We are installing a Vermont Castings wood-burning fireplace insert into an existing brick fireplace/chimney. The (c.1956) chimney is in the middle of the home (not exterior) and lined with ceramic tile.
This is a DIY project, and money is tight. But we want to do it right. We're definitely going to install a SS chimney liner (probably flexible due to cost.) Multiple sources say we don't technically NEED to insulate this liner... then again lots of people say we should.
Questions:
1) Is it OK to buy simply the cheapest flexible SS liner at one of the various chimney-liner places on line? Look like about $275 for a 6", 15-foot kit we'd need...
2) Insulation: first of all, go ahead and comment on whether it's needed or not! DH says no, let's not . I'm not sure. If so, iit sure looks like using a pour-in insulation like Thermix is a WHOLE lot cheaper, and possibly also easier, than the blanket-wrap stuff. By my caclulations we'd need only 2 bags of Thermix at $75 each versus a blanket-wrap kit at $275. We're already planning to make a bottom close-off plate for the flue. Is there some reason why the Thermix is not a good idea? I also know that we might have trouble getting the blanket-wrapped 6" pipe through the very top of the chimney (which is only 6" as opposed to 7.75" for most of the chimney) so it seems easier to pour something in. Are there other insulation possibilities we haven't looked at yet?
Thanks for any advice!
Other maybe pertinent info:
location is coastal Maine
house is one story, length of chimney liner needed= 15 feet
This is a DIY project, and money is tight. But we want to do it right. We're definitely going to install a SS chimney liner (probably flexible due to cost.) Multiple sources say we don't technically NEED to insulate this liner... then again lots of people say we should.
Questions:
1) Is it OK to buy simply the cheapest flexible SS liner at one of the various chimney-liner places on line? Look like about $275 for a 6", 15-foot kit we'd need...
2) Insulation: first of all, go ahead and comment on whether it's needed or not! DH says no, let's not . I'm not sure. If so, iit sure looks like using a pour-in insulation like Thermix is a WHOLE lot cheaper, and possibly also easier, than the blanket-wrap stuff. By my caclulations we'd need only 2 bags of Thermix at $75 each versus a blanket-wrap kit at $275. We're already planning to make a bottom close-off plate for the flue. Is there some reason why the Thermix is not a good idea? I also know that we might have trouble getting the blanket-wrapped 6" pipe through the very top of the chimney (which is only 6" as opposed to 7.75" for most of the chimney) so it seems easier to pour something in. Are there other insulation possibilities we haven't looked at yet?
Thanks for any advice!
Other maybe pertinent info:
location is coastal Maine
house is one story, length of chimney liner needed= 15 feet