Old setup with a new stove?

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New Member
Dec 8, 2010
4
Maryland shore
Hello everyone,
I just moved into my house a few months ago and the first thing I wanted to improve was the old wood stove. The house was built in 1936 and the last owner installed a new stove in 1986. I bought a new EPA stove last week. My question is: the single walled black pipe coming out of the wall is about 3 to 4 inches from the wall. This worried me when I first moved in but now that I am installing a new stove I'm worried that this stove will burn hotter causing a issue to arise. The wall has some sort of fake brick on it and the sheet rock behind it is gray. I was considering switching to double walled piping but that is recommended to 6 inches and I know I don't have that to work with.
Thank you all in advance for what ever suggestions you can give.
 
Single wall must be 18" away from combustibles and double wall must be 6" away. Are you venting into a masonry flue or a metal Class A chimney? You may be able to use elbows to offset the connector/stove pipe and meet the requirements?
 
It is going into a mason flue.
Even if I come off the wall with a 90 its still 3 to 4 inches where it comes out of the wall. Does anyone make a double walled cermaic coated pipe?
 
Rules, regulations, codes, etc, all have certainly changed since 1936 and even 1986.

First off, I would check what the manufaturer reccomends and this is the MINNIMUM clearances you should be working with. Look at the clearances for the pipe and the stove !!! Also look for hearth clearances front, back, and sides. All of these clearances are very important.

As far as single wall pipe, this is WAY to close to the wall !!! Way to close for double wall as you found out. If you do not have the clearances you would be best NOT to do the install. There are people who ignore the clearances and many have paid the price. The risk/reward ratio heat/ for your home, your stuff, your life just isn't worth it.

You bought the stove already??? I hope you can find a way to make the needed adjustments to make it work.

Also make sure your chimney is proffesionally inspected before you burn anything. Make sure it meets the specs needed for the stove in size, and height, and clearances as well !!!

Then we move on to the local codes, and insurance company, both of these are issues as well.

Once you get it done right, you are set, but don't "slam" it in. Do it right the first time, then you can sleep at night without having your brain run crazy wondering if it is safe.

EDIT : Welcome to the Forum !!!!
 
Can you post some photos to show us what you are up against? That would be most helpful.
 
I'll post pics of the setup after I get home tonight. I'm not going to set this new stove up unless it can be done safe. I was hoping for some sort of ceramic based product or metal shield of some type to make this more safe. This house has been heated by wood for 74 years. When I bought the new stove I didn't even think about it being unsafe for that long intil I started looking into how it install the new stove safely.
 
While I think the setup is, on the off side, I'm thinking that the EPA stoves, have lower flue temps, this is supposed to be apart of the efficency, unlike the older stoves that needed a hot flue to produce a quality burn. However, 3-4 inch clearence? fake brick? Sheetrock? these dont belong together in the same sentence let alone behind the stove. I would be more than slightly concerned.

congrate on the new stove though, hope you can make it work. you'll be very happy when burning safe.
 
3-4 inches is way, way too close for single wall pipe . . . heck, it's too close for double wall pipe. My own take . . . these clearance figures the manufacturers and code folks come up with generally aren't some random figure . . . usually they're the minimum at which point things are safe . . . although there may be a bit of a fudge factor built in. While the house may have been heated this way for 74 years there is no guarantee that continuing to do so will make it to year 75.

My own advice: do it the right way or don't do it at all.

That's the bad news . . . or at least my bad opinion. The good news . . . if you need help on suggestions as to how to safely hook up this stove, build a new hearth, etc. the folks here are an excellent resource.
 
This is the setup. I think I'm being misunderstood. I'm not expecting to be told this is ok. I want to know what I need to do to fix it.
 

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Move the wall or move the pipe/chimney? Probably not the answer you were looking for I'm guessing.
 
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