Im about to freeze, a challenging question

wmhgs said:

I don't want to beat a dead horse for those of you who have been kind enough to respond. just want to make sure I understand everything. I ordered some double walled duravent to match the 5' of pipe that came with the stove. I see what you mean, now that it's colder I'm having smoke pour into the room until the flu is hot. For two nights there was no more creosote, on the third night there was, dripping down the pipe on the outside. Will Insulated pipe cure this? The creosote would end up between the 2walls & I wouldn't see it. Is that normal?
I dont know why im seeing it at all.
Concerning my previous post I replaced a section of pipe every year or so. It felt like all the time, but I never saw any creosote or build up. Just a little dirty
Thank you

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Any combustion process also creates water vapor (see the tailpipe of your car in the winter). That water vapor is going up your chimney. If the inner walls of your chimney are below 250 F the water will condense at them and with it the smoke particulates that are also a byproduct of your fire. If, in addition, you burn wood that is still with a lot of moisture you get even more steam that goes through your flue and may also condense. Your current stove pipe is single wall and loses a lot of heat to the outside which means you cannot keep a temp above 250 F for its entire length. That means less draft and more water vapor condensation. If you have a lot of condensation the water will accumulate and drip back down. As you have the pipe installed incorrectly it goes out between the joints instead of dripping back into the stove. An insulated pipe will lose less heat which means less condensation and better draft.

wmhgs said:

d still love to know why im getting creosote since ive only had 5 fires with dry wood???? I

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I'm glad you've stuck through all this. You will do well by learning from the experience to be had here.

Have you tested how dry your wood supply really is? I'm a vocal proponent of moisture meters and would encourage you go use one if you haven't. About $15 and you put the pins in a fresh split and then you know for sure. Makes all the difference, old school stove or new.

what you need is Class "A" not triple wall or air cooled. Insulated Class "A". expensive, but it's the right stuff

pen said:

EPA stoves are either catalytic in nature (they use a catalyst like your car to help burn up and get extra heat from your wasted heat 'smoke') or have secondary burn technology with a baffle board in the top of the stove and air inlets up there as well that inject air up at the top of the burn chamber.

For a cabin with infrequent use, I'd avoid a catalytic stove.

As for sealing things up,,,,,, With a cabin, go for the new stove first and see how things go. With a small space, often several or many people there, many times drinks consumed, having a place too tight where there is a vessel inside consuming oxygen, etc,,,, being a little loose ain't bad here so long as you aren't waking up with frost in your hair

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Man well put. Small area, varying ages and hunting interests and drinking habits have made the age old fight of upper bunk/lower bunk chaotic. I hunt with a couple of brothers who see 30 deg as -40 and +55 respectively. A bit of draft, even a good amount of draft a savior.

All of us need keep in mind smoke detectors and CO2 detectors in our hunting cabins, regardless of how remote.

CO detectors aren't a bad idea either.