Chimney Brands?

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Gaitley

New Member
Jan 7, 2023
12
Danbury CT
I’m sure this has been asked and answered many times but I wasn’t able to find the thread.

I need to replace all my wood stove (napoleon s9) pipe and chimney pipe as the previous home owner used the wrong sized pipes and jury rigged some things.

I’m looking for recommendations or feedback on low-mid range cost brands. It seems like Duravent is the most ubiquitous but also see Selkirk, Allfuel and a host of others. It about 5’ of stove pipe to attic and then only about 8’ of chimney pipe straight up.

Is there really any significant difference for double wall chimney /single wall stove pipe (not high end)? I’m probably not going to be in this home forever so trying to find ‘best value’.

Or is it more just finding any of the above mentioned, depending on what the pricing/sales are?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!
 
I would contact Selkirk, you'll find they are almost all the same company. I bought my complete chimney from Lowes, they price was good and they could order what I needed. Besides when it comes in with a dent they'll get another or discount it.
 
DuraVent, Selkirk (SuperVent, UltraTemp, Metalbest) are common brands. If there is a Menards available, they often have good pricing on Selkirk.

Chimney pipe and fittings are expensive, but I recommend not buying the value line of these brands. This is infrastructure and worth doing right.
 
I'm familiar with Duratech Chimney, Durablack & DVL stove pipe. I like the way it fits together and assembles. Seems easy to work with. The telescoping sections are great for easy install and easy cleaning later. If you have more than 18" spacing to the stove pipe work with I would suggest a DuraBlack 6DBK-TL telescoping section for your stove pipe, along with the appliance and support box adapters. This makes the stove pipe install clean and easy, and provides easy access for maintenance (just lift up the stove pipe to clean the chimney!) The 6DT-CS24IS also seems like it could be useful for your installation as it combines a ceiling support box with the attic insulation spacer in a single unit.

These catalogs have nice diagrams to help you identify what all you might need to complete an installation:



You might take this opportunity to add a couple feet to the chimney height! 13' of total chimney is pretty short, though being a straight shot at lower elevation its may be sufficient. You could use 2 X 60" chimney pipe sections instead of 2 X 48" to get a couple extra feet without adding any more pieces to the puzzle. This would add about $200 to the total system cost.

Best of luck with the chimney system replacement!
 
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Thanks so much for the help. Sorry for the delay, I didn’t see that there had been comments.

I think I have a better handle on what I need now. The challenge is that I can’t find anywhere that sells everything needed, all of the same brand save for duratech. I’d love to get duratech but I have more of a Supervent or DuraPlus budget.

Lowes has SV class A but only Imperial stove pipe. Menards has SV but very limited options of Selkirk pipe. Can I use DuraBlack pipe with SV Class A? I know not to mix Class A brands but haven’t been able to find out what pipe to use with SV or where I can buy it.

The other option is just go with DuraPlus as I can at least get that and DuraBlack and stay within a brand. I’d rather go with double walled though.

Thanks!
 
Thanks so much for the help. Sorry for the delay, I didn’t see that there had been comments.

I think I have a better handle on what I need now. The challenge is that I can’t find anywhere that sells everything needed, all of the same brand save for duratech. I’d love to get duratech but I have more of a Supervent or DuraPlus budget.

Lowes has SV class A but only Imperial stove pipe. Menards has SV but very limited options of Selkirk pipe. Can I use DuraBlack pipe with SV Class A? I know not to mix Class A brands but haven’t been able to find out what pipe to use with SV or where I can buy it.

The other option is just go with DuraPlus as I can at least get that and DuraBlack and stay within a brand. I’d rather go with double walled though.

Thanks!
The connector pipe does not need to be the same brand. And you will most likely end up ordering your chimney regardless
 
The connector pipe does not need to be the same brand. And you will most likely end up ordering your chimney regardless
Thanks! That makes things much easier then! I understand I will need to order online, was referring to that as opposed to brick and mortar stores.
 
Thanks! That makes things much easier then! I understand I will need to order online, was referring to that as opposed to brick and mortar stores.
Even through brick and mortar stores you will probably end up ordering parts. So don't limit yourself to what's available there.
 
Be mindful that a ceiling support box is need w/ a new through the roof kit, you may want to take a look at the existing hole and make sure that the new pipe isn’t smaller with hole to clearance ratio since the roof kit may not provide complete coverage of the existing hole.
Secondly, I installed the big box store dura plus double wall insulated class a about 10yrs ago, no complaints, everything has held up just fine, the only small thing was running a small bead of silicone down the outside pipe seam to keep water seepage out, more preventative then necessity.
 
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So is there a general consensus regarding the quality of different brands and pipe series? I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing for an install in new construction.

Had a stove guy tell me he really likes Excel, but said he wasn't sure if he could get it now. I've had a couple places tell me they use Duratech. Another guy recommended I go with Supervent from Menards because you can't beat the price, but I'd rather not go that route to save money if it's a lower grade pipe?

It's not that money isn't important, but I plan to be in this house a long time, I'd rather put in good stuff up front. Plus it's going to be in a chase and will be difficult to replace down the road.

Thanks
 
Excel is very good, so is Olympia. We have Duratech, going on its 16th season. It's still in good condition.
If you want Olympia/Ventis chimney, it can be ordered as Champion brand or from Rockford under their label.
 
Excel is very good, so is Olympia. We have Duratech, going on its 16th season. It's still in good condition.
If you want Olympia/Ventis chimney, it can be ordered as Champion brand or from Rockford under their label.

Thanks, I'll check those out.

So how does Selkirk Supervent compare to these other brands?
 
Thanks, I'll check those out.

So how does Selkirk Supervent compare to these other brands?
The main differences between premium and cheaper chimney lines are welded seams vs crimped seams. Welded seams generally hold up better and keep weather out of the insulation better.

Another difference is in head design. Cheaper pipe typically has solid heads which can lead to heat loss at that point and makes it more likely to buckle in the event of a chimney fire. Premium pipe like Excell and ventis has perforated heads which reduces heat transfer and they allow for more difference in expansion between inner and outer walls. Jeremiah's has completely separate inner and outer walls with no connection at all between them.

The connections are typically more solid on premium pipe. Screwed together on ventis and Excell and a wide overlap and band on Jeremiah's.


Cheaper lines are usually twist lock with a narrow band. I have had some come apart while cleaning.


All that being said there are very many Selkirk and duravent chimneys out there that perform very well for a very long time.
 
Thanks, I'll check those out.

So how does Selkirk Supervent compare to these other brands?
Selkirk UltraTemp is good chimney pipe. Their Supervent I think has improved but I may be getting it confused with their Metalbest chimney. To make things even more confusing, Selkirk is now a Duravent company along with Security, HeatFab, Hart&Cooley.
 
I've had the supervent from Menards installed on a wood stove for almost 30 years and it is fine. At least 17 of those years were essentially continuous winter burning.