Current scenario- 100+year old house, Drolet Baron 2000sp in basement, external insulated stainless steel chimney close to 30' tall, been burning in it 6 years, always a pain to get started and pretty much impossible to keep a fire in it when the temp gets up close to freezing(we live in Manitoba, so spend many weeks/months below freezing each winter, but this limits our spring/fall burning). Due to the low draft and a change in insurance companies(new insurer required inspection which showed us that the installation of our chimney wasn't up to code because we spaced it out from the house with wooden brackets to avoid cutting into the roof at the eave).
The house has a masonry chimney in the single story addition built sometime in the 50's- this chimney draws very well and we've long thought we should get it lined and move the stove. Fast forward to today- installers came with insulated liner and the intention to remove clay liner to allow 6" SS liner to fit and let us continue to use our current stove (has a 7" flue, code says we can't reduce more than 1" from that to chimney). Upon closer inspection, installer feels the masonry isn't sound enough to have tiles removed, maybe not sound enough to be lined at all(5" liner and new stove were the first thoughts given, but seems it might not be the best idea)
Options:
A: remove entire masonry chimney from basement, through single story(my kitchen) and the remaining external height(to above the peak of the second story), install insulated steel pipe and cover appropriately.
B: reinstall existing steel chimney to meet code, build an insulated chase to help with draw(that side of the house is virtually Uninsulated, so the insulated chase would basically bring the chimney inside the house).
C: scrap the whole idea and instead put the significant $$ required for either choice towards the installation of an outdoor wood boiler(thinking this would be more friendly for insurance purposes and theoretical resale value).
My husband is very cautious about what unforeseen problems and extra costs we might run into with option A, as money is tight. With option B, we are worried there won't be a significant enough improvement in performance to justify the cost. Option c is obviously most involved, but we have the boiler available to us via family which might make it doable.
Can anyone shed some light on this decision? Any options or pros/cons we may have overlooked? Thanks!
The house has a masonry chimney in the single story addition built sometime in the 50's- this chimney draws very well and we've long thought we should get it lined and move the stove. Fast forward to today- installers came with insulated liner and the intention to remove clay liner to allow 6" SS liner to fit and let us continue to use our current stove (has a 7" flue, code says we can't reduce more than 1" from that to chimney). Upon closer inspection, installer feels the masonry isn't sound enough to have tiles removed, maybe not sound enough to be lined at all(5" liner and new stove were the first thoughts given, but seems it might not be the best idea)
Options:
A: remove entire masonry chimney from basement, through single story(my kitchen) and the remaining external height(to above the peak of the second story), install insulated steel pipe and cover appropriately.
B: reinstall existing steel chimney to meet code, build an insulated chase to help with draw(that side of the house is virtually Uninsulated, so the insulated chase would basically bring the chimney inside the house).
C: scrap the whole idea and instead put the significant $$ required for either choice towards the installation of an outdoor wood boiler(thinking this would be more friendly for insurance purposes and theoretical resale value).
My husband is very cautious about what unforeseen problems and extra costs we might run into with option A, as money is tight. With option B, we are worried there won't be a significant enough improvement in performance to justify the cost. Option c is obviously most involved, but we have the boiler available to us via family which might make it doable.
Can anyone shed some light on this decision? Any options or pros/cons we may have overlooked? Thanks!
