A review of our first experience with wood burning stoves. First, a big thanks to all who participate here - your knowledge, experience and willingness to share has been invaluable. Couldn't have done it without you.
We recently built two cement block chimneys at the new property to accommodate a wood stove on the first floor, and a possible wood furnace to be added at a later date (3,400 sq. ft. house). Chimneys are approximately 34' tall from basement to caps. We went with masonry for two reasons - style of the house, plus the idea of having a solid chase for the liners just felt better. My son and I helped the mason set the block, which kept the costs down and gave us some valuable experience.
We decided to go with a double-wall, pre-insulated SS liner from Magnaflex. Our original intent had been regular SS with wrapped insulation, but as we considered it, the double-wall just seemed to make more sense in terms of ease of installation, performance and increased safety. The gentleman from Magnaflex was very helpful in meeting our unique needs and his pricing was quite good - better than I had originally expected. I appreciated his patience as we worked through a couple of issues. We had a main run of 20' from the first floor tee to the cap. Because we're designing a unique hearth, we wanted a clean-out below the tee and rotated 90 degrees to it. This was accomplished with an additional SS tee and a section of rigid SS between the two. Tees were wrapped with insulation prior to insertion. Liner installation went fairly well, though handling that big a piece on a steep metal roof was challenging. Definitely a two-person job up top.
We were pleased to find that we had good draft right from the start, even with a cold house that was the same temp as outside. Because we're undertaking a massive renovation, this install is temporary. Having said that, everything is to code and I appreciate the close clearances that the Summit allows.
Had a big grin on my face as the first load took off. After a week of burning, I have to say that it's been a good experience so far. We have well-seasoned wood - checked with a moisture meter - and the cold starts have been relatively quick using the top-down method. I purchased an IR thermometer and have been using that frequently to get an idea of what the stove and stove pipe are doing in relation to the fire. One thing that I was surprised with is how much the temp across the top of the stove can vary, and how quickly the heat seems to dissipate going up the relatively short single wall stove pipe.
I obviously still have a lot to learn, so will be spending time here reading up on various things, but all in all, it feels like we're off to a good start. Thanks again for all your help!
We recently built two cement block chimneys at the new property to accommodate a wood stove on the first floor, and a possible wood furnace to be added at a later date (3,400 sq. ft. house). Chimneys are approximately 34' tall from basement to caps. We went with masonry for two reasons - style of the house, plus the idea of having a solid chase for the liners just felt better. My son and I helped the mason set the block, which kept the costs down and gave us some valuable experience.
We decided to go with a double-wall, pre-insulated SS liner from Magnaflex. Our original intent had been regular SS with wrapped insulation, but as we considered it, the double-wall just seemed to make more sense in terms of ease of installation, performance and increased safety. The gentleman from Magnaflex was very helpful in meeting our unique needs and his pricing was quite good - better than I had originally expected. I appreciated his patience as we worked through a couple of issues. We had a main run of 20' from the first floor tee to the cap. Because we're designing a unique hearth, we wanted a clean-out below the tee and rotated 90 degrees to it. This was accomplished with an additional SS tee and a section of rigid SS between the two. Tees were wrapped with insulation prior to insertion. Liner installation went fairly well, though handling that big a piece on a steep metal roof was challenging. Definitely a two-person job up top.
We were pleased to find that we had good draft right from the start, even with a cold house that was the same temp as outside. Because we're undertaking a massive renovation, this install is temporary. Having said that, everything is to code and I appreciate the close clearances that the Summit allows.
Had a big grin on my face as the first load took off. After a week of burning, I have to say that it's been a good experience so far. We have well-seasoned wood - checked with a moisture meter - and the cold starts have been relatively quick using the top-down method. I purchased an IR thermometer and have been using that frequently to get an idea of what the stove and stove pipe are doing in relation to the fire. One thing that I was surprised with is how much the temp across the top of the stove can vary, and how quickly the heat seems to dissipate going up the relatively short single wall stove pipe.
I obviously still have a lot to learn, so will be spending time here reading up on various things, but all in all, it feels like we're off to a good start. Thanks again for all your help!
