So here is my situation. Two months ago my family moved into our home which we had built last fall. We built an A Frame house which called for a 6' wide chimney at the front of the house and extendend to the peak, which is approximately 32'. The chimney was a real focal point of the house plan which I wanted to keep, but I didn't want to pay for a masonary chimney (I cheaped out). I instead had the contractor make an exterior chase that enclosed a Class A chimney, and covered it in faux stone. I was very happy with the final product since it looked exactly like I had hoped. My problem came about when we had a few windy days over the past few weeks. We built our house in a area that is notoriously windy, and we have been finding that the chase, since it's hollow, makes ALOT of noise in the wind. I am hoping that someone on this site has, or knows of someone who has a similar setup, or has some idea how I could go about solving the problem. I has really dug my self a hole here since I can't afford to tear down the perfectly good chase, (not to mention that the faux stone covering was fairly pricy) but the noise is driving me nuts.
Chimney Chase
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I also have an A-Frame in an area with a constant (North) wind,
& this weekend with the gusts up to & over 50MPH, I had some
harmonics & whistling in the venting for our HnG DV unit.
What kind of sounds are you getting? Whistling? Rattling?
& this weekend with the gusts up to & over 50MPH, I had some
harmonics & whistling in the venting for our HnG DV unit.
What kind of sounds are you getting? Whistling? Rattling?
Thanks for the quick reply,
I get a a rumbling echo that I think happens when a gust of wind hits the chase above the roofline. Even last night when there wasn't a great deal of wind, I could still hear the noise in the house. The fact that the chase is on the wall of the room with a 16' ceiling compounds the problem. I went out last night and stuck my head into the bottom of the chase to listen, and could easily hear the wind as it hit the chase up top.
I get a a rumbling echo that I think happens when a gust of wind hits the chase above the roofline. Even last night when there wasn't a great deal of wind, I could still hear the noise in the house. The fact that the chase is on the wall of the room with a 16' ceiling compounds the problem. I went out last night and stuck my head into the bottom of the chase to listen, and could easily hear the wind as it hit the chase up top.
I'd get my ladder out & get up to the top & see if I could
figure out what's causing the "rumbling." It could be as
simple as the storm collar or the aluminum chasetop,
assuming you have one...Maybe it's the Class a system,
itself, getting buffeted by the wind & moving. You may be
able to find something that you are able to move by hand
& duplicate the sound. Once you find it, then you can figure
out what to do to eliminate or minimize it.
If you feel safe enough to get up there on a windy day, you
may be able to SEE what's causing the noise.
Good hunting & let us know what yo find...
figure out what's causing the "rumbling." It could be as
simple as the storm collar or the aluminum chasetop,
assuming you have one...Maybe it's the Class a system,
itself, getting buffeted by the wind & moving. You may be
able to find something that you are able to move by hand
& duplicate the sound. Once you find it, then you can figure
out what to do to eliminate or minimize it.
If you feel safe enough to get up there on a windy day, you
may be able to SEE what's causing the noise.
Good hunting & let us know what yo find...
That's the first thing I was going to do. I don't know if it will be that easy though. It is so loud inside the house that If I can't figure out what it is, I will have to tear the thing down for my own sanity. What a waste of money that will be.
Dirtsurgeon
New Member
Perhaps the contractor that built the chase might be able to help.
I know when I pulled my ZC fireplace out there was zero insulation.
Can't quite picture your situation. Can you post a picture?
Good luck.
Dirt
I know when I pulled my ZC fireplace out there was zero insulation.
Can't quite picture your situation. Can you post a picture?
Good luck.
Dirt
Will do when I get home. Basically I have a plywood chase built around my stainless steel chimney. The chase is exterior to the building envelope. It is a glorified box to cover the chimney. It has no inculation, no enclosure at the bottom, and has an aluminum cap at the top.
It sounds like the chase is acting like a giant air column, similar to a pipe organ. Close off the chase at the bottom and I think it will stop the noise. Check on top to confirm it is well sealed up there.
