First timer and a bit nervous

[RnG17]

New here so HI to everyone!

I've burned wood at my camp since I was a little kid, but now that I'm going to be burning in my house for some reason I'm a bit nervous. I decided to go with a Drolet wood stove in my finished basement. I'm an HVAC tech and decided to make my basement my central return to my house since this is where my heat build up is going to be. I will be leaving my fan on the 'on' position to my heat pump to circulate heat throughout the house. At this point I am satisfied and very happy. Here is my concern, I followed the min. distance from the corner, top, back, etc. from the stove. Now I understand that the stove will get around 500-600 degrees from what they tell me. I am using double wall stove pipe, simply because of peace of mind issues, behind the stove we used fire board and put up stove veneer, and tiled under the stove and kept the carpet a reasonable distance away from the stove. Now our stone veneer does not cover a large portion of the wall behind the stove, maybe 4-5 feet, but the stoves corner is 14" away from the drywall which it requires 12". Does anyone see any issues with this set up yet?

I love cutting, splitting and stacking wood, and split the wood I plan to burn in February, most of it (90%) was cut into 18" and sat around for about 2-3 years before I split it, did not take a moisture reading on it quite yet, its been in the sun and gets good wind when there is wind. I only plan to start burning around early to mid. December, so I can give the wood a few more months to 'season'.

Another question is the chimney is 8" but the stove 'recommends' a 6" chimney, how much will this effect the efficiency and function of the stove?

Anyone see any reasons for me to feel 'unsafe'? I guess till I start actually burning I will feel this way.


Thank you very much!

 

[sksmass]

Welcome to hearth.com! You have found a great resource and a lot of good people. I'll let them chime in on the safety questions. But sounds like you have the wood situation under control -- better than most first-timers for sure!

 

[dougand3]

What type chimney is this? clay tile? Class A? Interior? Exterior? Generally, a 6" flue stove will not draft as well into an 8" chimney. The surface area increases so much that flow slows appreciably. But it could work great - case by case basis. Double wall Stove pipe is safer re: tighter clearances and will keep flue gases hotter = better draft and less creosote potential but less heat in house. And put return near stove? Seems rather iffy - if you had back puffing - you may suck CO throughout house. Many will tell you - it's tough to heat house with HVAC blower and wood stove. Radiant/convection principles work best. And it's tough moving heat from a basement. Sorry, I'm raining on your parade. Hopefully, someone will be along and say I'm FOS. LOL
Pics of your setup will help provide advice, too. And Welcome!

 

[begreen]

Greetings. Sounds like you should be ok. It would help to post a picture or two of the installation. Sometimes the eye picks up things missed in the description.

As for the 6-8" pipe. It may be ok. The only way to tell is to try it. If it works well now, it should work very well once it gets cold outside.

 

[RnG17]

Thanks guys. Its an exterior chimney with a terracotta liner. I did take into consideration the distance away from the wood stove for my returns, ppl were saying on another forum that less than 10ft was not a good idea, so they are about 20ft away from the stove, my returns that is. Now nothing is really in place at this point, I did kind of word it that way, the chimney is not built yet so I guess I can still call my chimney guy and tell him I'd want a 6" chimney, I'm guessing from what I'm hearing that is what I should do.

And with the comment of using the HVAC equipment maybe not working that great, I've heard that in the past. Here is my though, If my house is 68 degrees all winter, fine, if its 78 degrees my wife will just be happier. So I guess what I'm saying is, as long as I can heat the house to 68-70 degrees I will be just fine with that. I just wanted to use the HVAC fan to help keep each room a more even temp by continuously circulating air 24/7 throughout the house.

My house was built in 2005, 6" exterior walls, and insulated very well, and with an EPA rated stove I think it should heat the house very nicely, but my one change I think I should make is going with the 6" chimney.

 

[ckarotka]

If your building from scratch, why the terracotta? just wondering. Is thisfor resale value so you will have a traditional fireplace if you were to remove the stove? I had an insert that had an oversized flue last year. I hated that set up. Backpuffing and horrible draft, I had to burn real hot all the time or the smoke would come through the air intakes on the stove. If you can avoid that, do it.

 

[dougand3]

Agree with "Why terracotta?" Looking at money and functionality - straight up stove pipe, then interior class A is a good option. You can chase around Class A in upstairs room. Can chase around Class A on roof with stone or brick look, if so desired. And it will suck like a vacuum. But if you want exterior masonry chimney - agree with 6" - the vast majority of new stoves have that flue exit.

 

[Jags]

If you are in the build stage, you would be better off going with the 6" pipe. As far as the rest of the setup goes - it sounds spot on.

And if your NOT nervous for the first few fires - you ain't right. :lol: Lighting up a big box-o-fire in the middle of your house for the first time should have you as nervous as a boy scout in a brothel.

