Wood Stove Near Intake
Ehines18
| Posted in General Questions on
Our house is very old and only has once access to the chimney. In order to install the woodstove, it would have to be placed next to the furnace intake register. Is that safe to do, or would we need to move the woodstove and run a new chimney?
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Replies
By "furnace intake register" do you mean a return air grille? If so, the dangers would be the possibility of smoke or hot embers getting drawn into the system, but those would depend on the actual location of the grille. Is it on the floor or the wall, is it in front of or next to the proposed wood stove location, and how far away?
For general wood stove safety: will this be the only appliance using the chimney, and is the chimney lined?
Yes return air grille. It's on the floor, it would be only a couple feet from the stove, next to it.
It would be the only one using the chimney. It isnt but we talked to a chimney sweep about making sure it is
In that case you might check that the ductwork is in good condition; if a stray ember found its way in it shouldn't cause major problems unless the furnace is directly below the grill. Embers usually land in front of the stove but situations vary.
As for smoke, it's probably more of a nuisance issue than a safety issue, though it's not healthy to breathe in smoke and the return would distribute it throughout the house.
Ehines18,
I'd be worried the proximity of the return grill would cause the stove to back-draft.