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Draft Problem...

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Posted by tgnish (My Page) on
Fri, Nov 23, 07 at 1:20

Hello All— I fear I may be in for a fight with my homebuilder and/or their contractor on this issue.... I recently purchased a new home - the standard features of the home includes "direct vent gas fireplace." Now, my understanding is that a direct vent system means that the fireplace uses outside air for combustion, so no air from the home is drawn into the fireplace, and similarly, no outside air should come into the home from the fireplace assuming the glass front is secure.

That is the problem I have.... a draft is coming in from the bottom of the fireplace… this is particularly noticeable on really hot/humid days (you can smell the humid air near the fireplace) and on cold days when cold air is coming in… It is particularly bad when my neighbor is using his outdoor portable woodburing fireplace, as we can smell the smokey air in my family room....

After I took a look at the model of the fireplace, I was surprised to see that it is in fact not a direct vent fireplace at all… it is a B-vent fireplace (Heatilator model CB4326IR). There is a secondary sticker stating that the orafice was converted… but the handwriting is illegible, so I don’t know what the conversion was for.

Here are my questions:
1) If this was a direct vent fireplace, could this problem have been avoided?
2) Is there a way to convert this model to a direct vent system - is that possibly what this orafice conversion is?
3) How much work will it take to change this B-vent model to the direct vent model (CD4236IR) - I think the dimensions of the direct vent model is the same, but I don’t know about the venting....
4) The fireplace is placed on an interior wall in my family room - is there any restrictions for having a direct vent fireplace on an interior wall?
5) If my builder refuses or it is not feasable to change this unit to a direct vent system, is there anything I can do to prevent or stop the draft problem, or is this inherent with all B-vent systems?

I appreciate any input or advice any of you can provide.

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RE: Draft Problem...

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You should post this question on Hearth.com.

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