I have a 5 bdrm., two story frame house and want to keep my gas furnace on low by supplementing with the use of a wood burning stove. I've been searching Craigs list and now realise I need help determining the right flue sizing and used stove. Help....running out of warm weather.
I want to purchase a used wood burning stove and need to determine what size chimney liner is best.
- Thread starter Emmet
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Welcome Emmet. You can probably work with a 6" flue but we need to know more about your heating needs, floor plan and stove location to help out. Tell us the details.
What are your options and budget?
What are your options and budget?
" most" stoves are 6 inch flue. the bigger stoves have 8's. we need to know what size area you want to heat
The stove you choose will determine the flue pipe size. As stated above "most" modern EPA stove run on 6" pipe but some are 8". With relative good success you can pipe a 6" stove into an 8" chimney albeit the flue draw will be somewhat lessened by physics it can work just fine. I am doing so right now with great results. Reverse that process and try to take an 8" stove outlet and run it into a 6" chimney and all bets are off. Best to determine the stove you are after and maufacturer suggested chimney size before choosing a liner. With a "used" stove search this may not be derterminable until you actually make the purchase which seems a bit backa$$wards but will be best in the long run.
Most likely you will be running 6" to 6" but if you get your 6" installed and then find a smoking deal on a Blaze King or Hearthstone stove you will be bummed!!
Bob Urban
Most likely you will be running 6" to 6" but if you get your 6" installed and then find a smoking deal on a Blaze King or Hearthstone stove you will be bummed!!
Bob Urban
I have two hearthstones currently. I have the equinox downstairs and the homestead upstairs. The equinox, which is my work horse and is huge, runs off of the 8". My Homestead uses 6". Its not so much the brand of stove that requires a certain size but rather the size of the stove. Most stoves use 6" however when you get into the big beastly ones, usually rated for around 3000 sq ft and up, your talking 8" which can really increase the cost of instillation. I would always suggest that you determine what stove is going to work for your situation, keeping in mind the amount of sq ft to heat and the price of not only the stove but the instillation. Install price should account for not only the stove and pipe but also the hearthpad and possibility of heat sheild.
Just as an example my pipe cost almost the same as what I paid for the actual Homestead.
Let us know what stove you go with!
Just as an example my pipe cost almost the same as what I paid for the actual Homestead.
Let us know what stove you go with!
As mentioned . . . before you start talking about the flue size you really want to get the right sized stove . . .and to help you on this we would need your location (heating in Maine is quite different than heating in Alabama), size of the house (1,000 square sized home vs. 3,000 square sized home for example), house lay-out (i.e. open plan vs. traditional), insulation (well insulated vs. drafty), etc.
Also as mentioned . . . most woodstoves today use 6 inch flues.
You may also not want to rule out new stoves . . . depending on what you are looking for there can be some fairly reasonable (and decently built) stoves for less than $1,000 (not including the stove pipe, chimney, etc.)
Finally . . . I hate to be the bearer of bad news . . . but if you are looking to provide supplemental wood heat this year it will be tough . . . mainly because getting well seasoned wood at this time of year will be a real challenge . . . and modern EPA woodstoves need well seasoned wood . . . not just wood that sellers are calling "seasoned."
Also as mentioned . . . most woodstoves today use 6 inch flues.
You may also not want to rule out new stoves . . . depending on what you are looking for there can be some fairly reasonable (and decently built) stoves for less than $1,000 (not including the stove pipe, chimney, etc.)
Finally . . . I hate to be the bearer of bad news . . . but if you are looking to provide supplemental wood heat this year it will be tough . . . mainly because getting well seasoned wood at this time of year will be a real challenge . . . and modern EPA woodstoves need well seasoned wood . . . not just wood that sellers are calling "seasoned."
Thank you for trying to direct me. I'm in Chicago. My 32 foot, 120 year old brick chimney is centrally located in my traditional 1200 square foot house with new insulation. I see all these fantastic stoves, old and new but the more I see the more I realise the less I know. Examples: would the older bigger stoves create too much heat, making it hard to disperse or does it retain milder heat longer because it's bigger? Is brick lined advisable? What about older versus newer, or cast versus steel? Bigger versus smaller? Heavy versus lighter(what would the Amish say)? Glass seems nice?
I'm hoping to spend $400-700 for a used stove. Another $800-900 for a stainless liner. I expect to provide natural gas heat to second floor bedrooms but I would love to have a room or 2 or 3+ that are luxuriously warm.It seems nice to have a 6 to 8 hr. burn time with longer wood pieces. Any ideas on a stove for me?
