Liner for the chimney

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uptrapper

New Member
Sep 28, 2008
48
sault ste. marie, MI
I am looking to put a ss liner in my existing 25' interior masonry chimney, the clay liner is 6.5" x 10.5". I would like to install insulation on the liner but am worried about having installation problems because of the narrow clay liner. I want the insulation more for safety rather than draft, I have zero problems with draft now. My question is should I just put a liner or add the insulation too?

Thanks

Mike
 
I'm sure I'll go against the grain here, but if you are having a fine draft as you have it, why not run it? Stone is a very good long term choice and you should be alright. If you keep up with some sort of cleaning you should be good to go.
Just another thought.
Chad
 
Yeah, It sounds like your possibly OK with what you have.. Experts, "Of which I am not one" will comment on this but lets look at it..

Interior Chimney
25 ft of height (How much of this is outside??)
6.5” x 10.5” flue tile (Is it Flue tile, Not just nasty old brick and have you had it inspected for soundness??)

I wish I had what you have..

I have:
Exterior Chimney
14ft height
13.5" x 13.5" Flue

My flue tile is in excellent shape but the combo of flue size, Short Chimney Height and exterior construction pretty much locked me into
going the 6" stainless steel insulated liner route.. At $800 for the liner and insulation kit I would have jumped at the chance to avoid it.
It would have been closer to 1100 total but I saved by installing the liner myself.

If the chimney passes inspection I would try an install sans the full liner and see how it works..

Just a thought..
 
You'll be fine on an interior 25' masonry chimney to go un-insulated.
 
If you want to have an insulated liner you will probably have to go with something like the simpson duraliner which you can get in an oval size. We use it on those oval clay flues all the time and it works great.
 
Thanks for the replies. I guess I should have mentioned the biggest reason I want the liner is that several of my clay tiles are cracked, not bad, but I'm sure they will get worse over time. My chimney is built in a wall that has my kitchen on one side and my daughters bedroom on the other side. I have read on here that over time acids from combustion will damage the cement in the joints of the block over time and can leak CO into the surrouding rooms. I just don't want to take any chances with CO or over heat from a chimney fire. I don't plan on moving anytime soon and will probably have to line it someday, and if I do it now I will sleep better. Maybe I am being over cautious, let me know what you think about that too, this is my first year ever heating with wood. I am saving tons of money heating with the wood stove and everyone in the family loves how warm the house is compared to when I was a miser with the oil boiler. I figure for price I will sleep better, and if something terrible happened because I didn't line it, I don't think I could live with that.


Thanks again for everyones thoughts.

Mike
 
My 35 foot 3-flue chimney has the woodstove run in the center flue - it's an 1885 brick-only square flue, probably about 8"x8". No clay tiles, no nothing. Fireplace in the family room, kitchen on the other side. 2nd floor has my kids' rooms on two sides, and the hallway opposite. jogs thru the attic at a about a 10* angle. We ran a simple stainless flex liner, uninsulated. We get a blistering draft from this liner the way it is. You want to line it - lining is pretty cheap. But you should have no problem with skipping the extra cost of going insulated.
 
Insulating your liner is never a bad idea. While some may argue it is not necessary, anything you can do to keep the liner warm will help with draft and reducing creosote build-up. How much "help" your chimney needs, if any, is something you may not be able to determine.

If you are concerned about having enough space to wrap the liner with foil-faced blanket, you can always use Thermix insulation. This is a product you mix with water and pour down the chimney. It offers great insulating properties and will provide additional structural support for your liner (not your chimney).
 
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