Long term install plan - Vedolux 37 - Chimney questions

[Quebexico]

I should also mention that the garage door gives me a great advantage to drill at the correct height - I can make a reference mark inside and carry it outside with a laser level, which would have been a major pain without such access. I am pretty confident I can put the hole within 1/2 inch of where it needs to be.

 

[Buzz Saw]

My plan was actually to bore the hole at the same height as the centerline of the Vedolux 55 horizontal outlet, so I could avoid an elbow indoors (other than the factory elbow/outlet). I would go straight out to the exterior 90, and could likely connect the boiler outlet to the insulated piece passing through the wall directly. The boiler installation distance from the back wall is fairly short. It also means I could clean the horizontal run with the factory cleanout, and the exterior chimney through the bottom cleanout. Easy peasy.

Of course, the Vedolux 55 is a tad bit taller than the 37 (one inch), so if we go for the 37, I could just raise the base by the inch. Is this a good plan?

If possible go taller than each and build a stand to reach your required height. The reason I say this you never know what the future holds. Don't limit yourself to a certain height.

 

[velvetfoot]

I used DVL double walled stove pipe. One of the sections is adjustable for eas(ier) removal. Like this: http://www.northlineexpress.com/6-x...ustable-black-stove-pipe-6dvl-12adj-6735.html

 

[Quebexico]

If possible go taller than each and build a stand to reach your required height. The reason I say this you never know what the future holds. Don't limit yourself to a certain height.

Both the vedolux 55 and the 37 have a stand already, so I could easily extend the legs or modify it. I might just build one anyways to save myself the 300 bucks or so they go for. I just don't want the unit too high to make it a pain to clean. At 6 feet (72 inches) centerline, the pipe is about eye level for me, that's about as high as I would want to go I think...

 

[Coal Reaper]

You wont need to clean your horizontal section if you are burning dry wood. Everytime i look in there i say "that was a waste of three minutes". There is always like an 1/8" layer of dust in the bottom. The clean out tee collects some fine ash too. I clear that maybe every two cords and i might skip it this year now that i trust the process. I havent brushed my chimney in over 15 cords worth of wood and i can still see a bit of reflection when looking up the inside.
I agree to be mindful of your clearance to cieling. You could always trim the legs on the 55. I thought about building my own stand but with everything else involved with the install i am happy it came with mine. The drawer is convienient.
You might get a very little bit of ash dust come out the top. That may be a concern if there is an entrance door under the chimney.

 

[Coal Reaper]

And why not some pics

 

[Mike Fromme]

And why not some pics

That's how I would do mine if I did it again. I get a little bit of ash in the 45 of the connector pipe with the way I did mine and I have to take the pipe off once a year to clean it out.

 

[Quebexico]

Even if it's not something I need to do often, I would like to keep all the maintenance to a minimum of fuss. The Vedolux's easy cleaning of the tubes is one of the reasons I am sold on it, and if I can clean the chimney and horizontal section out quickly, that is a bonus, even if it's once a year.

There was a comment made about more difficult access to the chimney top with the rear wall install, and that's true, but I usually have good luck with cleaning them from the bottom (especially with a bottom cleanout) and I have scaffolding I can set up pretty quick to get up there if I really need to. I think the rear chimney wins out in the end due to practicality in the basement.

 

[maple1]

I have a natural draft Varm - I think the fan ones are even more efficient than mine. But I have not swept my chimney at all since I started it up, going into my 4th winter with it (I think most gasifiers with storage are the same there anwyay). I will take a look up it before winter sets in, but last year it looked about the same as Reapers above.

There is no boiler that is easier to clean, which you really come to appreciate after the install & when you get into the married to it stage - but it's often overlooked when picking a boiler. It can be thoroughly cleaned in 5 minutes, tubes & all, just by opening a door for access. I try to do it once a week to maintain good heat transfer. I could even clean mine while it is burning if I really wanted, but that's hard on brush life - I did it once just to say I could.

Mine has a rear exit breach, I put a T on that with a cleanout cap on the stub of it, the pipe goes diagonally up from there to another T on the bottom of my chimney with another cleanout cap on the stub of it (pointing down). Twice a year, I take the first cap off & pull the ash out that is laying in the diagonal section, and out from the boiler breach. 90% of the ash accumulation is in that diagonal section, it acts as sort of a place that the ash settles to & collects in. The rest of the ash seems to just go right out & up the chimney. I also pulled the cap off the bottom chimney T the first couple of years but there was hardly anything there. But I also have my barometric damper just before that, so I can stick a shop vac hose thru the baro opening & right into that T & cap area & suck out whatever ash might be there without taking anything apart. So good placement of T's with caps, and your baro damper, can make for through & easy pipe cleaning without taking any pipe apart. It is quite likely that once your chimney is up there, you will never have to clean it. Unless you encounter something odd like a birds nest in it...

 

[Coal Reaper]

X2 on the easiest/quickest boiler toTHOROUGHLY clean.