Flue liner insulation.

[webbie]

So I should wrap it for 17', from the top of the block off plate to the bottom of the cap.

Craig, those drawings make a lot of sense. How do the brackets attach to their positions on the liner... hose clamp?

Tell you the truth, when I did them there was no insulation being used. With insulation, it will be a little tougher - actually, your idea of using a large hose clamp which holds the insulation and also has some L brakets under it on 4 sides to keep it spaced.

The idea, as Bro alludes to, is not to try to make spacers tight - even a full extra inch around it before flue tile is OK.

 

[webbie]

Ha, the 3 stooges.....

Remember when they plumbed up a house and water came out of the gas burner - and then the TV (when Niagra Falls was showing on the screen)?

Larrys hair could be used as insulation, and curly could be dropped down the chimney to screw the pipe together as they are installed. Moe would direct the whole thing, and procure the fiberglass insulation. Of course, regular galv ductwork could be used instead of stainless liner.

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah I remember those guys. Larry, Moe and Curly. They installed my insert in 1986. Sat it on the hearth and left. Then their brothers Bevis and Butthead came the next year and went through a lot of motions about cleaning the chimney.

Finishing the installation of the stove wasn't a big deal but it took me two days to find the equipment and two hours to clean the crap that they left out of the chimney.

 

[Marty]

Elk,

The baseball park here is supposed to be a great one(I've never been to a game out of town). I think it's quite nice except for the incessant music they play... hard to hear yourself think. Hope you enjoyed yourself.
The stooges routine is what I am hoping to avoid... particuarly the scene where the house is on fire and I am running in a circle. Thanks for making the process so clear.

About the water heater are you saying that since the furnace was, most likley, connected to the same flue in the past, it is suspect? (It did activate while I was up on the roof today and was putting off exaust.[about 75 F. day) It is a 3", about 24' long, seperate flue pipe with a cap of it's own. What exactly should I be looking for there?

 

[Marty]

The rest of you guys,

I think I am starting to get the idea. Insulation is good. Make sure the liner stays in the middle. Make sure there is a good seal and good steel at the top and bottom. Don't take the position working for Hamond Egger... it can only go wrong (stooges joke).

Thanks for clearing things up for me.

until I get a little farther... at which point I am sure I will become compleatly confused again....

 

[webbie]

The rest of you guys,

I think I am starting to get the idea. Insulation is good. Make sure the liner stays in the middle. Make sure there is a good seal and good steel at the top and bottom. Don't take the position working for Hamond Egger... it can only go wrong (stooges joke).

Thanks for clearing things up for me.

until I get a little farther... at which point I am sure I will become compleatly confused again....

If you get really confused, remember that Dura Liner sells a whole system of pre-insulated pipe to drop down there!

A bit more costly, but clean.

 

[Marty]

If you get really confused, remember that Dura Liner sells a whole system of pre-insulated pipe to drop down there!

A bit more costly, but clean.

I already have a 316 Ti 6"x 20' kit from Forever Flex the top plate is not big enough to span my 16" flue so I will need to build an extension at the top as well as the damper block plate.

What type of 'mesh' wraps around the insulation? Is that a product usually sold with the insulation?

 

[Rhone]

I've kinda gotten lost in all this. If your liner is insulated, that means you'll be able to use your stove when it's warmer temperatures outside. That's what Vintage 181 is saying also. The colder it is outside, the better your unit will work and you'll have to figure out what temperature outside is too high for you to light a fire. I have an inside chimney, short, not insulated and unless it's 45F or less outside, it's pointless for me to try to light a fire. It's hard to get going, takes me hours of babysitting, and even if it starts going it'll just periodically go out and start smoldering or I get tiny flames and tons of smoke the entire time with little heat. If I wake up and my house is cold, and I see it's 48F outside... no other choice for me but to turn on the house boiler system. An insulated liner heats up hotter, so it can overcome the outside temperature better and probably would let me use my unit when it's 50F or possibly more outside. So, an insulated liner over the long run may actually pay for itself and save you money because you won't have to use your propane, or oil as much you can use your wood stove in more temperature ranges. I find it especially annoying, in Spring & Fall seems to happen frequently I want to light a fire at night as the house is cooling down and the temp outside is 48F. *sigh*... I end up setting my alarm to go off at 2am. I get up, see the temp is now 44F and I can light a fire. Once I get it going, I can then go to sleep and I didn't need to turn on my boiler. I'd rather not have to wake up at 2am ya know? And I've done it enough times to know if I try to light a fire at 48F... I'm going to be spending a few hours trying to make it work so better off just lighting it when it's colder outside. Everyone's situation, location, humidity, chimney, draft, etc. is different. Yours may or may not be 45F, but regardless an insulated tight liner lets you burn fires when it's warmer outside than uninsulated ones.

Stuff mineral wool insulation around the top, or put in that holding plate Craig was talking about a foot or two down stuff all available space with more insulation so there's very little air channels. Assume the top seals of your liner are going to blow, you want a backup to prevent air flow from easily flowing down the blown seals up top and into your living area. Mine blew the first year, another posters did as well so it's not uncommon. You'll certainly be glad you took measures incase the top seals blow. Which brings us to the importance of the lower block-off plate. They usually don't seal particularly tight, after mine was installed I packed any nook and cranny with mineral wool insulation to try to stop air flow. Glad I did, when my top seals blew my block-off plate was the only thing left stopping the chimney from acting like an open window I couldn't shut.

 

[Marty]

How many linear feet of wrap/foot of 6" diameter flue?
Do you overlap it much?
At $25/foot I don't want to buy too much.

 

[Marty]

Rhonemas, Thanks for that explination. It seems like it would be a big advantage around here where the temps fluctuate a lot.

Got some good news from my dealertoday. my 25' insulation blanket kit is only going to cost $273.92 including tax.

The dealer keeps refering to the 'yellow insulation' to stuff into the gaps. He says it's made of sandstone. Anyone ever heard of that.

 

[BrotherBart]

Rhonemas, Thanks for that explination. It seems like it would be a big advantage around here where the temps fluctuate a lot.

Got some good news from my dealertoday. my 25' insulation blanket kit is only going to cost $273.92 including tax.

The dealer keeps refering to the 'yellow insulation' to stuff into the gaps. He says it's made of sandstone. Anyone ever heard of that.

He is probably talking about Roxul AFB. It is what I use. Ya can't burn the stuff.

http://www.roxul.com/sw10395.asp

It is made from basalt rock and slag. Supposed to be good to up to 1800 degrees before it starts to melt. It is a yellowish brown color. I used it to stuff the space around the pipe in the thimble in my basement and for the top five feet of both chimney flues around the liner.