Also, check on how much your
insurance bill will go up and factor that into your savings... it may surprise you.
Is it okay to put vent in ceiling to draw air
We heat with wood and although one room
is very warm, the others are not. It seems one
problem is that the wood burning draws air in and
creates a cold breeze. I am considering putting a
vent into the ceiling above the woodstove to
provide air for the stove without drawing it from
all the windows. The vent would go up into our
attic space and it would seem that the drawing of
air would make the attic cooler and help stop ice
dams. Is my theory okay? Alternatively, would there be more
warm air going into the attic than cold air
coming down?
Hot air from the woodburner goes up the chimney and will draw colder air into the house from any other source, including windows and vents from the attic... It is for this reason that fireplaces and woodburners often produce a net negative heat effect in a house...In other words, using a fireplace or woodburner can actually cause you to lose 10% more heat than they create because of drawn in colder air. You may help the situation more by sealing or replacing drafty windows, and caulking any air leaks in your home.
Certainly the wood stove is much better than a fireplace, and the main reason is you have better control of how much hot air is going up the chimney, by closing down the damper. Air tights are best since they minimize further the amount of excess air going up the chimney. Hope this answers your question! If your house has many drafts, etc. from your leaky windows, adding one more hole in the house won't help. It will only add one more hole. So, the best thing to do it seal as many leaks as possible. In an older, home it is not likely that you could seal it tight enough to ever come close to being airtight and not having oxygen for you and the fire. As long as the chimney draws and smoke goes up, there is enough air in paths. Does this make sense?
