thermometers for pipe

I believe the problem here is that it is very hard to correlate the surface temp of double wall pipe with the actual interior temperature. A probe thermometer is recommended in these cases.

With that said - I do the same thing I have double wall connector pipe and stuck a magnetic thermometer on there anyway. I have never seen mine go up to 250 - it generally cruises at about 150 (or a bit below) and I've seen a peak of 200 once or twice. Mine is located about 18" up from the stove (vertical exit)

For stove operation, monitoring the stove top temp seems to be the best thing to monitor - I have a second thermometer there. If your stove is being overfired then likely it will show on the stovetop. Not knowing what stove you have (consider adding this info to your profile) it is hard to know what would be a reasonable range for you.

A probe is the only way to go for double wall.

Bella77 said:

sounds like I would have to drill a hole through the pipe?

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Yes but very straight forward and simple, just a few minutes is all it takes.

Bella77 said:

can this lead to air leakage ?

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Well it will pull the air in due to draft, many on here have this type of thermometer and have no issues, I am sure some will comment before too long.

I installed a digital probe in my chimney and it has drastically changed the way I operate the stove now. I used to try to have a good fire going until the surface thermometer read 500, then close it down for even burning. The digital is set to alarm at 900 deg and so the stove now gets closed when the alarm sounds. The surface thermometer on the stove top will sometimes be heading up to 300 by then, sometimes not even that high. I have 2 surface thermometers because I didn't think the first one I owned was anywhere near accurate. They both read the same.
I did one trial and left it as I used to and the digital was way too close to the max rating of the insulated chimney. I was shocked.
Stove top thermometers are worth what you pay for them - not much. Get a digital probe and be sure. BTW, in case you thing the probe is in error, once you achieve a good, steady burn, all 3 read identical. One thing I really like is that if I forget to close the stove down - nope, never done that ;-) - the alarm is a wonderful reminder.

Bella77,
Mine is a related situation that I inquired about. The message below is directly from Duravent. I bought a Condor Double Wall Stovepipe Thermometer and wanted to know about installing it in my double wall stovepipe. The difference being that I have a telescoping section of stove pipe in which I intended to install the Condor. The following is posted with permission from Duravent. The technician would not say yes or no on the install. Fair enough.

I am relatively sure that someone has done this installation knowing the populatity of the Condor Products. For the record, the stove is a Woodstock Fireview, the stove pipe and chimney pipe sections are all Duravent DVL.

Copy of reply from Duravent:
Hello Tim,
Sorry for the delay, it was not intended. After initial review of the Condar Thermometer link provided, it appears to be a great product. Double wall pipe thermally performs much different than single wall black stovepipe. Many of the values shown could even differ greatly from one double wall black stovepipe manufacturer to another. Since we have never specifically tested the probe with our system I would be hesitant to go on the record and comment either way. Provided you follow the Condar Thermometers installation instructions you are free to post or discuss your specific installation on our product. Thanks for choosing our DVL double wall black stovepipe, and we hope you enjoy your system.
Hope this helps,
Nick Bruce| Technical Service Manager
M&G DuraVent, Inc.
800.835.4429 | fax 707.446.2742
877 Cotting Ct.| Vacaville CA 95696

Go ahead and get the probe Condar ("Fluegard"). You drill a 3/16" hole through both pipes and then make the outer one 1/4". There is no leakage. Other than a digital probe, it's the best way. Trying to correlate the outer surface with internal temps will just keep you guessing.

DougA: Can you provide a link to the digital device you have?

The amount of air that ptentially gets sucked into the chimney from installing one will be nominal at best and you won't get smoke leakage into the house unless you have another major issue going on. We have connector pipe in the shop that looks like they got hit with a shotgun just from changing floor models out etc. and we have no issues until we have a clogged spark arrestor etc.

RockyMtnHigh said:

The amount of air that ptentially gets sucked into the chimney from installing one will be nominal at best and you won't get smoke leakage into the house unless you have another major issue going on.

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And remember the probe is filling up the holes anyway. Even the 1/4" hole is filled with an eyelet.

Here ya go:
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17&products_id=292
Order the sensor for the double wall pipe.

Initially, you can expect to not believe it but after a year of using it, I am a big believer.

oops, forgot, I drilled a hole the exact size of the probe and there is no leakage. The probe actually is pretty tight and moves in & out when you clean your chimney but it is a tight fit. Just drill th ehole straight and don't wiggle the bit around or the hole will be enlarged.1221

DougA said:

Here ya go:
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17&products_id=292
Order the sensor for the double wall pipe.

Initially, you can expect to not believe it but after a year of using it, I am a big believer.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I figured it was probably the Auber unit. Pretty popular around here when you want a digital. I'm a fan of the digital thermometers, largely because it's the easiest way to get an temp alarm setup. I put together similar system for the stove top with a k type thermocouple and a PID controller and alarm, but the Auber system looks like a pretty good turn-key system.

Wow, that thermometer is pretty sweet!