I need to know the pros and cons of installing a chimney 90 out the side wall then (t) up the oustide of the house total chimney 25 FT. It seems the places I would like to put my stove there is something in the way trusses. So, the only place the stove could go is in a family room with the chimney on the oustide of the house. Will this cause draft issues? This family room is located 4 ft below grade and in the back part of the house tri-level home.
Chimney options
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firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Answer: Depends. I had to go out and up with an exterior Class A chimney . . . well it was either that or re-route a bunch of plumbing, electrical, build new walls, etc. I was a bit concerned since I had heard that exterior chimneys can result in poor draft, loss of heat that you would have gained from having the chimney inside the home and that this type of install would be more expensive and most likely lead to more creosote.
I am happy to say I have had no real issues with my exterior chimney. The draft is fine . . . although in the shoulder seasons when the temp outside and inside are close to each other I sometimes need to crack a nearby window for a few minutes when I'm starting the fire. I may be losing some of the heat I would have gained from having the flue pipe inside, but the temps in the house are comfortable for me so I don't mind sharing some heat with the birds and squirrels. The expense was a break even proposition for me . . . seeing as I would have had to pay for some trades to come in and work things around . . . plus the guy I bought the pipe from gave me a good deal since I work with him. As for the creosote . . . I don't know if it's simply the fact that I burn at the proper temps and use seasoned wood or if it is the secondary combustion and insulated ICC Excel pipe, but I get little to no creosote -- mostly just a bit of "coffee grounds."
A possible negative is having a metal chimney running up the side of your house which some may consider a bit of an eye-sore . . . I was going to build a chase around mine, but after running it for a season I realized that except for one neighbor you can't really see the chimney from the road or anywhere on my property unless you're standing on that side of the house so I left it in place as is.
A positive . . . if you install this with a T and a clean out you can easily inspect and sweep your chimney from the ground . . . which means for me sweeping monthly is a quick and easy (and not dangerous) chore.
I am happy to say I have had no real issues with my exterior chimney. The draft is fine . . . although in the shoulder seasons when the temp outside and inside are close to each other I sometimes need to crack a nearby window for a few minutes when I'm starting the fire. I may be losing some of the heat I would have gained from having the flue pipe inside, but the temps in the house are comfortable for me so I don't mind sharing some heat with the birds and squirrels. The expense was a break even proposition for me . . . seeing as I would have had to pay for some trades to come in and work things around . . . plus the guy I bought the pipe from gave me a good deal since I work with him. As for the creosote . . . I don't know if it's simply the fact that I burn at the proper temps and use seasoned wood or if it is the secondary combustion and insulated ICC Excel pipe, but I get little to no creosote -- mostly just a bit of "coffee grounds."
A possible negative is having a metal chimney running up the side of your house which some may consider a bit of an eye-sore . . . I was going to build a chase around mine, but after running it for a season I realized that except for one neighbor you can't really see the chimney from the road or anywhere on my property unless you're standing on that side of the house so I left it in place as is.
A positive . . . if you install this with a T and a clean out you can easily inspect and sweep your chimney from the ground . . . which means for me sweeping monthly is a quick and easy (and not dangerous) chore.
Pros: only one hole out of the house, allows more location possibilities for stove location, most of the flue cleaning mess stays outside.
Cons: cooler flue, not visually the nicest thing to hang on the house, often more expensive
Cons: cooler flue, not visually the nicest thing to hang on the house, often more expensive
If you're running a non-EPA stove, the cooling of the flue gases shouldn't cause a problem because you'll need to be burning hotter anyway. With a modern stove - particularly a cat stove, with its very low flue temps - I think you have the possibility of having draft issues. Depends on lots of other things, however.
Thanks, for the replys. If I put in a stove it will be a new EPA approved stove. Never burned a wood stove so just alittle nervous.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Battenkiller said:
We have the chimney running up the outside of the house and do not feel it looks bad at all. As for draft issues, we don't have a problem but conventional wisdom says we should because we are surrounded by some tall trees. Also, our chimney stays nice and clean even though we have low flue temperatures. As Slow1 stated, it depends on lots of other things too; for one, the fuel.
I am using the same flue temps with the EPA stove as I did with the old stove (non-EPA).Battenkiller said:
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