4
Technical Bulletin
Importance of adequate fresh air
Every home is a slightly different situation and depending on the design of the air movement within
the home, might be easy to distribute heat or very difficult. If you have boiler heat or other non-
ducted central heating this becomes even more of a challenge as adequate circulation within the
home and proper make up air for combustion is lacking because of the design of your central
heating system.
When a forced-air system is put into a home that is not designed with proper circulatory patterns, it
might be necessary to add return air ducts or at least vents to get the air moving around the home.
Fresh air for the home and fresh air for combustion will have to be added or the stove or furnace
will burn dirty and efficiency will suffer.
Your dealer needs to assess the fresh air requirements for the home. At a minimum, there should be
a 6” or larger (this should be determined by figuring what the home requires) fresh air vent coming
in to a neutral part of the home to make sure that there is adequate fresh air to the home. Then the
3”make up air to the unit is required to be provided.
If the fuel is not burning correctly you need to address a few things. Is the fuel wet or dirty? If it is,
make sure that you clean and dry the fuel (we have an excellent “E-SIFTER” product that will do a
great job) 3-4 percent moisture is ideal for wood pellets. 11-12 percent is ideal for corn.
The most common cause of fuel not burning properly is contaminated air or negative pressure in the
home. It can be as simple as the air adjustment not set properly on the side of the stove or it could
be that there is a serious lacking of good quality air in the home caused by negative pressure. If you
have done any remodeling or if this is a newer home, it is a very real possibility that this is
happening. Most basements have negative pressure even if you feel that your home is drafty. This
is called the stack or chimney effect.
If there is a black coating of soot coming into the home it is caused by the reversal of the exhaust
that would normally exit the stove outside being drawn into the home by negative pressure or
improperly installed venting. Depending on your venting configuration this could be aggravated by
back drafts, high wind and cold chimneys.
Sometimes this also occurs if there is an intake for fresh air too close to the exhaust on the outside
of the home or other conditions causing the exhaust to be pulled back into the home.
The first indications of negative pressure affecting the stove occurs app. 3 days after the stove is lit.
The glass gets dirty very easy, the firepot might keep filling up even though you pull the air
adjustment out, and you notice that the venting fills up with soot rapidly. After a few days, the
exhaust can no longer adequately pull out all of the fly ash so it reverses and is pulled into the
home. This might happen through the venting if it is not sealed properly or it might come out when
you open the door for maintenance and also backwards through the air wash system.
This can be easily corrected by adding the fresh air for the home and also for the appliance. It is
imperative that you would have your dealer or installer check the unit out for proper operation to
