chimney liner

[bjwme]

Hey guys, dont do a lot of posting on here mostly looking around and reading. I do have a question about chimney liners. I currently have a tile flue that is only two years old that starts in my basement and goes through the roof (one story house) so about 28 feet. i use a new yorker wc-90 with no storage and i havent really had to many problems but i do tend to have some build up on the last couple feet of my chimney when it is really cold. Now are there any disadvantages in using a tile chimney. I see alot of people go ahead and use liners. I know you can insulate them but if my tile chimney is still good should i keep using it or line it. would a insulated liner help me out with the build up on the last couple feet?
Thanks

Bryan

 

[CrappieKeith]

Masonry flue are typically cold which when the leave the home will create creosote.
A liner that is insulated will cut down on your buildup.

 

[ikessky]

You will still get build up on the last couple of feet that extends above your roof line. Just an FYI, I run a Daka forced air furnace and did about 4 cords last winter. I swept the liner a couple of weeks ago and got around 1/3 of a 5 gallon pail of soot. I have an uninsulated liner inside my clay flue.

 

[Gooserider]

Hey guys, dont do a lot of posting on here mostly looking around and reading. I do have a question about chimney liners. I currently have a tile flue that is only two years old that starts in my basement and goes through the roof (one story house) so about 28 feet. i use a new yorker wc-90 with no storage and i havent really had to many problems but i do tend to have some build up on the last couple feet of my chimney when it is really cold. Now are there any disadvantages in using a tile chimney. I see alot of people go ahead and use liners. I know you can insulate them but if my tile chimney is still good should i keep using it or line it. would a insulated liner help me out with the build up on the last couple feet?
Thanks

Bryan

An insulated liner will reduce, but probably not totally eliminate buildup in those last few feet. Assuming a person has the required space to fit a liner with insulation, it is certainly what I would reccomend if they are installing a liner... Because it keeps the flue gasses warmer, an insulated liner will also usually draft better, and in some cases the stainless liner can be a bit easier to clean and get rid of any buildup.

However, the main reasons that people will usually install liners are either to reduce the flue's cross sectional area (CSA) to meet current code requirements, or to restore a damaged chimney (i.e. cracked or missing tiles) to NFPA safety standards...

Sounds to me like while you might want a liner for the first reason, the second isn't an issue. Two questions on this...

1. What is the size of the flue outlet on your New Yorker?

2. What is the size of your current flue tile?

I'm not sure on boilers, but on wood stoves, the rule is that UNLESS the appliance manual says a smaller flue cross section is allowed, your flue CS can't be smaller than the stove outlet. In addition, the flue CSA can't be more than 2X the stove outlet CSA on an exterior chimney, or 3X on an interior chimney like yours... Optimal is for the two CSA's to be the same. In practice, unless your tiles are at least 2-3X larger than the flue outlet, you probably won't have ROOM for a properly sized liner, let alone an insulated one.

Gooserider

 

[bjwme]

My flue outlet is 6 inch and my flue tile 6.5x6.5 i.d. The flue is in good shape but it is just the last few feet I am having trouble with.

 

[CrappieKeith]

My flue outlet is 6 inch and my flue tile 6.5x6.5 i.d. The flue is in good shape but it is just the last few feet I am having trouble with.

That's why they make flue brushes.
Not trying to be a smartazz,unless you can totally insulate that part like the rest of your flue your going to have some build up there.
I do in my system and I clean it as needed.

 

[Fsappo]

As the above posters mentioned, just lining the chimney will help on your draft hence keep the chimney cleaner. Personally I wouldnt be insulating a liner that will only have 1/4 inch air space around it. Seal it off top and bottom, create a dead air space.
You can buy a 30' liner kit with a tee system for $500 dollars or so with enough research. Seems cheap for the peace of mind.

 

[Gooserider]

My flue outlet is 6 inch and my flue tile 6.5x6.5 i.d. The flue is in good shape but it is just the last few feet I am having trouble with.

Well that gives a stove outlet cross section of about 27.5sq", and a flue cross section of 42.25sq", which is well within the 3X limit for an inside chimney, and even the 2X limit for an exterior chimney.

You would have a difficult time getting even a bare liner down a 6.25" square flue tile, let alone insulating other than in the corners. My opinion is that you wouldn't really gain a lot from a liner, you should probably just plan on having to clean regularly...

I don't recognize the New Yorker name as being a gasifier or other clean burner, if it isn't, it also probably would help to consider upgrading to a cleaner burning unit - besides cutting the wood consumption it would reduce your crud buildup by the simple logic that the less crud going up the chimney, the less there is to deposit...

Gooserider

 

[bjwme]

Thanks for the help, the new yorker it just a regular wood boiler, would like to have a gassifier some day. i guess i will have to keep doing what i am doing(its a pain to clean my flue) maybe I will have to get a permanetly mounted mechanical chimney brush


thanks again

 

[ikessky]

You would have a difficult time getting even a bare liner down a 6.25" square flue tile, let alone insulating other than in the corners. My opinion is that you wouldn't really gain a lot from a liner, you should probably just plan on having to clean regularly...

My thoughts exactly. My clay flue is just under 7" ID and right around 18-19'. The liner went down fairly smooth, but I did hit some areas where I had to wiggle and twist the liner to get it past.

Overall, I'm happy that I installed my liner. I did the liner because although the clay flue looked to be in good shape, I'm not sure what the previous owner had done. I have to tweak it a little bit (plugging up the original clean out with insulation and some kaowool stuffed around the liner underneath the top plate), but I'm happy with last year's results.