for Cold Climate Housing and much more

Found 11 results for the keyword ‘Back Drafting’

  • Overview: To HRV-ERV or not to HRV-ERV

    I am always amazed at house construction where so often things are half built or more while people are running around beginning to think about "extras" that should never be though of as "extras" but as part of the essential system. So time for one of my lectures -- (you asked for it).Heating is o...
  • Chimneys that Work! -- an overview

    Chimneys : The Six CommandmentsChimney does not belong to the house, but to its appliance.More carefully sized to the heating appliance.Be insulated.Be tightly constructed.Be located within the heating envelope of the house.Terminate at or near the highest point of the building.The best resource...
  • Can I box in and insulate my pre-fab chimney to stop the downdraft?

    A prefabricated chimney always has insulation in the chimney itself. Yet, when it is on the outside of the house, and when there is no fire burning, it gets as cold as outdoors. That?s when all that cold air wants to drop into the basement, giving you that downdraft every time you try to st...
  • What does 'spillage susceptible' mean?

    Although most people, even contractors, may have a hard time defining the new building code term 'spillage susceptible', it is a term that is critically important for the everyone's health.An appliance, be it gas, oil, propane or wood, is spillage susceptible if it is possible for negative pre...
  • Does your contractor know about the furnace room combustion air damper?

    Many years ago, because of the prairie enforcement of the gas code provision that you had to supply fresh air to a furnace, an inventor in Alberta began marketing the Hoyme damper. This is a motorized damper that closes off that combustion air duct from the outdoors that dumps cold air into ...
  • Improving a wood chimney to stop backdrafting

      Rick from New Brunswick is having problems with his wood stove backdrafting and he wants to know if it will help to box in the chimney on the outside of the house. Backdrafting or difficult starting with wood burning appliances is often a problem and there are several entries in this database ...
  • OVERVIEW:Improper exhaust fans can pollute your home -- could even kill you

    More and more people are asking for powerful kitchen range hoods or bathroom exhaust fans. The logic appears simple, increase the power of the exhaust fan and get rid of pollutants quicker. In more and more modern homes which have been weather-stripped and sealed against cold air leaks and heat l...
  • Chimney Draw Tip

    A viewer from Quebec starts the ball rolling on a discussion of maximizing the efficiency of your chimney's draw. Starting with a small hot fire is always an aid. We need to warm up the chimney before it can draw properly. Chimneys built totally inside the heated part of the house always work be...
  • WHAT IS A SEALED FURNACE ROOM & WHY IS IT NOT RECOMMENDED?

    Traditional furnace rooms are nothing more than a partition designed to hide an ugly furnace. They are neither sealed nor insulated, and they obtain combustion air from the house through door or wall grills of the open floor joist area. Sealing off the drafty leaks in a house and introducing a sy...
  • Stopping cold air drafts from ducts to the outdoors.

    I get a lot of complaints about cold air drafts coming in through ducts connected to the outdoors. Here are some solutions.  Butterfly dampers Any exhaust vent that rises up and out will have a tendency to let cold air fall back down that duct. Quality butterfly dampers are available that have ...