do I need a liner?

[Ahemarachile]

Plan is to use a wood stove (fairly descent model with secondary burn and insulated firebox) in my basement and use the existing chimney that the gas furnace used to exhaust out of. The chimney is on an exterior wall, it's a brick building, it's lined with tiles and looks to be in immaculate condition on the inside, the brick on the outside wall is in rough shape though. The walls of the house are brick with plaster right over it, no stud cavity, so only rafters and joists to worry about burning. Also the house is gutted, so I can see everything touching the chimney. I would like to fire up the wood stove to work on it cuz I won't be hanging the radiators until the sheetrock is up.

Do I need a liner? If is smoke test it and there are no leaks do I still need one? If I'm only going to burn for a few months? If I only burn nice dry wood?

If I have to get a liner then I will probably not use the stove. What do yall think?

 

[begreen]

Welcome. Is this an 8x8 chimney? Has it been inspected by a certified sweep? If the chimney has a clay liner that is without cracks and with all mortar intact and the interior tile dimensions are not large, then perhaps yes.

 

[Ahemarachile]

thanks for the quick reply.

No, it has not been inspected by a certified sweep, I just put a mirror on a stick and looked up into it and it looks to be in great shape- no cracks or holes or soot.

I should measure it, but I would guess the dimensions are 6x10" or so.

 

[Hogwildz]

Line it.

 

[wenger7446]

Get a liner and proper block odd plate. Your setup will run better (burn less wood, heat better) and be safer.

 

[Hogwildz]

A block off plate will work even better than a bock odd plate even....

 

[Ahemarachile]

Thanks for the replies. How would having a liner make it burn less wood and heat better?

This is a chimney that ends at a round opening in the basement not a fire place by they way.

 

[begreen]

Also the house is gutted, so I can see everything touching the chimney.

I believe the chimney is supposed to have at least a 1" air gap between it and any combustibles. If this one does not, then the first benefit would be increased safety. You may have 1000F flue gases in this chimney. If this heat if frequently transferred to the surrounding wood, pyrolysis can happen lowering the combustion temp of that wood. Also, with a liner the flue gases will not cool down as much in the chimney. That helps keep it cleaner. With good burning practices and dry wood there may be little creosote accumulation.

What is the height of the chimney?

 

[Dave A.]

If the idea here is that this is just a temporary set up to use the stove for heat until you get the central heating system installed and then it's going to be disconnected and not used, you might get by without the liner if your wood is dry and you burn hot enough to not cause creosote build up, but you don't want to be doing that more than one season, imo. And I'd want to keep checking or running a brush through the chimney regularly, like once a month, until you're sure you're not having a problem.

Also chimney height and size become more critical to be successful without a liner.

 

[bholler]

i would have it inspected if it really is in good shape go ahead and use it. a insulated stainless liner would work better but a solid clay lined chimney should work fine. but you need to have it inspected by a pro with a camera looking up it with a mirror is not good enough