Stack effect
phenomenon exposing movement of air into and out of buildings, chimneys, flue gas stacks, or other containers, resulting from air buoyancy
The stack effect or chimney effect is the movement of air into and out of buildings through unsealed openings, chimneys, flue-gas stacks, or other purposefully designed openings or containers, resulting from air buoyancy. Buoyancy occurs due to a difference in indoor-to-outdoor air density resulting from temperature and moisture differences. The result is either a positive or negative buoyancy force. The greater the thermal difference and the height of the structure, the greater the buoyancy force, and thus the stack effect. The stack effect can be useful to drive natural ventilation in certain climates, but in other circumstances may be a cause of unwanted air infiltration or fire hazard.
In buildings
Since buildings are not totally sealed (at the very minimum, there is always a ground level entrance), the stack effect will cause air infiltration. During the heating season, the warmer indoor air rises up through the building and escapes at the top either through open windows, ventilation openings, or unintentional holes in ceilings, like ceiling fans and recessed lights. The rising warm air reduces the pressure in the base of the building, drawing cold air in through either open doors, windows, or other openings and leakage. During the cooling season, the stack effect is reversed, but is typically weaker due to lower temperature differences.
In a modern high-rise building with a well-sealed envelope, the stack effect can create significant pressure differences that must be given design consideration and may need to be addressed with mechanical ventilation.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Stack effect” is phenomenon exposing movement of air into and out of buildings, chimneys, flue gas stacks, or other containers, resulting from air buoyancy. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Stack, effect and phenomenon, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “phenomenon exposing movement of air into and out of buildings, chimneys, flue gas stacks, or other containers, resulting from air buoyancy” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1709610. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Stack effect” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.