When i shopped around for a wood stove insert i checked out 3 places and not one gave a estimate with a insulated liner!didn’t even come up in conversation.With this said!you can guess my liner isn’t insulated and it is a exterior chimney.I dont really know if insulation really helps anyhow.Do you have one??

Neither on of my liners in my exterior chimneys are insulated. Both draft like a Hoover. I insulated the top five feet or so of both when I installed the liners, since that was above the roof line, by stuffing mineral wool around the liners. While draft is a benefit of liner insulation I think people here forget that its main purpose is to keep heat away from house framing members when a masonry chimney is in less than optimum condition.

Anybody would be hard pressed to convince me that the little bit of insulation between the layers of Class A chimneys sticking up in the wind is more effective at heat retention than a well constructed masonry chimney with proper air space around good flue tiles with a liner in it.

Fire at will gang. 

Lot’s of folks don’t have the tall stacks that your house has. Insulation can mean the difference between marginal and decent draft on an exterior chimney that is just at spec. (1 story) But I thought the main reason was to have the exterior chimney NFPA211 code compliant.

BeGreen - 11 May 2008 12:51 PM

But I thought the main reason was to have the exterior chimney NFPA211 code compliant.

Exactly and that applies interior or exterior. Said in another thread. If the chimney isn’t up to NFPA 211 spec then insulate. But all I ever see is people saying that they can’t determine if the chimney is up to 211 specs so they insulate. If that is the case then every fireplace in the country should be condemned because nobody seems to know how to determine if they are up to spec.

Nope. 25’ of 5.5” s/s liner inside a 8x12 clay tile outside wall brick chimney. Draft is too good, had to install a pipe damper to slow her down.

Based on my experiences in New England and out here with exterior chimneys, it seems like I always got the marginal drafting ones. Now that I think of it they were both 1.5 story homes. AFAIK, I have never lived in a house where the brick chimney had the 1” NFPA compliant air gap. But we’ve always lived in older homes.

Here in MA, the home inspector failed my installation inspection because my interior chimney had a liner installed without insulation.  The guys had to come back, pull the liner and insulate it.  The inspector told me that having insualtion would greatly reduce creosite buildup and thus reduce the risk of fire and make it easier to sweep.  I was a bit frustrated at first, but I’m glad it’s done.

This was my first burning season and I’m curious to see how much buildup I have when it gets swept.  Figure I’ll hire a professional first time and judge if it is something I can do myself in future years.

My last house was a single story with an exterior masonry chimney. The liner was not insulated. Draft was generally good, with very little creosote.
My current house is a two story with an interior chimney. The liner is insulated because of the construction of the chimney (no masonry liner and wood structure right up to the brick). The draft overall is not as good as with the exterior chimney of my old house. This was the first season burning in this house, and I have not cleaned the chimney yet (The 12-12 pitch two stories up has me nervous).

So it comes down to this! If the chimney is NFPA211 and you get a good draft!no need to wrap.I do remember now one of the dealers asking me the condition and age of the fireplace.

5.5 here and about 25’ outside chimney (masonary) uninsulated. I brushed the liner once this year after I shut the Mansfield done for the season and I brushed 3/4 of a gallon not packed down in the bucket. It was all very fine powder. I am convinced it works well and I had some wet sizzling wood in the stove at times this winter as well.

It works for us but like others have said ours drafts so well I had to install a dampner too.