Do I really, truly need a liner?

[samhandwich]

I've had a fireplace insert wood stove in my home for about 20 years and it's time for an upgrade. Liners weren't required when this was first installed, and I don't have one. Now they are, so the pros won't even do a cleaning without one.

Is chimney cleaning something I can do myself without much difficulty. It hasn't been cleaned for a loooong time, if that makes a difference.

If I get a new insert and put it in myself, is running it without a liner dangerous? Um...how dangerous?

Thanks!

 

[bholler]

Yes it is dangerous and it probably wont run either. I know you and many people have burnt slammers for a long time without burning their house down. But many have as well. They are very hard to clean they make lots of creosote and when they do light that creosote off there is no way to shut the air down to them and there is usually a massive amount of creosote there to burn. We have 2 very long time customers with slamers that we still work on after they signed release forms but we will not take on any new ones. They are an accident waiting to happen. All that being said a new insert will burn horribly if at all without a liner hooked to it there will just not be a strong enough draft for the stove to work.

 

[Snotrocket]

What size is the flu opening?

 

[BrotherBart]

What bholler said. Word for word. I burned a slammer install for 21 years and after lining that chimney it was the difference between night and day. For stove performance and cleaning as well.

Just do it.

 

[Hogwildz]

Sure you can install it without a liner, and sure you can clean it yourself, IF you want to chance it most likely drafting like crap, building a ton of creosote, and lastly, having to pull the insert out yearly to clean the chimney.
And when the old chimney is cleaned, it will deposit a ton of creosote in/on the old fireplace smoke shelf area.With a liner, it all falls down into the insert firebox, by merely removing the baffle, tubes and board, cat, etc, depends on the insert, as needed.
In this day and age, they are lined for good reason.
If your going to upgrade the insert, upgrade the flue also with a new liner, and be safe and enjoy the benefits of the new insert & the new liner.
And yes, insulate the liner also, and install block off plate at the damper area.

 

[TradEddie]

If safety and efficiency doesn't motivate you, consider that you'll never have to pay someone to clean your chimney again once you put a liner in. Cleaning a liner is a piece of cake.

TE

 

[Charles1981]

Yes you can run a stove without a liner...as you have proved.

My wife parents don't have a single smoke alarm or fire extinguisher in their house.

It just isn't right or safe though.

I am kind of scared about the shape of your chimney since you said you haven't cleaned it in a long time.

You can do anything you want. It just may not be recommended. And it may be extremely unsafe. And in this situation it sounds like all of the above.