Can we tie air vent to foundation drain?

[Sparticle]

We are working on the fresh air intake for the woodstove. It was going to share the same trench as the one that holds the "drain to daylight" pipe for the foundation.

Could we tie the air intake to the foundation drain pipe? They are the same size and travel to the same location. It would save us about 50' of pipe doing it that way.

Would that increase the Radon risk in the house?

[Witterbound]

Doesn't sound like a good idea to me, mixing a drain pipe with a vent pipe. Would the water flow into the vent pipe from the drain to daylight pipe when it does it drains?

[Mark Twain]

If you live in a area known to have Radon gas be careful about tying in to a drain around the foundation for outside air.
I am doing the exact reverse, I have a outside blower tied into the french drain around the house foundation that sucks air out and it has reduced my Radon levels by 75%.

[ronbre]

i saw an ad in the Menards ad this week for foundation venting/draining material that is built right in when you build your foundation..it was about $10 for 12' sections for single and they had double and triple avail as well.

[Sparticle]

We're doing rubble trench foundations, so either way, the foundation will be draining to daylight and we will have a wood stove so either way we're bringing fresh air in. We will probably have a masonry stove one day so the fresh air intake is even more important. I just don't see why if both the pipes are the same size and they are going to the same place, why they can't just BE the same pipe for at least the last leg of their journey.

[wy_white_wolf]

Originally Posted by Sparticle

We're doing rubble trench foundations, so either way, the foundation will be draining to daylight and we will have a wood stove so either way we're bringing fresh air in. We will probably have a masonry stove one day so the fresh air intake is even more important. I just don't see why if both the pipes are the same size and they are going to the same place, why they can't just BE the same pipe for at least the last leg of their journey.

Because they are traveling in oppisite directions. Hard to get air to flow up the pipe when water is flowing out. Think of the drain as like a sewer drain for your house. It has a vent pipe to let air in. If you hook up your woodstove to the drain the water flowing out will suck air into the drain from the stove. Exactly the oppisite of what you want to happen.

Why are you need the fresh air inlet to be so far away from the house? All that I've seen for basement installs come to the surface right next to the foundation or do like a dryer vent and are on the side of the house.

[Qhorseman]

I have the same question, why? I have outside combustion air for my woodstove, it is just 3" EMT run to the foundation perimeter, with a screen to keep the critters out

[Sparticle]

Originally Posted by wy_white_wolf

Because they are traveling in oppisite directions. Hard to get air to flow up the pipe when water is flowing out. Think of the drain as like a sewer drain for your house. It has a vent pipe to let air in. If you hook up your woodstove to the drain the water flowing out will suck air into the drain from the stove. Exactly the oppisite of what you want to happen.

Why are you need the fresh air inlet to be so far away from the house? All that I've seen for basement installs come to the surface right next to the foundation or do like a dryer vent and are on the side of the house.

But they aren't really supposed to be traveling in the opposite direction. Even though the fresh air intake, the air is coming in; the pipe has to be sloped away from the house so that any condensation will run out and away. The foundation drain isn't going to be handling a lot of water if any. OUr soil is extremely well drained. I don't expect there to be much water if any at any time in that foundation drain pipe. It just has to be there just in case.

The fresh air inlet doesn't have to be so far from the house, but the trench is already there for the foundation drain so we're just using what is there. It's an earth sheltered house so we'd have to dig a trench for the fresh air intake anyway, might as well use the trench that is already there. The trenches are so far because we are draining to daylight, and that's how far daylight is.

[Witterbound]

So what will happen if it ever does fill with water and drain, and the stove is burning and it cannot get the outside air? It soulds like this isn't very likely to happen, but it might.

So, if it does, will the fire just go out, or will it burn up the oxygen in the house causing possible carbon monoxide poisioning?

[Sparticle]

Originally Posted by Witterbound

So what will happen if it ever does fill with water and drain, and the stove is burning and it cannot get the outside air? It soulds like this isn't very likely to happen, but it might.

So, if it does, will the fire just go out, or will it burn up the oxygen in the house causing possible carbon monoxide poisioning?

It's perforated drain pipe laid on top of mostly rocky soil. So I don't see it ever filling 100% with water, though I could see in extreme circumstances the pipe handling a lot of water out.

If for some reason it does and the fire starts to die, we can disconnect the fresh air pipe and it'll temporarily suck air from the inside of the house, under doors, and cracked windows. We've already thought in the circumstances when the soil is saturated, it's raining AND cold enough for a fire; we'll make sure there is a cracked window. Also, the drain pipe is fully visible, so we'd be able to see if it was completely full. It's 4" though and I can't see that much water 100% filling a perforated pipe in a short run that is sloped properly and drains to daylight. Temporarily sucking some air from the inside of the house isn't a big deal. The fire won't go out, and the stove pipe "exhaust" goes out of the top of the roof via a stove pipe.

I guess we've talked ourselves into it.