 

[rustynut]

first timr,
Gonna say right off that i'm no xpert on this issue...........
What i'm thinking is if you are set for 8 inch - try it.
If it gives you serious draft problems i'm thinking you could go back and drop in a 6 inch liner ?
only thing would be the expense.
I dont know your situation or what that expence might be but this may be an option.
You can probably get more info from these guys here.
Great place to visit !
rn

 

[RnG17]

The mason chimney will cost me $300 more than actual stove pipe, for $300 why not go with a mason chimney, they guy is good and has great reviews and has printed his PA license and I followed up on it as well. So I am doing it for resale and looks, I live in a devlopment and would like it to look decent.

But I am def. going to go with the 6" for obvious reasons. Thanks guys!

 

[ckarotka]

The mason chimney will cost me $300 more than actual stove pipe, for $300 why not go with a mason chimney, they guy is good and has great reviews and has printed his PA license and I followed up on it as well. So I am doing it for resale and looks, I live in a devlopment and would like it to look decent.

But I am def. going to go with the 6" for obvious reasons. Thanks guys!

good enough for me. I agree the "real" chimney looks nicer than a sided chase any day. I guess I thought the cost difference to be higher. Sounds like you've done your homework and I know you'll love the warmth.

Can't wait for pics
Charlie

 

[RnG17]

I didn't do this homework though, haha . Called my mason up and he informed me that a mason chimney can only go as small as 8". So unless I go with stainless I'm not getting the 6" that is recommended. Not sure on what to do. Seems like everyone says that the 8" will work, its just a matter of how well, it could be great and it could be so so. I hate making decisions when something is costing me almost $2,000! Well the chimney hight is only 23 ft, so does height determine how well it can draft, so I guess I'm asking if you had two chimneys exactly the same one being 20ft. and the other being 35ft. does one draft better than the other?

 

[sksmass]

How about make the 8" square terracotta and then line it with a 6" round liner. Best of both worlds?

 

[Mo Heat]

Personally, I wouldn't build a new external masonry chimney only to have to retrofit it to work with your new stove. It will only improve the value of the house for those who place form over function, which probably means it actually will improve the value of the house in the eyes of Realtors and those who trust them.

An external masonry chimney with terracotta flue tiles is less efficient than insulated metal at drafting and will "wick" heat from the house 24/7. It's the most likely to "drip" creosote (like my BIL's) until it gets up to temp, which can be a while, and you have to hope the mason knows his stuff regarding both draft and safety, many don't. After you build it, you have an 8" chimney that isn't ideal for your 6" stove. Is an 8" chimney even acceptable in your stove manual?

I have 2 external masonry fireplaces. Both had draft problems. The one to my wood burning insert has an uninsulated, 8" SS liner. Insulated SS works better and is less likely to burn your house down if you have a chimney fire. If starting from scratch, why not use that?

Is the mason installing a damper plate as in most traditional fireplaces? If so, do you have to remove it to connect the stove pipe to the clay chimney tiles? Will you need a reducer/adapter and have you located one, or are you going to use some other method (hopefully, not that insulated wool stuff as a gasket)?

Remember, those clay flue tiles were designed with the much larger air flow of an open fireplace in mind. A wood stove will have more heat, be run more often for longer periods, and produce significantly less air flow. Okay for a retrofit, but why build an open fireplace and then retrofit it with a wood stove? Resale value? Okay, maybe that's good, but I wouldn't do it.

I think your proposed set-up is compromised in many ways and you'll be lucky if it works the way it should. Your set-up is what's commonly referred to as a "direct connect" and isn't preferred IMO.

Isn't a special concrete pad required to support the enormous weight of a masonry chimney? Is that being poured, as well? It's hard to believe it can be built for about the same price as a metal chimney set-up, but then, I'm not a mason.

 

[Jags]

so I guess I'm asking if you had two chimneys exactly the same one being 20ft. and the other being 35ft. does one draft better than the other?

Typically yes. The 35ft will draft better. Other variables can come into play such as tall chimneys cooling the exhaust gasses, trees or buildings, etc.

 

[albertj03]

I have a clay lined masonry chimney that runs right up the middle of the house. The flue size is 11"x7" and the chimney is at least 40' tall with the 6" stove in the basement. I get a great draft and have never had excessive creosote build up.

I actually heard from the president of the chimney sweep association here that by code an external masonry chimney needs to have an insulated liner. First time I ever heard that but I guess he would know. I'm just glad I don't have to worry about it.

 

[ansehnlich1]

If I were building new I'd SURELY run 6 inch pipe straight up through the envelope of the house and out the roof if possible. That is by far the best chimney. DO NOT skimp on the chimney. If you really want good performance with your wood stove you'll never regret running 6 inch pipe. If you have to have a masonry chimney outside, just build a brick chase and then run insulated 6 inch stainless up through it.