From Fisher to Hearthstone Heritage -- Liner needed??

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simon

New Member
Oct 4, 2011
3
Bryant, Alabama, USA
Hey everyone,

My wife and I have been building our home for the past 3 years. We had a masonry chimney built with a 8" thimble through the wall with a tile liner. We have heated pretty exclusively with a Fisher Grandma bear, piped straight into the chimney and it has aways drawn great. This fall I decided to upgrade and found a Hearthstone Heritage for sale at a great price.

It's now time to pipe this new stove in, so this past week I went to a big local stove/accessory store who sell hearthstone, jotul, lopi, vermont castings, etc... and they told me I needed to run a flex 6" stainless liner up the chimney in order for it draw properly. They informed me, a 35ft liner kit by duravent would be about $525 plus tax. I did not count on this extra cost at all! I had no idea this would be necessary. Supposedly all newer stoves need a liner? Is this true?

Anyone here have experience with this situation? Any other hearthstone owners have any input?
Thank you very much!
 
Newer stoves are designed to work with specific sized chimney. What size is your chimney,cross section? Is it a 8x8 chimney? If so it is 36 square inches and a 6 inch liner is 27 square inches. That means a 8x8 chimney is 30 % larger than the stove is designed for. That may have a drastic effect on the stoves performance. If it is larger than that the effect could be even worse. The new stove may cost you 500 more for the liner but you will probably recover that cost in burning more efficient in no time.
 
It has been my experience that if a person sells liners, they will tell you that you need a liner. The truth is, there is nothing wrong with a clay flue. What you need to know is: the size of the flue and the condition of the flue. I would bet you have a an 8x12 flue. You already know that it would be optimal to have a 6" liner, but it will likely work ok without one. If the flue is in good shape, try it out, you can always drop a liner next summer. If the flue is any bigger than 8x12 then you will need a liner.
 
I burned in a 7 1/4 x 7 1/4 inch chimney (inside diameter) with my grandma bear and it was a beast.

I moved to an EPA stove and had decent results hooking it to the old chimney. Because of a few cracked tiles I decided to line the chimney. Did the job myself for about the same cost you were quoted. In the end, the difference was night and day. The stove "woke up" I had almost nothing to sweep from the chimney when it came to cleaning time, what I did find was grey soot rather than black creosote. I vote for money well spent in buying a liner if you are going to make an upgrade. Do it right, and be done.

pen
 
What do you guys think about insulating the liner? It would be better with it i'm sure... but with money being tight, is it necessary? It seems like if I sealed the top of the chimney around the liner with a proper cap, the liner itself would heat the air in the chimney.

Oh, and one last question. Looking at websites selling these chimney liners, a lot of them seem to be supplying a cap that is connected directly to the bottom of the t connection. Would I just extend an extra piece of pipe down to my cleanout built into the external side of my chimney (a good 6 feet lower) and then use that cap for easy cleanout?
 
There is nothing wrong with your logic, and you are in Alabama after all. In my opinion, you can do without the added expense and hassle of the insulation. If, after cleaning the chimney next spring, you find that there is a lot of built up soot or creosote toward the top, you might add/use pour in insulation to keep the chimney warmer. I have read several posts and seen pictures of extensions on the bottom of the Tee down to an existing clean out, so that can be done.
 
i have a heritage and a 6 inch black pipe straight up to a 8 inch class a chimney pipe and i dont have a problem
with draft or build up.. maybe other people can help you out to.just my 2 cents.
 
If it works out for you I would try it first, all sorts of people on here that have chimney's that are not exactly to spec and they work well. The proof is in the pudding.
 
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