What can you do with a 1000 degree Chimney?

[Deaner]

Howdy,

I bought a house that has a chimney installed but no wood stove. I went to buy a wood stove and found out that my chimney is out of date because its only a 1000 degree rated chimney. Therefore I would have to replace the whole chimney if I want to put a wood stove in.

So is there any other source of heat I can put in my house to utilize that 1000 degree chimney? Pellet Stove? Natural Gas?

What about those smaller wood stoves? I saw them advertised before but not sure if they have the same chimney requirments.

Any help is appreciated!

Dean

 

[babalu87]

Is it a brick, block or metal chimney?

I am assuming brick/block and if that is the case you can put a liner in their and pretty much launch the space shuttle from it.

 

[webbie]

1000 degrees is still the rating for current chimneys in terms of testing on a constant basis. Yes, as bab says....give us more info.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

Dean,
I would wait for ELK, but he will need some information:

1. How old is the Chimney? Is it in good shape?
2. Does it have a clay liner?
3. What size is the chimney flue?
4. Does your furnace use the same flue?

Babalu87 is right, a liner is a good option
Some pictures of where your wood stove was going too connect and some pics of the chimney flue would be great also.


The WoodButcher

 

[BrotherBart]

Sounds like a metal chimney to me. And Craig is dead on. Solid fuel chimneys are certified for 1,000 degrees continuous flow.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Is the code the same in Canada?

And even if it can take heat, in the U.S. doesn't it have to be a certified Class A chimney to qualify?

To answer you question about alternatives, Dean, you can vent a pellet stove out the window, so your chimney would work for that, I suspect.

 

[webbie]

Eric, masonry chimneys are not "certified" class A.

There have been various standards and codes over the years, but it basically breaks down like this:

1000 degrees is the constant temp that metal class A chimneys have always been tested to in the USA (at least since the 70's), but it is the higher temp "spurts" that have changed - from 1700 degrees to 2100 degrees. This was changed as a result of studying what some nut could do with a terrible chimney fire. (my interpretation, obviously).

There are millions of installed chimneys that were tested to the 1700 degree. I have never heard of a "recall" or anything of the sort, rather the codes and standards evolve and change. A new chimney being installed today has to meet the HT (2100) standard.

As far as this thread, we do need to hear and possible see more about the chimney...

OH, here is the relevant info. Turns out that Canada is stricter and wants 1200 constant and also longer spurts to 2100 degrees (ULC S-629 )

From Excel Chimney:
UL 103HT - The standard for solid and liquid fuel chimneys installed
in the USA. Along with many other tests the UL 103HT Standard requires
the chimney to withstand three 10 minute chimney fires at 2100°F. Listing #50195-C7-703403

ULC S-629 - The standard for solid and liquid fuel chimneys installed
in Canada. Along with many other tests the ULC S-629 Standard requires the chimney to withstand three 30 minute chimney fires at 2100°F. Listing #195-7110, 7113, 7156
650 C continuous (approx 1200 F).

Based on this, I think the accurate answer - in Canada - is that your certified installer is the de facto code official (at least that is my understanding, someone correct me if I am wrong), so what they say....goes. That is, unless you can confirm with a higher power as to whether older chimneys are "grandfathered".

Perhaps things are different in Canada, so hopefully an installer to stove store from there can check in with us. Maybe a certified installer up there is not allowed to install into a chimney that does not meet current code (makes sense).

 

[Deaner]

Thanks for all the replies...

Sorry for not giving enough details...

The chimney is stainless steele...its 6 inch diameter....it is not set in brick. It runs up through the floor boards and out the roof.

Yes...I was told in Canada that it has to be certified to 1200 degrees...that is why the local stove company here will not install a wood stove for me because my insurance would be void if there was a fire. But get this...if there was a stove in there when I bought the house...then my insurance HAS To cover it....go figure...

Anyway...i was just wondering if the chimney could be used for anything else..ie: Pellet stove.

 

[BrotherBart]

Whoops. I missed the "Canada" location of the OP.

 

[webbie]

I don't see a problem with a pellet stove - or gas. They don't have to be certified to those temps!

That is strange but true. You can keep an old funky and dangerous stove, but if you want to replace it then you have to upgrade. I guess it beats the stove police coming around regularly and red tagging everything.

Chances are that chimney is 20+ (or more) years old, which is the end of it's design life anyway. If you want to go wood, replace it, if pellet or gas you can probably use it, although both of those stoves can be direct vented (no chimney needed).

 

[seaken]

Thanks for all the replies...

Sorry for not giving enough details...

The chimney is stainless steele...its 6 inch diameter....it is not set in brick. It runs up through the floor boards and out the roof.

Yes...I was told in Canada that it has to be certified to 1200 degrees...that is why the local stove company here will not install a wood stove for me because my insurance would be void if there was a fire. But get this...if there was a stove in there when I bought the house...then my insurance HAS To cover it....go figure...

Anyway...i was just wondering if the chimney could be used for anything else..ie: Pellet stove.

All wood stoves sold now state the requirement for an "HT" chimney. Your chimney was not tested to the "HT" standard. We come across this quite a bit. In practical terms the chimney would probably work just fine for many more years. But codes have changed and new installs have to meet current codes. Grandfathering in an old dirty burning stove is foolish. But currently that is the way the laws are written. It would actually be safer to install a new clean burning stove on that chimney than it would be to keep an old pre-EPA stove in place. But there is no allowance in the codes for that choice. It's either replace it all or do nothing. Pretty stupid, really.

Anyway, short of replacing it you could install either a pellet or gas unit on that existing chimney with the proper UL Listed adapters.

 

[johnsopi]

Could you buy a 2nd hand stove and put install and be grandfather in?

 

[Metal]

No, any newly installed stove needs to pass current codes. The nice part is that you can probably just remove the old pipe and the clearances should be good enough to simply put the new Class A in it's place, so construction wise it should be fairly easy.

 

[cbrodsky]

Is anyone going to know that a stove wasn't there when you purchased the house? (particularly if you install it yourself and get the chimney checked out before doing so?)

Seriously, seems a bit ridiculous to throw $1-$2K into this if you have a perfectly functional chimney. And codes like this do nothing to help things - instead, it forces you into a D.I.Y. job or encourages people to leave more dangerous stoves in place.

I could rationalize no installing new chimneys that don't meet the 1200 standard. But you can bet that if the US follows the same rule in the future, and I for some reason replace my stove, I will not be paying $2K to replace the chimney.

-Colin

 

[Nofossil]

I'm pretty sure that if you look really carefully, you'll discover that there has been a woodstove there all the time, therefore you have no problem ;-)