Chimney pipe (corrugated vs smooth)

[eladdvf]

Greetings,


I am close to pulling the trigger on a wood stove for my home (Summit or Liberty) and have no experience with them. I have a 100 yr old 2 story home and the stove will be placed in a central location adjacent to the staircase. The chimney in my old house happens run close to where I want to place the stove (a bit off to the to the side on the wall behind the stove). I don't think there is even any lathe where the chimney runs (just plaster against the brick chimney...or so it seems).


I intend to use double-walled pipe coming out of my stove to the chimney wall. The installer said they normally use corrugated pipe to go up the chimney, and it sounded like they then fill around the outside of this chimney pipe with a filler.


My question is this: Wouldn't it be safer (less creosote build-up) to use a non-corrugated pipe all the way up the chimney? I heard it could also improve the draft to have the smooth-walled pipe I'm sure it would cost a fortune to use the double-walled pipe all the way up (both stories.... guessing I'll need 22-24 feet). Wondering if it would be worth it (the installer doesn't think its necessary). Nevertheless, I'm still wondering what opinions there are on this (corrugated vs smooth...if there is any particular pipe that would be superior, etc.). It just seems to me like the corrugated stuff would catch/trap more creosote (remembering how the lint would collect in my corrugated vinyl dryer vent). If smooth pipe = better draft, less creosote (and less risk), it makes me wonder if I should go that way (vs. if I am just wasting my money) Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

 

[bholler]

Corrugated will work just fine. Smooth wall will draft a little better but not noticeably. We always use heavy wall that does still have slight corrugations but it is considered smooth wall. I would not recommend the double layer smooth wall stuff i don't find it very durable at all

 

[begreen]

What is the ID of the chimney throat? If large maybe consider putting in rigid liner. It's tough, smooth-walled and long lasting.

 

[bholler]

Yeah i always forget to mention rigid if your chimney is straight it is not a bad option either

 

[eladdvf]

Thanks for the tips... I'm not sure what the throat diameter is. The installers are coming out on Thursday to assess my set-up. I will ask about using a rigid liner.

 

[bholler]

I would ask for a price on light wall flex, heavy wall flex, and rigid if that is a possibility. And make sure they will be insulated no matter what pipe they use

 

[eladdvf]

I would ask for a price on light wall flex, heavy wall flex, and rigid if that is a possibility. And make sure they will be insulated no matter what pipe they use

Thanks... If rigid is not possible in my situation, what would be preferrable then, the light or the heavey wall flex. Also, he talked about filling around the pipe (to be sure seals are good at elbow, etc). When you say insullation are you referring to what they intend to fill around the pipe or is it a quality of the pipe itself? Thanks for explaining this.

 

[bholler]

Thanks... If rigid is not possible in my situation, what would be preferrable then, the light or the heavey wall flex. Also, he talked about filling around the pipe (to be sure seals are good at elbow, etc). When you say insullation are you referring to what they intend to fill around the pipe or is it a quality of the pipe itself? Thanks for explaining this.

we always use the heavy wall for wood stoves. Insulation is either wrapped around the pipe or it is a mix of cement and vermiculite that is poured in around the liner. There are also preinsulated liners available as well

 

[eladdvf]

Thanks again. I intend to use a power vent for the propane furnace so that I can free up my chimney for the wood stove liner. If I ever need to go back to propane (or some day get natural gas) or am too old to deal with wood, would I have to remove the wood stove liner (and the filler around it) to install a new liner for a gas furnace?I'll bet that is a tough job to remove the cement like filler from the chimney. Wondering if there is anything I can do now to make that option easier some day.

 

[begreen]

If you do decide to go back to gas consider getting a high-efficiency unit. That will save you money. They vent via PVC pipe out a side wall.

 

[bholler]

Thanks again. I intend to use a power vent for the propane furnace so that I can free up my chimney for the wood stove liner. If I ever need to go back to propane (or some day get natural gas) or am too old to deal with wood, would I have to remove the wood stove liner (and the filler around it) to install a new liner for a gas furnace?I'll bet that is a tough job to remove the cement like filler from the chimney. Wondering if there is anything I can do now to make that option easier some day.

If you use 316ti now it will be fine for gas in the future but like begreen said you would probably end up with a high efficiency unit that would use direct vent anyway. By that time they probably wont be using pvc anymore but when the time comes you absolutely should not need to pull the wood liner. And btw it is not that big of a deal to pull it out of the insulation.

 

[eladdvf]

You guys are awesome.Many Thanks