Replacing Pellet stove with wood stove

[weatherguy]

Not sure if the ideal steel will fit, my fireplace is about the same size and I went with the progress hybrid, all the jotuls should fit. Then again if you want to build out your hearth any rear venter will fit. The buck stoves would fit though not rear vent but their stoves can be used as freestanding or insert.
I think your wise to get a freestander, I had an insert and switched and it makes a big difference.

 

[firefighterjake]

I'm still trying to figure out if that door is really, really small . . . or if it's just the angle taken with the camera.

 

[Heftiger]

I'm still trying to figure out if that door is really, really small . . . or if it's just the angle taken with the camera.

It's gotta be tiny. Look how the mantle shadow measures up to the door. Maybe he has umpaloompas to tend to his stove.

 

[edge-of-the-woods]

My goal for this house long term is to reduce dependence on the 'grid'. Live sustainably. And be okay if SHTF. Also forgot to mention we have natural gas service to the house also if that makes any difference.

Dude. Dude. I just zoomed in on your profile pic. Are you in an earthship?!?!

 

[Complete]

Dude. Dude. I just zoomed in on your profile pic. Are you in an earthship?!?!

YES dude! That pic is from their HQ by Taos, NM. Good Eye! I left feeling like the rest of the world has been building homes wrong this entire time. We stayed in one for a couple days. Would totally live in one again if possible.

 

[Complete]

It's gotta be tiny. Look how the mantle shadow measures up to the door. Maybe he has umpaloompas to tend to his stove.

Umpaloompas haha. I wish. Need to get better at the flute.

Some say it's the door to Narnia. And yeah its mini...same height as the mantle. ~4.5' tall.

It's a bricked in box on the side of the chimney outside. It's for dry wood storage. Theres a metal pass thru opening on the outside of the house that can be seen in the external chimney pic. Problem is, the hinges are busted.

 

[Complete]

Guys,

Do they make an oval/rectangle shaped pipe peice that I might be able to work around the existing damper/smokeshelf?

 

[begreen]

Some ovalize the liner to get past the damper but most often the damper is notched or removed to make clear passage for the liner.

 

[Complete]

Some ovalize the liner to get past the damper but most often the damper is notched or removed to make clear passage for the liner.

What do you say about simplying trying out the fireplace/ get a decent grate?

I have andirons and fireplace tools already. Sure would be nice to burn a little wood this year.

 

[jatoxico]

Do they make an oval/rectangle shaped pipe peice that I might be able to work around the existing damper/smokeshelf?

If you try to keep the old damper in place you run the risk of hurting the performance of any unit you end up with. Also makes it tough to clean. But if your up to the idea that you may have to re-do the install if it doesn't work then go ahead and try it.

What do you say about simplying trying out the fireplace/ get a decent grate?

I have andirons and fireplace tools already. Sure would be nice to burn a little wood this year.

If it's just for fun and ambiance go for it. If you are running another source of heat like a furnace you may find it's working harder since the fireplace will pull tons of air from the house and send it up the chimney. That warmed air you heated with the furnace will then be replaced with cold being pulled into the house. If you can isolate the room the fireplace is in and maybe open a window in the fireplace room you might be able to minimize that.

Back in the day when the fireplace was the only heat source it made sense, people still froze their @#$%&* off, but it made sense.

 

[redhat]

My vote will not get much support but I am still a fan of Vermont castings. They are great looking heaters and I really haven't had any problems outside of regular maintenance on both of mine.

I find the anti - Vermont Castings sentiment by some of the folks on this site amusing. Most are basing their positions on discontinued models that haven't been offered in years. They won't bother to come up to speed with the models that are currently offered by VC so they can give relevant information in threads like this. Guess it is just easier to carry the narrative forward than come from an informed postion.

 

[Complete]

I find the anti - Vermont Castings sentiment by some of the folks on this site amusing. Most are basing their positions on discontinued models that haven't been offered in years. They won't bother to come up to speed with the models that are currently offered by VC so they can give relevant information in threads like this. Guess it is just easier to carry the narrative forward than come from an informed postion.

