Best vent pipe for new install

Last weekend I bought a used p61a and spent the week completely dismantling, rebuilding, and refinishing it. I am to the point where I have to think about how I am going to vent it and I found a problem. My house is a bi-level and this is going to be installed in the lower level. I have poured concrete walls with a 2x4 framed wall inside that. I can't find proper vent pipe to go through that thick of a wall. I will need about a 12 inch thick thimble and I can only find up to 8. I am a journeyman sheet metal worker and can handle the work but I need the proper materials which brings me to my next question. I have installed hundreds of feet of boiler breaching and gas vent but this will be my first pellet stove install. I have read the harman manual and my design is one of their preferred methods but what is the best pipe out there. I have easy access to duravent but that about all my supplier carries. I don't mind paying retail if there is something better. I was thinking pellet pro if they can accommodate all the peices for the install.


I know I talked about my new stove and I don't have pics up yet but they are coming, this really did happen. It's 1:30 in the morning here on the east coast and I can't sleep and it's too dark to take pics of it. It's strange i cant sleep since I unloaded 3 tons of turmans today in 96 degree heat. Guess I'll keep drinking these Sam Adams till in tired

a lot of folks here like the excel pipe. i just got lucky that was what my dealer sells. because i had no clue about the pipe when we bought.
had spent my time here learning about stove basics up till then.

i'm sure you'll get some more weighty opinions form experienced forum members soon.

Love the ICC pipe, Simpson Pellet Pro is good, The Olympia Pellet venting is ok too. Really snything but Selkirk and American Venting Products (mexico)

Excel and Selkirk direct temp are both good.

pics or it didn't happen...

you keep bashing Selkirk. Have you ever seen or used their direct temp line of pipe?

I as well like the ICC pipe....its pricey, but boy, it's pretty bulletproof from a leak standpoint

icc is excel, correct?

yeppers!

Another vote for the ICC pipe. Easy to install and to take apart for cleaning, etc.

I like the Pellet vent Pro, but many here thinl it leaks like mad. Only one of my 3 Pellet vent Pro systems leak and didnt take much in the way of fixing it...

That said, if I ever buy any pipe again, I would buy the Selkirk Direct Temp. Kills 2 birds with one stone. Its a large diameter pipe, so it looks like a real woodstove flue (I would definitely have a 3-5 ft rise to show it off), and it preheats the incoming air into the OAK (which makes someone more apt to use an OAK if the venting already has it).

The downside (what some say) is that the incoming air on the outside of the vent, will cool the hot flue gas on the inside. This has some truth to it. So I prob wouldnt use it in an outdoor application or in really long runs. But for your standard installs that are Direct vent and installs with interior rises of 3-6 ft, it wouldn't effect it at all.

Many happy users of it.. Its pricey. But a higher quality product will demand more in the market. (I.E: Harman )

This almost sounds like a concentra kit for a gas furnace. If that's the case I have to find some of this pipe.

boosted3g,

I'll vote for ICC venting if it has an available pass through and you'll have to see if whatever vent you go with has a pass through that fills the bill, self fabing one can lead to trouble (code and safety issues) talk to the vent makers.

I was wondering the same thing...

Concentric?

We carried simpson and icc pipe and Hands down for use of putting togather and leak proof icc has it all the way!

I use ICC.

it has an INSULATED passthru!

I ordered the majority of my pipe yesterday from eBay. Pellet vent pro is on there for less than half price so I ordered every peice the seller had that I could use. I only need the harman appliance adapter, a thimble and a 24 inch peice and I'll be set to core drill my wall.

I spoke with duravent on the phone regular ding the thick wall situation I had. Incase you run into this same problem on one of your installs duravent said it was acceptable to fabricate a sleeve to connect the center of the thimble that won't reach each other. He said that galvanized metal was fine to use. I don't personally like galvanized metal and just happen to have so 16 ga stainless so I spent some time in the shop and rolled a sleeve and tig welded it together. I ended up ordering the last of my venting and used stainless on everything on the exterior so it will last. Duravent has them in a few sizes. It's a shame they don't make all the fittings in stainless or I would have went that route and left it unpainted.

I'm curious why you bought the Simpson DVP when everyone except for one recommended ICC Excel?

When I saw the pellet vent pro line at my dealer I really liked the construction of it. I am a contractor and have used many Simpson products over the years and I have never had an issue. They are much more readily available and both feature an o ring seal.

I have Selkirk DT. If I had to do over I would go with my local dealer's ICC. DT has it all in one, intake and exhaust but as DexterDay says the incoming air tends to cool the exhaust and thats why I think I'm getting some tar build up . And the adapter fittings to got from stove collar to the 4" DT are not that great.... Looks good though......

Do you have a longer run of pipe?

As for the fitment from stove to appliance adapter. Simpson Pellet Vent Pro has a special Harman Appliance adapter. There exhaust collar is a slightly different size than others???

A shorter run of DT wouldnt be a problem. Or even a long run, as long as its internal. I dont own any. This is all a theoretical guess. But based on what little I know about keeping flue gases Hot, it makes sense.

Just to let everyone know why I said to verify the availability of a usable pass through by checking with the maker.

Some folks for some reason do not get the warnings about self fabing pass throughs and not all pass throughs are adjustable enough to fit the need.

This same thing can be said about the warning about no pipe joints inside of walls.

Maybe a few pictures of a possible end result should be provided by the vent and stove makers.

I have always found that its best call the manufacturer and find out the information since they sort of have the final word of approval. The fire inspector has the final say because he is signing off on the work but manufacture code are above local codes unless the inspector want you to install it differently but the blood is on his hands if anything would ever go wrong. I have a fire life safety certification which I got to deal with a lot of these issues when the fire marshal wants you do install a product in a way that was UL rated differently than what local codes are. I run into this a lot with duct work systems and the use of fire dampers. Each manufacture has its own recommended air gaps and types of fire rated caulk and wall support systems while local code is a general statement. I have yet to have a fire Marshall tell me to install it how he wants it rather than the way it was UL tested. Long story short is to install it exactly how the manufacte states with proper clearances and materials. I know all these venting pipes look nearly identical but there are small differences that may require a slightly different install.