannot create anywhere like a negative pressure in the room.

 

[Ben100]

7 minutes ago, Carrerahill said:

Building regs requires it, as in you have a BCO coming to sign off work?

 

If just because building regs says so and no BCO vist then get it bricked back up, if BCO is visiting wait, then get it bricked back up.

 

Of the friends, family, holidays homes etc. that I stay in, including some new build pretty sealed up properties I have never seen an intake vent for a WBS actually being installed.

 

 

Some building regs are very important and very valid, some are just silly and some really need situational awareness, this is one that needs situations awareness and this vent is a general rule that is applied en masse yet ought not to be.

 

I have spent the last month or so tweaking our house and limiting air infiltration measuring, air pressures etc. I have now more or less sealed several rooms including the living room except for where I want air to move, the WBS is in here, there is free air movement from other directly adjoining rooms which could not be sealed up even accidentally and a small amount of air can be drawn in from the first floor ceiling void via lighting penetrations. Even at full blast the WBS cannot create anywhere like a negative pressure in the room.

 

Interesting, thanks for the detailed advice!

[ProDave]

Don't be so quick to condemn it as "not needed" and "the house must be leaky"

 

I previously had a 1930's semi and when I moved in it still had the open fire, which for a while I used as there was not much other heating (it was a doer upper).  I soon found that when you lit the living room fire, there was no provision for air in, and the easiest route if could find to pull air into the building was down the upstairs chimney into the bedroom, down the stairs and howling under the door.  On a still day with no wind to take the smoke away, it would even draw smoke down the bedroom chimney into the bedroom.

 

To avoid a draught, you could duct from the air intake around the room to the fireplace.  Or if a suspended floor, make an air inlet vent in the floor right next to the fireplace.

[Temp]

Blocking the vent can be dangerous. If you are tempted to install Carbon Monoxide alarms and not just downstairs.

[joe90]

Suggest you read this.    https://www.stovefitterswarehouse.co.uk/pages/do-i-need-an-air-vent-for-a-wood-burning-stove
 

in older properties permanent air vent required for stoves over 5Kw.

[Thedreamer]

Our stove draws air from under the timber floor. 

 

Works well for us. 

 

[Ben100]

Thanks for all the great advice.

 

I'm going to look at ducting the air inlet over to the inner side of the fireplace. This should provide the air needed by the stove without it having to cross the room first.