What size is the existing chimney? No one has mentioned I dont think, but your not going to be able to fit even a 6" liner down some chimneys, I couldnt. If you want an insulated liner you need even more space (though being an interior chimney insulated is less of a concern). If you have a larger chimney then you should be fine. Is the chimney for a fireplace (will there be a damper you need to feed through or remove first?) or is it already set up with a thimble for a free standing stove?
Not to put a damper on your plans, but if your conventional furnace and hot water heater vent into the chimney you are planning to use it will not pass code unless it has multiple flues. Solid fuel appliances require there own flue cannot be combined with any other.
Wow, now that's a list of questions!
First thing of importance as others have said is the chimney. You need to see if it can be lined and if it's used by the other appliances. If not you assumption on costs could be vastly underrated.
Secondly, wood heat is a lot different from NG furnace. A stove provides just the (for the most part) the heat source. It does not guarantee the heat will be moved to other rooms and depending on the layout of walls, you will need fans to help move colder air towards the stove.
Take some time to read through some of the other posts on questions like yours.
1200sqft and five bedrooms? That is not going to be a floor plan that convects heat well I think. If that is 1200sqft per floor.. that is a different deal. But any stove that won't run you out of 1200sqft, isn't going to have 8 hour burn times.
In Chicago, can you legally have, or add a wood stove? Permits? Burn restrictions? Must be EPA? My wife's company HQ is up there, and I am often quite surprised when talking to people up there when she goes to the home office, at all the bureaucracy..
In Chicago, can you legally have, or add a wood stove? Permits? Burn restrictions? Must be EPA? My wife's company HQ is up there, and I am often quite surprised when talking to people up there when she goes to the home office, at all the bureaucracy..
As mentioned . . . I think your first step would be to get a certified chimney sweep in to take a look at your chimney and inspect it . . . find out the size, look at the liner (and whether it has a liner and if so what type), if the chimney flue is already in use or not, etc. to see if the existing chimney is safe to use . . . otherwise you might have to go with Plan B and go with a metal type chimney which would add some cost to your plans. Around here, safety is #1 in our book.
1,200 square feet is very do-able and you could no doubt heat the entire home . . . generally what I recommend is to take a look at the various stoves you are interested in, see what square footage they're rated for and then pick the model that is one size larger. Most folks that go with this method of up-sizing one size stove seem pretty happy vs. folks that get a stove sized for their home and then find out that it's not quite large enough . . . or folks who go way too big and are way too hot.
In general . . . bigger stoves with bigger firebox = more heat . . . and while some could say too much heat is not a bad thing I would disagree as I like it nice and warm in my house, but not to the point where I have to sit in my skivvies with all the windows in the house open to the outside in an effort to cool down. That said, larger stoves often = longer burns. Some exceptions to the longer burns would be the stoves with catalytic combustors.
I like the newer EPA stoves vs. older stoves . . . you use less wood and get as much heat with long burns. Older stoves can also get a lot of heat and long burns . . . but at the dual expense of burning up more wood and/or smoldering the fire which can produce excessive amounts of creosote. Most newer stoves also have the "glass" windows . . . nice for the view . . . and to know when to reload the stove. Heck, sometimes I turn the TV off and just watch the woodstove for entertainment.
Cast iron vs. steel vs. soapstone . . . all have their pros- and cons- . . . and many of us could debate from here to eternity on why one material is better than another . . . fact is . . . many of us have steel stoves, many of us have cast iron and many of us have soapstone stoves . . . the one universal fact is . . . no matter what the stove is made out, all of us are quite warm.
As for the Amish . . . I cannot speak for all of the Amish communities . . . but the Amish in my area are as eclectic as us . . . I know one family with a Woodstock Progress in use, another family has an indoor wood boiler (uses charged batteries to power the circulators) and many others use outdoor wood boilers . . . and all of them have cooking woodstoves.
Ok, I feel more ready. My chimney has a separate channel for hot water and furnace and is large enough for either a 6" or 8" liner. I'm now inclined to go 6"; it's cheaper and allows me some room for insulation if advisable. The other channel was originally used for a fire place. There is now no damper that I can see, just a rectangular hole up to the sky. My 1200 foot reference is for whole house. I do not know about insurance and city codes, maybe I'll research it but for now I'm going forward. If you might suggest any stoves I'm all ears. You guys have taught me a lot. I'm grateful.
Guess what my friends! A few key tips you gave me resulted in my buying a used Woodstock Soapstone stove off Craigslist. In a week, if the weather allows, I'll drop a 6" liner and be snug by Christmas. Thank you again. Happy holidays, Emmet
Nice find Emmet. Keep us posted on your installation progress and be sure to take some pictures. We need to see some FIRE!
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