I have a VC bbq grill, that we bought at costco. It was priced much lower than the typical VC grills. It's quality is also much lower than the older VC grills. Did VC go through a cost cutting phase? A buyout? sometime in the mid 2000's?

 

[Complete]

I have a VC bbq grill, that we bought at costco. It was priced much lower than the typical VC grills. It's quality is also much lower than the older VC grills. Did VC go through a cost cutting phase? A buyout? sometime in the mid 2000's?

I was correct in my speculation. "CFM eventually went bankrupt and was taken over in 2005 by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which three years later unloaded Vermont Castings and Majestic’s assets for $42.5 million to The Riverside Co., a New York private equity firm. Riverside combined the two companies with Kentucky-based Monessen Hearth Systems."

This article is an interesting read. http://www.vnews.com/home/13877114-95/stoking-the-fires

Seems since 2013 VC is under new ownership. VC has a very rocky past. For my money, and I'm sure others share this sentiment, I'm not going to take a gamble with my investment in a stove maker with this history no matter how good they might be.

 

[Complete]

If you try to keep the old damper in place you run the risk of hurting the performance of any unit you end up with. Also makes it tough to clean. But if your up to the idea that you may have to re-do the install if it doesn't work then go ahead and try it.



If it's just for fun and ambiance go for it. If you are running another source of heat like a furnace you may find it's working harder since the fireplace will pull tons of air from the house and send it up the chimney. That warmed air you heated with the furnace will then be replaced with cold being pulled into the house. If you can isolate the room the fireplace is in and maybe open a window in the fireplace room you might be able to minimize that.

Back in the day when the fireplace was the only heat source it made sense, people still froze their @#$%&* off, but it made sense.

Right on. If we get a nice enough day, I still need to yard out the old pellet stove liner tubing. Then access the condition of the existing chimney and put a cap on top to keep the water out. I'm hoping most of the air the fire drafts will come from the ash dump hole that is vented to the outside of the house. As long as I keep it clean, I see this as the path of least resistance and with any luck we can burn a decent fire once in a while and I can get a good deal on a stove this spring when the demand is low.

 

[Threerun]

There is a flexible steel adapter pipe that is oval designed to snake up the damper opening and up until it passes about 1-2' into the chimney liner. You have to remove the damper door (usually not hard). It also came with a blocking baffle that you trimmed to fit the opening, and two threaded rods with hooked ends to snug it up. Pretty slick deal. I installed two of them in the past (in previous homes with chimneys). In both installs I hooked up my Consolidated Dutchwest Federal XL wood stoves.

If your existing chimney liner is in good shape there is no need to run SS pipe all the way to the top. The only caveat is that when you clean your chimney- you must remove the assembly to make sure you vacuum the smoke shelf. Ask me how I know this..

I failed to do that and cleaned the chimney a few times. The creosote that fell accumulated on the smoke shelf. I over fired the stove one morning and *woof*.. Chimney fire. Not much of a big deal- not a whole lot of creosote but it did make my butt pucker for about 15 minutes or so, lol.

I can't find the specific kit I used but this is basically what the components are-
This- http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-22420.html
Plus this- http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-21420.html

It also had the stainless steel blocking plate + some rockwool to seal it off from above. Also the flexible liner had two stainless steel pipes affixed to the outside that were adjustable. Those rested on the smoke shelf to secure the oval pipe. I was able to easily snake the oval flex pipe through my steel damper frame and install it. Knowing what I know now if I had to do it over again I could buy these components and fab it up. Not hard to do.

If your chimney liner is in good shape- this is a very economical way to plumb the appliance. No need to re-line a good chimney with a full SS liner.

 

[bholler]

I find the anti - Vermont Castings sentiment by some of the folks on this site amusing. Most are basing their positions on discontinued models that haven't been offered in years. They won't bother to come up to speed with the models that are currently offered by VC so they can give relevant information in threads like this. Guess it is just easier to carry the narrative forward than come from an informed postion.

