Installing pellet stove in basement

[TechBill]

Yes it’s safe. But it is not optimum for the functioning of the stove. If your stove evl is more than 15’ it would require 4”. Hit the forums search for EVL and there is a lot of info to read about your installation, not to mention what the installation instructions are in the manual.

I read up on EVL and I did some calculating what the EVL would be if I go all the way up to the chimney cap, it came around 30 EVL and at 2,900 above sea level. The graph in manual show to use 4" inch pipe.

Is it optimum enough to use 4 inch pipes to the chimney nimble only or I would still need a 4" liner inside the chimney all the way to the chimney cap?

Thank you for the education and feedback!

 

[Nitro-Fish]

I have seen people do the venting either way (with & without a flue liner), haven't heard anything negative either way. Some One individual in my area used a larger flue for both the OA (outside air) supply in which case a liner would be necessary as you would be drawing air into the stove via the chimney, therefore you would want the exhaust away from the intake, usually extending a bit above the masonry chimney opening (if I'm not mistaking, there are eve some on this site that have similar set-ups, may want to do a search). If you are not going to use the flue for the Outside air source, I don't see where it would hurt to vent (exhaust) the stove into your masonry chimney without the liner to see how you like it, just make sure everything is sealed up good so the exhaust doesn't get get back into the living area.

See Pete Zahria's earlier post #11, you may want to ask him to be sure, but it almost looks like he is doing exactly what you want to do (without a liner in the masonry chimney).

 

[TechBill]

That is how I did mine.. Save about 30 bucks...
Goes in to the masonry chimney that I had a wood stove in for years, then a coal stove.. now pellets.
Have had zero issues with any of them..

Dan

View attachment 241080

I am curious if you don't mine answering some questions for me.

Are you using a 3" or 4" pipe with a nimble adapter? (At first, I thought you were using standard wood stove pipe but when I looked at the photo again, seem to be pellet piping)

Do you have any liner inside your chimney or the piping ends at the nimble adapter?

How many inches is your flute and how many feet is your chimney?

Thank you

 

[TechBill]

I have seen people do the venting either way (with & without a flue liner), haven't heard anything negative either way. Some One individual in my area used a larger flue for both the OA (outside air) supply in which case a liner would be necessary as you would be drawing air into the stove via the chimney, therefore you would want the exhaust away from the intake, usually extending a bit above the masonry chimney opening (if I'm not mistaking, there are eve some on this site that have similar set-ups, may want to do a search). If you are not going to use the flue for the Outside air source, I don't see where it would hurt to vent (exhaust) the stove into your masonry chimney without the liner to see how you like it, just make sure everything is sealed up good so the exhaust doesn't get get back into the living area.

See Pete Zahria's earlier post #11, you may want to ask him to be sure, but it almost looks like he is doing exactly what you want to do (without a liner in the masonry chimney).

For the outside air, I am trying to keep it behind the pellet stove as much possible to keep it hidden out of view since it is a semi-finish basement. I plan to use my endoscope camera (china brand off Amazon for 20 ish buck) and scope down my chimney vent to see if there a gap below the nimble level (nimble sits about 5 feet above the floor level) and if so then drill a hole in the brick and basement foundation below nimble to run a vent pipe then add another vent under the chimney's oringal vent for outside air.

 

[articcatbill]

I did 2 stoves into an existing flue, I did not run a liner for either. In both cases the stove's manual showed it as an acceptable installation. One I had the dealer install upon purchase, the other I did myself. In both cases I simply ran the pipe through the crock into the flue. I then packed rock wool around the pipe in the crock. I then used a stove pipe trim collar on the inside to dress it up.

Something like this (course you need the 3" version):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AT2CGU/?tag=hearthamazon-20

The dealer I believe just packed fiberglass insulation batting in around the pipe. Following the manufacturers guide on the pellet pipe I bought for the other stove I used rock wool to pack in there. Rock wool is more fire resistant.

In any case since you are using a solid fuel heating device be sure to have functioning CO detectors on each level of your house.

Some people do not prefer doing an install directly into a flue, since both my stoves allow that as acceptable I am fine with it. It drafts nice and pulls out all the smoke during a power outage with the stove running, a liner would as well. When I suggested a liner to our dealer when we purchased our Harman he said they would be glad to run a liner, but it wasn't needed for the install.

