Alaska Stove Co. Kodiak - Retrofit Liner or Total Replacement

[JakeTheYounger]

Hello everyone,
In the basement of my recently purchased home I have a Kodiak insert. I burned it some this winter and was disappointed with its performance, so I hauled it out of the fireplace to take a look. It’s an 8” outlet from the stove directly into a 10x10” terra cotta lined chimney. The chimney is probably nearly 30’ from top to bottom. It drafts poorly, probably due to the combined effects of the huge chimney and poor seal at the bottom without any sort of block off plate, as well as being a masonry chimney built outside the house.

I’m installing a new Regency stove upstairs as my primary source of heat, and the basement stove will only be burned during family gatherings or during extremely cold periods. I won’t have money to do anything with it this year, but in the next few years I’d like to have a basement insert that performs well and doesn’t violate code. I considered dropping an 8” insulated liner to the insert until I saw the price. I feel I may be further ahead to replace the Kodiak with a value (or used) 6” vented stove due to the steep price difference between a 6” vs. 8” liner.

I hate to do a full replacement, as the added efficiency isn’t a big deal when burning in the basement for a couple weeks yearly. Any suggestions are making this stove safe and effective without breaking the bank?

 

[stoveliker]

Do you have two flues in the chimney? Can't have two stoves on one flue.

You will most likely have (!) to put in an insulated liner anyway for the upstairs stove for safety (and code and performance) reasons.

 

[JakeTheYounger]

Do you have two flues in the chimney? Can't have two stoves on one flue.

You will most likely have (!) to put in an insulated liner anyway for the upstairs stove for safety (and code and performance) reasons.

Upstairs stove is on an entirely separate chimney. I have two chimneys with 2 flues each. My house has an addition that comes off like a “T”. One chimney on the addition, one chimney in the original house. The new stove will be going in to code with a stainless insulated liner.

 

[stoveliker]

That's good.

Regarding the basement stove, having it slammed in to a 10x10 terracotta flue won't be functioning well and is not legal I believe.
I would not use it at all until a camera inspection has been done - and I would not use it without an insulated liner.
My opinion is that it won't be safe until that's done.

 

[begreen]

This insert was meant to be sealed to the front face of the fireplace when run as a slammer. With no seal this is a dangerous install on multiple fronts. Don't burn this way. Have the flue system cleaned and then inspected.

I know it's not kosher, but I'd consider putting in an insulated 6" that is connected with a reducer to the stove. That will be much safer and with the 30' height, it may draft ok. That will buy some time until a replacement is found.

 

[JakeTheYounger]

This insert was meant to be sealed to the front face of the fireplace when run as a slammer. With no seal this is a dangerous install on multiple fronts. Don't burn this way. Have the flue system cleaned and then inspected.

I know it's not kosher, but I'd consider putting in an insulated 6" that is connected with a reducer to the stove. That will be much safer and with the 30' height, it may draft ok. That will buy some time until a replacement is found.

Front face plate was in position and “gasketed” if I dare call it that with fiberglass insulation, so also a pretty bad condition. Note the soot from where it leaked smoke past the fiberglass. I’m probably further ahead to run baseboard electric down there on occasion until I put in a better insert. Note the digging bar, 2x4, and firewood fulcrum for moving what is probably a 500+ pound stove.

The sad part here is that this was probably a “professional” install as the previous owner was severely disabled, and generally hired competent people to do things up to code in the rest of the house. Then again, this may have been considered a reasonable install in the 80s. Both chimney and stove look like they were rarely burned.

Any suggestions for non-cat inserts for an 1,800 sf unfinished basement. This being a secondary stove I won’t need spectacular burn times.

 

[bholler]

Front face plate was in position and “gasketed” if I dare call it that with fiberglass insulation, so also a pretty bad condition. Note the soot from where it leaked smoke past the fiberglass. I’m probably further ahead to run baseboard electric down there on occasion until I put in a better insert. Note the digging bar, 2x4, and firewood fulcrum for moving what is probably a 500+ pound stove.

The sad part here is that this was probably a “professional” install as the previous owner was severely disabled, and generally hired competent people to do things up to code in the rest of the house. Then again, this may have been considered a reasonable install in the 80s. Both chimney and stove look like they were rarely burned.

Any suggestions for non-cat inserts for an 1,800 sf unfinished basement. This being a secondary stove I won’t need spectacular burn times.

If the chimney really is 30' tall just clean the chimney properly and drop a 6" insulated liner for that insert. It will work fine with that height.

 

[JakeTheYounger]

If the chimney really is 30' tall just clean the chimney properly and drop a 6" insulated liner for that insert. It will work fine with that height.

The stove originally had a plate steel damper (visible in picture, I removed it for inspection). Should I install a damper if I line the chimney with 6" insulated liner?

 

[bholler]

The stove originally had a plate steel damper (visible in picture, I removed it for inspection). Should I install a damper if I line the chimney with 6" insulated liner?

I usually put them back in place on those stoves yes

 

[JakeTheYounger]

I’ve decided I’m further ahead to wait until I can put a new insert in and take advantage of the tax credit. There’s no reason to miss out on the tax credit on a $1,600+ liner when I plan on upgrading the insert in the next few years. The money I’ll save with the credit will more than cover occasionally running the baseboard electric during deep freezes to keep pipes from freezing, or during family gatherings. I think I’ll do a non-cat both due to cost and the intermittent usage of the insert.