DV stove in FP

[KenP]

HI all, planning to put a DV VC gas stove in front of little used masonry FP to heat family room addon. From what I have read here, can easily be done. INstaller was just here I'm confused. Need some educated help please.

He says the fp damper throat is too narrow for 7" double wall pipe, ( I measured it 5 1/2") he want to just do bvent install with 6" pipe and use house air for combustion. Again hole is 5 1/2. We do agree not to cut anything so can go back to fp if ever want to.

I showed him the VC install brochure with the two pipe hookup. He said I would not like the looks of that and nobody with a fp setup uses that. And I wouldn't notice the difference.

He also said at damper he just packs insulation around the pipe. I was envisioning a piece of sheet metal sealed to damper throat with hole for pipe to keep drafts out? I didn't think to ask him what he puts on top but I surely will.

Am I wrong to stick with direct vent option, this is not a cheap project and I do want an efficient stove. Why would I want to pull out warm room air? I may be picky, but this sounds like a jury rigged install. SHould I be looking for another installer??

Thanks for all help. We've already had a larger LP tank installed and I've trenched to the FP. If I don't get this in (and the mess cleaned up) by Christmas it not going to be pretty.

 

[BrotherBart]

You want to DV, not BV, a VC in your FP to burn LP in your FR. I am afraid you are SOL.

DV pipe is usually 6 5/8" OD. Not gonna go through a 5 1/2" damper frame. You either cut the sucker or find a nice exterior wall to DV the VC in your FR to burn the LP.

 

[KenP]

no surpise, seems I've been SOL since this project started.

Wife liked the pretty color enamel stoves but we could't agree on color and flame pattern. Went all over the state to 3 different dealers to see stoves burning. Got over that, then need new bigger tank. $1500 to put a tank in the ground near FP, are you kidding! then would also need to repipe line to gas cookstove. Finally decided to just replace above ground tank with large, leaving me to dig 20" trench around "flowers" to get to where trencher can go.

I really want the direct vent benefits so I guess its the two 3" pipes. Seems kind of dumb to get a sealed front gas stove and then open it to room air. Appreciate any comments on rest of install questions.

 

[BrotherBart]

Were it me I would go ahead and cut the damper frame completely out. There are a ton of chimney top dampers that you can buy for under two hundred bucks. They fit on top of the chimney flue up top and are opened and closed using a stainless steel cable that runs down the chimney and you access it through the fireplace just like a damper rod. If you ever wanted to return the fireplace to normal use you just install one of them. The are used all of the time to replace worn out and missing dampers and they beat the heck out of normal dampers because they close the chimney from critters and debris.

When you install the stove put a block-off plate up at the place where the damper frame is now to hold your expensive heat in the house. Search the how to's here for instruction on making a block-off plate.

 

[jtp10181]

Simpson Duravent makes a coaxial to co-linear kit that can be used for masonry relining. It is approved for most of the Quadrafire stoves, not sure about the VC. I think this is the two pipe hookup you are taking about. If done correctly it will look fine. Why would they try to jam the 6" coaxial up there when the two 4" flex liners will be 10x easier to install? Also I think drawing room air for combustion on a direct vent stove would be a big no no. Why would you use 6" B-Vent? Gahhh... try going to a different dealer is what I would suggest.

About the insulation, our install manuals for gas inserts say to do just that, pack unfaced fiberglass insulation around the pipes as the pass through the damper to seal it off. There is no mention of a blockoff plate. Now with a stove it might not be a bad idea to also put in a plate just to make sure the insulation could never fall down to where you would see it. The plate would give it a cleaner look if anyone where to look up the chimney.

 

[KenP]

I like that idea, solves both problems and can use the double wall pipe. That makes a HLS.



(helluvalottasense) THANKS!


Hows your weather down there, we had a touch of snow/sleet today and 31 degrees. We have some friends who lived in Natural Bridge and spent a lotta time visiting them over the years and camping in the area. One of the best states we've visited.

 

[BrotherBart]

Been in the twenties at night but will be 40 and raining tonight. 40 and raining right now. Back to the low thirties and twenties at night again tomorrow. Most people are starting cold and snow. We are starting our annual winter of cold and slop. The daily freeze/thaw cycles here make winter a mess.