Wood Stove in cellar

nedly05 · Feb 1, 2009

hey all,
I have a wood stove in my cellar and it heats nice, but I get a down draft with it if its not burning. I think this may be due to a lack of air down there becasue if I open a window it goes away. Is there something I can do? or just open the window to get the draft to go the other way then shut it?? Thanks!

Egon · Feb 1, 2009

A pipe coming from outside and terminating in an open toped fixture like a pail would solve the problem.

Codes will probably require something like this for make up air.

vsteel · Feb 1, 2009

You a lot of times will get a reverse flow when the stove is not running because of differences in air tempreture.

If you are opening a window and fixing it there must be a draw somewhere else or the placement of the window and air currents creates a higher pressure place which forces air into the house.

If you are really worried about it you can plumb up a cold air inlet for the stove so cold air from the outside is used for the stove and no air from the room is used up. (I personally don't care for such devices because I do like a little bit of air exchange to keep the air in the house a little fresher.)

If it was me, when the stove is not burning I would just close down the damper all of the way and not think about it any more.

scott_vt · Feb 1, 2009

Good Afternoon Nedly05,
As vsteel points out you could just close the damper durring the burning season. In the off season you could stuff insulation inside the thimble between the wall and the flue.

You wouldnt want to go through all that if your going to use the stove in a couple of days IMO .

I have a stove in the basemant also and have been burning it 24/7 so I wont do anything with it till spring. When I get a down draft while the stove is running I just open the ash pan door and heat the flue back up again and the problem goes away !

BTW I have a bit of a drafty Bilco door in the basemant so I never bothered with an auxillary air inlet !

nedly05 · Feb 1, 2009

My upstairs stove and downstairs stove are in the same chaseway (all done to code) and the thing that bothers me is that when upstairs is going and downstairs is not, I get a little smoke down there. Not enough to see but you can smell it. Other than that it doesnt really bother me. Thanks for the quick responses!

charlz · Feb 1, 2009

nedly05 said:
My upstairs stove and downstairs stove are in the same chaseway (all done to code) and the thing that bothers me is that when upstairs is going and downstairs is not, I get a little smoke down there. Not enough to see but you can smell it. Other than that it doesnt really bother me. Thanks for the quick responses!

Do you have a carbon monoxide detector down there? Might be a good idea so you don't walk down into an area without oxygen.