Questions about stove

[maraging]

I just signed up here and have a couple of questions. I am in the process of buying my first home. There is a stove in the living room. I have never used one or had one in any of the places I have lived. I was pretty excited that there was one in the house and would like to use it. Anyway when I got the house inspected there were some issues brought up. The inspector says that it is too close to the walls. The flue pipe is installed backwards (said all the sections are overlapping the wrong direction)? The flue outside, he said was not secured properly (i saw that one of the cables is broken and hanging down to the gutter). There is no flue cap. Also he said everything is in need of a good cleaning. Anyway I have a couple pictures that aren't very good. I didn't realize there would be a forum like this where I could ask about this stuff.

So on to my questions. It seems that it wouldn't be to hard to move the stove away from the walls. It is probably 3-4" from the wall at the back corners of the stove. There is room on the tiled area to move it away from the wall. Then I could just redo the flue pipes? Also and this will probably be hard to tell from the crappy pics, can anyone tell what model stove this is? It plugs into the wall and has some sort of blower/fan on it.

One last thing, originally the inspector said that I needed to install a damper in the flue. Then he thought maybe the damper was located on the stove? I have no idea, there is another handle on the right side of the stove towards the top.

As you can tell i am new to this and probably don't have my terminology correct. Any tips or advice you can give from my crappy pics would be appreciated.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Cute house and welcome to the forum. Have a chimneysweep come out and inspect the setup. Stoves have different clearance requirements and you may find that this one is fine. The sweep can also clean the chimney if required and find an appropriate cap and strapping. With that much pipe above the roofline, it probably should be supported.

 

[fredarm]

It looks like it could be an older Englander model? Look on the back and sides to see if you can find an information plate. If it was made in the last 20 years or so, it is an "EPA" stove and will have a draft control on the stove that acts as a damper. You generally don't need a pipe damper on this kind of stove, although I've heard on here that some have installed them. The sweep should be able to instruct you in the basics of operating the stove. There is a video put out by the Canadian government that shows you how to operate a stove. Here's the link: http://www.ec.gc.ca/cleanair-airpur/default.asp?lang=En&n=8011CD70-1. If you see any jokes on here about "Vanessa" that's where it comes from. The most important thing you'll need is dry wood. Really dry wood. The "seasoned" stuff that most wood sellers sell is generally not dry enough to burn immediately. There are also compressed wood products like BioBricks that are made from sawdust and wood chips and nothing else. These are good to burn if you do not have dry wood. Do not burn fireplace firelogs--these have additives that are not good for a wood stove. Come back if you have more questions. There's an awful lot of information on this site. Happy burning!

 

[North of 60]

Yes your chimney should be turned the right way,..After it has been cleaned by a certified sweep that can look and help you correct your problems. He should be able to identify your stove by a nameplate at the back of your stove so that an install manual can be used to confirm your clearances etc... Dry wood / wood collecting would be a good start while you are locating a reputable sweep. Good luck and welcome to the hearth.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

stove looks like an old 24-ic we built that stove from 1990 through 1995 i think maybe 94. was a good solid heater, long burn times big firebox. i burned its little brother the 24-ac for seevral years in my house did a great job. one thing i see is a lot of chimney above the roofline without a support, is it stable?

edit : reread the post, 3 or 4 inches is simply not enough clearance , if the unit has a heat shield bolted on it still needs minimum of 6 inches clearance. that plus the flue support issues as well as backwards chimney connector pipe problem i'd have someone who knows what they are doing come check out and corect the deficiencies before putting the stove into use. preferrably a wett or nfi certified chimney professional. oh , and DO NOT install a damper in the flue

here is a copy of the 24-icd manual , http://www.englanderstoves.com/manuals/24-ICD.pdf this is the closest model manual i have on our website to what you have there , only real differences are in the draft control and flue size, in the ic the flue is 8 inch not 6 inch like the icd is , and the draft control is above the door on your stove , the icd is below the door , other than that its virtually the same stove

 

[thinkxingu]

stoveguy2esw,
I just wanted to recognize your contributions to the forum--this post will save this person a whole lot of time and aggravation. You're a great representative for your company; I bought an NC-13 last year because I felt I'd be supported if something came up (nothing has--great stove, great value).

As for the original question: it looks like the pipe comes forward as it goes up, so there should be no issue pulling the stove forward for the clearances. The only issue then, of course, is whether or not there is enough room in front of the stove.

S

 

[wsorg]

Definitely have a chimney sweep check the clearances and clean it.

 

[tickbitty]

Don't have anything to add to the advice cause it looks like you got a lot of good replies. But just wanted to say congrats, on your super cute house, love the windows and all! Nice stove too. What's on the floor below it?

 

[pgmr]

Home inspectors are not necessarily wood stove inspectors. The flue pipe needs to be installed with the smaller (male) portion of the section pointed down. This is so any condensation that occurs will run down into the stove and not out the pipe at a joint.

 

[maraging]

stove looks like an old 24-ic we built that stove from 1990 through 1995 i think maybe 04. was a good solid heater, long burn times big firebox. i burned its little brother the 24-ac for seevral years in my house did a great job. one thing i see is a lot of chimney above the roofline without a support, is it stable?

edit : reread the post, 3 or 4 inches is simply not enough clearance , if the unit has a heat shield bolted on it still needs minimum of 6 inches clearance. that plus the flue support issues as well as backwards chimney connector pipe problem i'd have someone who knows what they are doing come check out and corect the deficiencies before putting the stove into use. preferrably a wett or nfi certified chimney professional. oh , and DO NOT install a damper in the flue

here is a copy of the 24-icd manual , http://www.englanderstoves.com/manuals/24-ICD.pdf this is the closest model manual i have on our website to what you have there , only real differences are in the draft control and flue size, in the ic the flue is 8 inch not 6 inch like the icd is , and the draft control is above the door on your stove , the icd is below the door , other than that its virtually the same stove

Thanks for the reply. There is a plate on the left side of the stove. It has diagrams and to me it looked like the way the stove is it needed 6 inches from the wall. Thanks for the link to the manual. I will definitely be getting a professional to address my concerns.

