Quote:
Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin
Many times these days new homes are entirely too tight... Construction techniques and materials have come a long way. Many times in new construction traditional fire places are looked at negatively because they compromise what is a very efficient home... I have also seen and read of instances where new homes are so tight that they actually have to vent air in on occasion.....
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"Too tight" would mean only too tight for using a traditional fireplace without providing combustion air inlet some way. A fireplace lets far too much excess air go up the flue, and that air has to come in somewhere. In a leaky home, that's through the myriad cracks and holes in the exterior shell. No wonder many complain that the fireplace warms the room it's in while making other rooms so drafty and cold.
As far as building a new house deliberately very tight, that is the only strategy that makes sense if the intent is to make a very energy efficient house. The opinion still sometimes heard, that the house shouldn't be too tight, that it has to "breathe," is simply wrong. The occupants have to breathe fresh air, and the house has to avoid moisture accumulation problems. Air leakage is driven by pressure difference, and that is worst in cold, windy weather, but practically zero in mild, windless weather. Air at zero is 15% heavier than air at room temperature. It's like floating a leaky boat in the lake; you find all the leaks in a hurry. There is simply no way to build a house that leaks just the right amount of air for the occupants under any particular set of conditions, let alone under all conditions. The only strategy that works is building as tight as possible and providing ventilation air mechanically or via passive air inlets. In our area (climate zone 6), a good solution is to provide a heat recovery ventilator, basically a heat exchanger that brings in a controlled flow of fresh air, warming it up against the outgoing air being displaced.
A wood stove or pellet stove needs far less combustion air to run properly, less than even a new very tight house leaks in cold weather. Many stoves permit the direct connection of an outside air duct, disconnecting the air/flue path from the living space. Even so, lighting the fire in a stove can result in backdraft under conditions mentioned by others in this thread.