BTW I am also not running an OAK either.

 

[articcatbill]

Here is a picture of my install at camp.

 

[articcatbill]

OK I have to share that we did fix that install up this summer to make it look nicer. That was just a quick install to run it and try and is was the best picture of the pipe.

 

[TechBill]

I did 2 stoves into an existing flue, I did not run a liner for either. In both cases the stove's manual showed it as an acceptable installation. One I had the dealer install upon purchase, the other I did myself. In both cases I simply ran the pipe through the crock into the flue. I then packed rock wool around the pipe in the crock. I then used a stove pipe trim collar on the inside to dress it up.

Something like this (course you need the 3" version):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AT2CGU/?tag=hearthamazon-20

The dealer I believe just packed fiberglass insulation batting in around the pipe. Following the manufacturers guide on the pellet pipe I bought for the other stove I used rock wool to pack in there. Rock wool is more fire resistant.

In any case since you are using a solid fuel heating device be sure to have functioning CO detectors on each level of your house.

Some people do not prefer doing an install directly into a flue, since both my stoves allow that as acceptable I am fine with it. It drafts nice and pulls out all the smoke during a power outage with the stove running, a liner would as well. When I suggested a liner to our dealer when we purchased our Harman he said they would be glad to run a liner, but it wasn't needed for the install.

BTW I am also not running an OAK either.

Here is a picture of my install at camp. View attachment 241185

Thank your for sharing, it help a lot with my installation planning.

This is the decorate cover I been looking for! (I think I am going to go with 4" piping since the manual instructed that i should due to my EVL)

I am curious, how many inches is you pipe sticking out on the other side of the rock wool or packed insulation inside the flute and are you using anything to hold it in place like silicone or the insulation just just tightly stuffed between the pipe and your cinder block wall? How tall is your chimney?

Thanks again for sharing!

 

[articcatbill]

When the dealer installed the stove they put a bead of high temp silicone on the pipe to seal it to the decorative collar. That way it can not be pushed deeper into the crock if you know what I mean. So the collar is resting against the wall and the pipe is sealed to the collar so it can't slide in and out. Mainly though the rock wool stuffed in there is holding everything tight in place. The pipe goes through the crock right about to the edge of the flue, or slightly into the flue, but not far. I actually think at the house it stops slightly short of the flue, but the crock is good. At camp I ran it just slightly into the flue if I remember right, an inch or less.

In our camp install the flue is 7ft 6inches from the top to the center of the crock. Here at the house it is 18' from the top of the flue to the middle of the crock. It is on the single story part of the house but since it goes into the basement it adds to the distance.

Is your flue an exterior flue? In both cases mine are exterior flues.

 

[TechBill]

When the dealer installed the stove they put a bead of high temp silicone on the pipe to seal it to the decorative collar. That way it can not be pushed deeper into the crock if you know what I mean. So the collar is resting against the wall and the pipe is sealed to the collar so it can't slide in and out. Mainly though the rock wool stuffed in there is holding everything tight in place. The pipe goes through the crock right about to the edge of the flue, or slightly into the flue, but not far. I actually think at the house it stops slightly short of the flue, but the crock is good. At camp I ran it just slightly into the flue if I remember right, an inch or less.

In our camp install the flue is 7ft 6inches from the top to the center of the crock. Here at the house it is 18' from the top of the flue to the middle of the crock. It is on the single story part of the house but since it goes into the basement it adds to the distance.

Is your flue an exterior flue? In both cases mine are exterior flues.

Mine is exterior, here a photo of it

 

[Pete Zahria]

I am curious if you don't mine answering some questions for me.

Are you using a 3" or 4" pipe with a nimble adapter? (At first, I thought you were using standard wood stove pipe but when I looked at the photo again, seem to be pellet piping)

Do you have any liner inside your chimney or the piping ends at the nimble adapter?

How many inches is your flute and how many feet is your chimney?

Thank you

Sure.
Standard 3" pellet ... the most common. About 5' of straight, 2 - 90's.
8x8 clay liner all the way up. 6" metal thimble through wall, into the liner.
Real tall! Old New Englander house... goes from basement up to beyond 3rd floor.

Dan

 

[articcatbill]

Nice I felt better that mine were exterior. I looked quick at the install manual for your stove I see that it does list as a venting option venting into a masonry chimney. So it is an approved option for your stove.