Too many of us have either been burnt ourselves or had to many customers burnt by their terrible designs through the years. It is going to take allot more than a new design that seems ok to start off to gain our trust again. If they hold up well for 8 or 10 years then i may change my attitude towards the company. But at this point they have a long way to regain the trust of many of us. And i have worked on some of the new stuff it is better than the old stuff but not that great for the price.

 

[begreen]

As pointed out in other threads we have a few more recent 2N1 owners report that they have had multiple issues within the past 4 yrs.. Personally I would love to see VC turn around. They are beautifully made and looking stoves. But I think it's going to take an internal redesign to get this stove reliable over a 10-20 yr. period. Hopefully with new ownership this is in the works.

 

[Complete]

Okay guys,

I figured I'd check in with an update. It stopped raining for two days and got up into the 50's with sunshine. I figured the roof was about as dry as it was ever going to get this winter, and it seemed like as good a time as ever to remove the leftover piping from the pellet stove, inspect and install a cap to keep the rain and critters out.

There is not a clay liner inside. The opening of the chimney is 12.5 x 16.5 on the outer dimension. It looks like cement/concrete and it is approx 1 3/16" thick. So subtract 2 3/8" from both aforementioned dimensions for the inside measurements of the chimney.

It looks like it goes down like that for about 2-3 feet and then turns into the same white colored 'bricks' that the rest of the chimney is made of on the inside, but I could be wrong about that.

It is clean in appearance. No visible, at least to me anyway, creosote buildup.
The old tubes and cap from the pellet stove came up easily with a small pry bar to break free the silicone seal.

I went with a 13x18 chimney top that was in stock at homedepot to get the job done today. Eventually I'd like to replace with a stainless steel one, but I needed to get something on there today and it was under $40.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Master-Flow-13-in-x-18-in-Fixed-Chimney-Cap-CC1318/100072631?keyword=13x18+chimney+cap\

Here are pictures of the internals and the chimney top with the cap on.

With this type of construction am I required to run a SS liner all the way up to the top when I go with a wood stove?

 

[bholler]

With this type of construction am I required to run a SS liner all the way up to the top when I go with a wood stove?

Yes it doesnt matter what the construction is you want a full liner.

 

[Complete]

Yes it doesnt matter what the construction is you want a full liner.

Roger that. Full liner it is.

Was it common to use concrete flue's in the 60s? Does this have an advantages/disadvantages vs a clay lined flue?

 

[bholler]

Do I have a cast in place liner?

No you have a clay liner

 

[Complete]

No you have a clay liner

Take a closer look at the pictures. It is most certainly not clay. It's made of concrete.

 

[bholler]

Take a closer look at the pictures. It is most certainly not clay. It's made of concrete.

Looks like clay to me. I Could be wrong but it isnt cast in place there are seams. Regardless you need a liner that is way to big to work with a wood stove

 

[bholler]

I have never seen anything that looks even remotely like that that is not clay. I guess it could be something regional but it does look like you can see the red of the clay down inside the flue

 

[redhat]

As pointed out in other threads we have a few more recent 2N1 owners report that they have had multiple issues within the past 4 yrs.. Personally I would love to see VC turn around. They are beautifully made and looking stoves. But I think it's going to take an internal redesign to get this stove reliable over a 10-20 yr. period. Hopefully with new ownership this is in the works.

I clearly pointed out in the thread you are referring to that the VC stove with the problem was a discontinued non-cat Everburn model, not a 2N1. If you have links to other recent threads about problems with 2N1 stoves please pass them along as I clearly have missed them.

I'm not going to try and defend the VC's Everburn non-cat combustion system, it was admittedly a bad design that did a lot to harm VC's reputation. The Everburn models had a relatively short run between 2005 and 2009. The 2N1's have been out over 5 years now and I am just not seeing the issues that plagued the Everburn models right out of the gates. I think VC has a good, reliable design with the 2N1 combustion system, but I understand the wait and see approach taken by some folks based on their experiences with past designs.