APPARATUS TO REDUCE WINTER AIR INFILTRATION INTO A SINGLE FAMILY OIL HEATED RESIDENCE

DISPOSITIF POUR REDUIRE L'INFILTRATION D'AIR FROID DANS DES MAISONS UNIFAMILIALES CHAUFFEES AU MAZOUT

English Abstract

Abstract: -
In single family house oil heating, it is common to
recommend caulking of exterior cracks to minimise air infiltration
or "air change". More recently, in attempts to improve furnace
efficiency, stack dampers have been proposed, but have various
disadvantages including illegality in many jurisdictions.
In this invention, the oil burner (air inlet) is enclosed
by a duct, at the side or end of which a damper hangs freely in a closed
position. When the burner is not in operation, the enclosure and damper
minimises the volume of air drawn through the burner etc, from within
the house by chimney draft. When the burner is operating, the damper
is opened by suction from the burner fan, permitting normal combustion
air to enter the burner.

Claims

Claims: -
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are, and I claim:-
1) An enclosure for use with an oil burner incorporating a fan
to provide combustion air from within a residence, said burner having
an air inlets, said enclosure comprising:
extension means sealingly engaging and surrounding said air
inlet; and
a door means comprising a suitable barrier to free air access
which minimises natural air flow in the absence of any combustion
requirement, but permits free flow of combustion air when required,
said door means being opened by air flow generated by the operation of
said burner and being closed by gravity acting only on said door means
when said oil burner is not operating.
2) The enclosure of Claim 1 wherein said extension means
further comprises a generally cylindrical body clampingly engaging
said burner at one end thereof; and a cover plate located at the other
end thereof, remote from said burner, said door means being located
therein.
3) The enclosure of Claims 1 and 2 wherein said door means is
comprised of a flap having an upper edge, wherein said flap generally
fills an aperture located in said cover plate, said flap being connected
to said plate along or close to said upper edge thereby being
closed by gravity.
... 2

4) The enclosure of Claim 1 wherein said extension means
is formed integrally with said burner.

Description

8048
Specification: -
1) This invention relates to an apparatus to reduce winterair infiltration into a single family residence containing oil burner~, the
apparatus being a damper controlling air flow into an oil burner of the common
types which incorporate a fan for combustion airO
; 2) Previous attempts to prevent warm air escaping the
house have included stack dampers which close off a chimney when the burner
is not operating. Stack dampers for oil-fired apparatus are relatively
expensive, involve complex electrical and mechanical controls9 run hot,
can become caked with soot, require expert installation and maintenance,
and carry possible fatal risks of malfunction.
3) The inventive idea which this apparatus embodies of
contr~lling such air flow using the natural physical laws of air flow and
gravity overcomes all these problems.
` In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention,
Figo 1 is a sectional elevation~,
.,
...~
Figo 2 is a side elevationO
, .
The cylindrical duct 1 is attached to the oil burner air
inlet by circular strap 2 at the left of Fig. 1. Cylinder 1 is closed at one
end by installation of circular plate 3 held in place by circ llar strap 20
Plate 3 incorporates a hole in which plate 4 is suspended vertically by three
wire hangers 5 or by other suitable means9 eO gO a pivotO Plate 4 freely
swings and stays open to the approximate position shown in Figo 1 when the
burner is operating, and returns to and remains in the vertical positlon
when the burner is stopped~
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