 

[maraging]

Don't have anything to add to the advice cause it looks like you got a lot of good replies. But just wanted to say congrats, on your super cute house, love the windows and all! Nice stove too. What's on the floor below it?

It is some sort of tile on the floor, not sure what kind. The previous owner was refinishing the wood floor in that picture. I really like the house, has some nice character from the street.

 

[maraging]

Thanks for all the replies. My dad assures me that good seasoned wood won't be hard to find. I would really like to use the stove this winter. Also my dad has been cutting down several black locusts on his property. They were severely "topped" by the power company. My realtor told me there is a reputable sweep in a town close by. Will give him a call once I get settled in.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Thanks for all the replies. My dad assures me that good seasoned wood won't be hard to find. I would really like to use the stove this winter. Also my dad has been cutting down several black locusts on his property. They were severely "topped" by the power company. My realtor told me there is a reputable sweep in a town close by. Will give him a call once I get settled in.

good deal , once you get everything straightened out if you have any questions about the stove , give me a call 800-245-6489 be happy to chat about the old girl with you.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

stoveguy2esw,
I just wanted to recognize your contributions to the forum--this post will save this person a whole lot of time and aggravation. You're a great representative for your company; I bought an NC-13 last year because I felt I'd be supported if something came up (nothing has--great stove, great value).

As for the original question: it looks like the pipe comes forward as it goes up, so there should be no issue pulling the stove forward for the clearances. The only issue then, of course, is whether or not there is enough room in front of the stove.

S

appreciate the complement my friend! you did catch somting i missed, its gonna be close. need 16 inches when originally installed many local codes are going to 18 inches infront now so local chimney pro should be asked to look at that as well to ensure compliance. thanks for the assist!

 

[maraging]

Wanted to update this one since I finally moved in. Closing on the house was delayed by almost two weeks. My dad and I have been cleaning up the stove. My dad cleaned up the glass on the door and swept out the stove to look at the bricks. The stove seems to be in good condition just really really dirty. There is a lot of creosote everywhere, in every corner of the stove, and the pipe is completely lined with it. I pulled a section of pipe so I could slide the stove farther away from the wall to clean. I took a picture of what fell out and the inside of the section I pulled. I didn't take a picture of the section still hanging from the ceiling. It was almost 1/3 full of creosote (not exaggerating). Anyway here are some pics of the inside of the stove, the top of the stove (full of garbage), what I dumped out of the pipe, and some others.. enjoy

I still plan to have a professional out to clean/look it over. Buying the house was expensive so I am short on funds.. :gulp:

 

[Slow1]

Ahhh - so THAT's what a flue fire in the making looks like eh?

Thanks for the pictures. I've actually never seen a really dirty flue before. Seems folks here only post pictures of their nice clean ones for some reason.

Yuck! I bet it had the whole place smelling really nice too eh?

 

[madrone]

Oh man, that's scary. :bug: I'm so glad you came here for advice before firing that thing up. Make sure whatever wood you get is DRY, not just "seasoned".

 

[maraging]

Oh man, that's scary. :bug: I'm so glad you came here for advice before firing that thing up. Make sure whatever wood you get is DRY, not just "seasoned".

Will do. I ran into another problem while cleaning. The damper thing in the stove is stuck open. I hit the handle on the outside to try to free it and tried a pry-bar from the top. No luck. I think it is because of no flue cap maybe some moisture got in there and seized it up with rust. Ideas?

 

[rob bennett]

Dads are awesome.

 

[Pagey]

Amazing. I cannot believe the previous user of that stove did not have a major chimney fire.

 

[Motor7]

WOW, that was a disaster waiting to happen. Good thing the home inspector knew what he was doing eh? I wonder what the PO was burning in there?

RD

 

[maraging]

WOW, that was a disaster waiting to happen. Good thing the home inspector knew what he was doing eh? I wonder what the PO was burning in there?

RD

She told me mostly hedge. Bet it was super wet.

 

[maraging]

Sorry forgot to add that the more I look things over the more I think I could do most of the work myself. If I had the right tools I thing cleaning the flue pipe would be a piece of cake. The creosote practically falls out. The only thing I don't know about is putting the cap on the flue. I need a bucket truck for that, or take a section of it down. I don't like being on roofs though.

 

[Motor7]

I'll bet they took the cap off because it was clogged up. If you don't know someone with the bucket truck, you could rent a man lift for a half a day......way cheaper than a trip to the ER. I can can say this because I was putting new tin on a roof last month, 7.5x12 pitch. Used a harness & rope for the steep stuff. Was working on a low pitch porch roof...."naah, don't need the safety gear"...slipped right off, went down 8', feet first then onto my back like a turtle. I'm still seeing the Chiro.....

RD

 

[thinkxingu]

I'm not sure what costs are out your way, but my chimney sweep charged me $125 to clean everything and $80 to install a chimney cap. It's probably worth looking to find a reliable, inexpensive sweep if you don't like heights. In my case, $125 isn't worth me doing it myself (dirty, messy, time, risk, materials, etc.). Some things just aren't worth saving money for.

S