Insulating my ~30' liner or not?

[aaron1]

I have an exterior chimney with a 30', 6" SS liner in it. I am running a Jotul F500 Oslo now. If I used pour-down insulation what difference would I see in my stove performance?

Would I be able to drop it down to lowest draft setting at a lower stovetop temp?

Would my wood supply last longer in the stove?

Would I put less heat up my chimney to get things going?

I assume my draft would increase a fair amount?

It works pretty well now, but I am just wondering if it would work better or if I would just have to put in a flue damper?!

 

[lostDuck]

I am new here also but the general consensus I have read is that only positive things come from insulation. I would not go without it in my install.

I'm sure others with more experience can give you more detail.

 

[Beer Belly]

I believe that it would keep the Flue temps up which would give a better draft, in turn, the stove would burn better, and it would help prevent Creosote with higher Flue temps......just what I reckon....still a rookie.....what say the pros ??

 

[Excavator]

Simple answer, if you don't insulate you are not getting the most out of system.
I noticed big draft improvement but I installed the insulation wrap and liner at same time.
You will see improvement in all area's

 

[Beer Belly]

Don't mean to hijack.....any idea of a lifespan of un-insulated ???....our is 6 years old, and I was unaware of the benefits of an insulated liner, and went with the standard, but will go insulated when the time comes

 

[pen]

How's the chimney look when it is cleaned? Much build up? How often do you clean?

Are you certain your wood is completely seasoned?

That much chimney should suck like an electrolux. I'd look at the wood first if there is any performance issues. Once the fuel is out of the question, then look at stove performance again and consider that against the accumulations you find in the chimney to decide if it is worth doing or not.

What are the interior dimensions of the masonry flue?

pen

 

[aaron1]

Seems like mine will last a few decades as is, no data though.

 

[aaron1]

How's the chimney look when it is cleaned? Much build up? How often do you clean?

Are you certain your wood is completely seasoned?

That much chimney should suck like an electrolux. I'd look at the wood first if there is any performance issues. Once the fuel is out of the question, then look at stove performance again and consider that against the accumulations you find in the chimney to decide if it is worth doing or not.

What are the interior dimensions of the masonry flue?

pen

I don't know if I'm getting performance issues, as I have no way to compare. It works pretty well as far as I can tell, but I thought it might work even better if it were insulated. I haven't cleaned it yet with this stove, but I bet it is going to be pretty clean. My wood is less than or equal to 20% MC. It has pretty good suction, just not as much as with my old VC Vigilant hooked up. The Jotul has more restriction to air flow by design. The masonry flue is pretty close to 6" in one direction and maybe 10" in the other.

I'd have to use pour down insulation which freaks me out as it is so permanent. I should probably just leave well enough alone for now.

 

[chimneylinerjames]

The pour down can be not so permanent as many are afraid of. If you have the right situation you can pour the first bucket or so in damp and let it dry to stiffen up some, then pour down the rest dry. That way if for some reason you want to remove the liner in the future the insulation will come out much easier.

 

[Jags]

At 30' of exterior - I would insulate it. I find it hard to believe that the stack wouldn't be cooling off that high up.

 

[begreen]

Exactly. The main benefit I would expect would be quicker cold stove light-offs and less creosote accumulation.

 

[mellow]

I would insulate especially if you have cracks in your terracotta so you meet code. My only negative thought would be the increased draft, but that can be controlled by an inline damper on a free standing stove.

 

[aaron1]

I'll take a look at the top of my flue pipe in the next few months and see how bad the buildup is. I might just leave it as is if I don't have problems. The stove seems to work pretty well. I'll think about insulating with thermix this summer.