...he said that I probably don’t need to put a 6” liner in my chimney....Everything I’ve ever read on this site has said how important it is to have an insulated liner for these newer EPA stoves to get the proper draft. I don’t know what to believe. Right now on my current stove the draft is reversed (I haven’t had a fire in a week) and I’m getting that stove smell in my basement.
I'll let others comment on the implications of the reversed draft.
I believe I know your BK Dealer/chimney guy as I use him too. He's very good and very practical. I won't put words in his mouth, but I suspect he meant that if you don't want (or can't swing) to do an insulated liner at this time, you can
probably get the stove to run without it. But you won't be getting the most out of the stove.
MANY folks, perhaps the majority out there running stoves, probably have sub-ideal installations. And they make their stoves run and heat well enough....most without even knowing it should be working better. Same with those burning wet wood.
But as you read here, if you want that extra performance, which includes stable, long burns for a BK, you'll want draft conditions (and wood MC) as ideal as possible.
My $0.02: I don't know your heat demands, but especially if you foresee wanting low burns, I'd go for the liner from the start. Doubly so if you don't have VERY good wood ready to burn.
My Ashford will happily cruise for HOURS with stack temps @~28" above the collar of less than 225 deg F, if I turn it down. These things just don't waste much heat up the flue. I'd be worried that you may not pull enough draft to be able to run the stove when turned down lower without the liner. If you plan to run it higher all of the time, perhaps you won't see much of an issue...but then you're not getting the real benefits of a stove like the Ashford.
There's also the maintenance/safety issues to consider. The creosote many see from BK's in their caps will likely form in your tiled flue as it will be cooler there.
FYI: I also had a ~4-5 week wait plus a week of shipping a few years ago on my BKA and that was ordered in the later fall, not mid-winter.