Thanks for the reply. I was thinking that may be the case too. That will be no next attempt at a solution. Do you think that it is possible that it is just solely the noise produced as wind hits the side of the chase, similar to the way that you get noise when wind hits your house? If this is the case, I am not sure how to go about arriving at a solution.
I'm guessing it is like blowing across the lip of a bottle. If so, what you are hearing sounds like low frequency resonance.
SteveKG
Minister of Fire
Insulating the chase...be sure the Class A can be safe with insulation, if the insulation would touch the pipe. I believe there is supposed to be a couple inches of air space around my Selkirk Class A.
My first thought was, I wonder whether the top and bottom of the chase are closed. You answered that in a later post: the bottom is open. You can make sure the top and bottom are sealed off very inexpensively with some sort of experimental and temporary solution if you like. Then, if it solved the noise problem, you could do something permanent [and a little more expensive]. And even if the top is supposedly blocked off, capped or whatever, be sure that the capping is tight and sealed or with a big column of air like that, even a small space around the top could cause the noise.
But that's what I would do first. I also like the idea of you climbing up and around to make sure everything is secure. I would doubt that you need to tear down the chase. If the column is closed off to venturi-effects from winds, the only thing I can think of that might cause noise would be some version of a sympathetic vibration in the entire structure itself. My money's on closing off the venturi. Bet it works perfectly.
My first thought was, I wonder whether the top and bottom of the chase are closed. You answered that in a later post: the bottom is open. You can make sure the top and bottom are sealed off very inexpensively with some sort of experimental and temporary solution if you like. Then, if it solved the noise problem, you could do something permanent [and a little more expensive]. And even if the top is supposedly blocked off, capped or whatever, be sure that the capping is tight and sealed or with a big column of air like that, even a small space around the top could cause the noise.
But that's what I would do first. I also like the idea of you climbing up and around to make sure everything is secure. I would doubt that you need to tear down the chase. If the column is closed off to venturi-effects from winds, the only thing I can think of that might cause noise would be some version of a sympathetic vibration in the entire structure itself. My money's on closing off the venturi. Bet it works perfectly.
Hogwildz
Minister of Fire
Seal the bottom up good. Check the top for loose/sealed. Problem should be solved then. Unless the chase is moving. Hopefully it is anchored to the house real good.
If he put the stone veneer on properly, there should be tar paper or some form of barrier on the plywood with lath then the stone.
Also check on the sides of the chase where they meet the house wall. Make sure that is tight and no voids.
If he put the stone veneer on properly, there should be tar paper or some form of barrier on the plywood with lath then the stone.
Also check on the sides of the chase where they meet the house wall. Make sure that is tight and no voids.
Thanks for the replies guys. The sound that I get does sound like blowing over the top of a bottle more than anything. I don't think that the chase moves, or at least nothing that you wouldn't call normal. I will close up the bottom by the weekend and with any luck that will solve it. I have also noticed that the contractor didn't seal around the pipe. Do you think a 1/2 to 1" airspace around the pipe at the top could lead to this? What type of caulking should I use around the pipe? Also to clairify, I didn't use stone veneer. I used genstone stacked stone panels to cover the chase. The chase was wrapped with tyvek before it was covered with the panels. Thanks again.
Just to clarify. When I looked up the chase this morning, I noticed that the cap is not sealed around the Class A.
wallpaper79 said:
Is it the CAP that's not sealed or are you seeing daylight from under the STORM COLLAR?
Generally, the storm collar is siliconed to the Class A, but not to the vertical collar on the
chasetop...The collar on the chasetop is generally 2" bigger diametrally (1" on a side) than
the Class A coming thru it. That's a fairly substantial gap & will let in a LOT of light...
jimbom
Combustion Analyzer
The bottom of bottles are closed. I think the solution to the noise must be at the top of the chimney. Definitely eliminate the gaps topside.wallpaper79 said:
The bottom of the chase should be closed off for energy conservation. Lots of thermal circulation pumping heat out of the conditioned space.
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