condensation and ice on the direct vent pipe just inside the house

[FishHaggis]

Help Had a Vermont Casting Radiance direct vent propane stove installed over the summer. Works fine, but if I do not have the stove on all the time, ice forms on the vent pipe and wall metal plate just inside the house, and then it all melts when the stove is turned on. I have humidity in the house at 30%. I saw them install the venting and when I questioned them, they assured me it was a normal way of doing it and typical install from a kit. They cut a roughly one square foot hole in my wall and installed the double walled pipe in there in a metal sleeve and that sleeve is only a thin piece of metal on the outside and the inside, so the -20 to -40 weather just freezes that inside metal panel and the vent pipe. Shouldn't there be a non combustible square plug in the wall inside that metal sleeve with the vent pipe going through it? Its like I have a square foot hole in my wall, the only difference is that there are two thin metal sheets covering it. This is not right....... and I paid really good money to have the local pros install it.

 

[DAKSY]

Are you saying the installers went thru your wall WITHOUT using a DV wall thimble?
They should have used a product similar to this:

(broken link removed)

If they didn't, your install isn't up to code & it's not safe.

 

[FishHaggis]

He did install the thimble. I am thinking he should have cut a round hole for the thimble but instead he cut a square hole the entire size of the thimble. There is no insulation in that square hole in the wall, just the thimble. -30 today so it's all iced up on the wall covering. He should have cut a round hole?

 

[FishHaggis]

This is what it looks like with the fireplace on most of the night.

 

[FishHaggis]

Pic upside down.

 

[DAKSY]

I never cut a round hole when I install one of the DV wall thimbles, but I do cut an octagon.
That ensures an attachment point for each of the 4 corners.
I would ask your installers to come back & insulate the area aorund the thimble
& also to caulk the seam where the DV pipe passes thru the thimble cover on the inside.
Do you have the option of leaving the pilot on with this model? The (roughly) 800 BTU per hour may
just mitigate the condensation & resultant icing.

 

[FishHaggis]

The pilot light is always on. The picture I provided is what it looks like when I set my remote thermostat to come on and maintain 20 degrees C..... so that would be 68 degrees F. I will be going back to them today and ask them to fix it. Appreciate the feedback. I will post the outcome of my visit to the store.

 

[FishHaggis]

Installers are coming today. Manager seems to be on the ball and is focused on what needs to be done. Lets see if they can do it. Low -20's to -30's now so this needs fixing

 

[yrock87]

Any fix found?

 

[hans747]

Installers are coming today. Manager seems to be on the ball and is focused on what needs to be done. Lets see if they can do it. Low -20's to -30's now so this needs fixing

Whoa! That's insane. How did they fix that?

 

[FishHaggis]

Well, it is fixed. They took the inside cover off and the there was a very small gap between the thimble and the pipe. Sealed it off with heat rated caulking. Everything else in there is as tight as a drum and caulked.

The pilot light is always lit and I keep it set now at 18 C or 64 F which is great and keeps my basement warm. If it dips past -35 outside for a few days, the stove pipe is cold and I even see a bit of ice about the size of a penny form, but that's WAYYYY better than before. It is doable now and works fine. Heck when ice does form on the pipe due to the cold weather, ice also forms on the two screws on my deadbolt on the door too as those two screws go right through to the other side. Any little thing gets iced up at that temp after awhile if its not insulated like crazy. We keep our house at about 30% humidity in the winter and vent any showers and cooking diligently to keep the frosting down.

I am surprised there is not a fire proof square with a round opening for the chimney to fit in that space in the thimble. I would pay extra for that but its a fire code thing?