Furnace Chimney and Wood Stove Chimney - Interchangeable?

[thephotohound]

I have a 10 inch (maybe it's 12 inches) double wall stainless chimney that's currently venting my oil-fired furnace. My question is: can I change the furnace out for a wood stove? I was then going to see if I can power vent the furnace out of a local sidewall. Am I crazy?

P.S. Sorry about the recet flurry of threads coming from yours truly, but these are all individual topics!

 

[Eric Johnson]

You need a Class A chimney for a wood-burning appliance. That usually includes stainless (some, but not all stainless chimneys and liners) and clay tile liner. Your chimney may or may not qualify. Anything larger than 8 inches sounds a little suspect for a wood burner, but you can always poke a liner down through it. And yes, you can powervent the oil burner.

 

[begreen]

PH, is your current heating system forced warm air? Is it zoned? If not, you might end up with very chilly rooms in bldg 2, given the layout. If bldg 2 has it's own thermostat, then it should work.

 

[thephotohound]

BG -

It's oil fired baseboard hot water. Yes, bldg 3 has it's own zone.

I'm really thinking about this option to use the existing furnace chimney for a wood stove and powerventing the furnace. I just got a quote to powervent the furnace - $1000 installed. No idea if that's good or bad...

 

[Metal]

If you are talking outside diameter being 10-12 inches, then you might have an 8 inch pipe (1.5-2" of insulation) which could be Class A. Check it for labels to see what it is. If there are no labels, take a picture and post it. Pictures of the joint would help (most companies have identifiable joints).

 

[thephotohound]

Will do. Thanks.

 

[elkimmeg]

Sincve I trashed another post I think I should add something First of all all fuel pipe for oil burners is the same as class A usually

Code will allow a 6" appliance to vent in an 8" chimney The chimney has to be cleanned with the change of use plus no one want all that carbon resting in there..

I too own a common oil burner I converted to power vent installation. It can be done But I have to ask about your current heating system I just wondering what you haave now did you know gassification oil burners can achieve mid 90% a whole 10/12 % more effecient that probably what you have now. If you have a cheap builder's steel boiler special this changes the game plan

Steel boilers last about 15 years Are you Zone set up with zone valves or indivual circulators? are all exposed hot water and heating pipe insulater to R5.0 or greater? What I asking is to look at the whole picture then make some recomendations is you hot water tankless off the bioler or from the bioler to an acqua type boost tank?..
Als if esrious might as well get edcutated in brands models and how they work especially important is clearances to combustiables and thr right wiring there power bosters have ot receive the call signal from the tstat fire off first before the boiler will fire if they do not start they do not forward the signal to fire the boiler usually done via a vac switch..
Once they fire they are on a time delay to continue exhausting aftert the boiler has cycled and shut down. Just like all appliances there are some better than others I can get recomendations from installers in the field which seem most reliable and quietestm How old is the home what is the current insulation like. There are two approaches conserving the energy produced and adding supplemental heat the third way is doing both You may PM me any info you do not want to post..

Before money is spent where can you achieve the best bang for the almighty $$$$

 

[thephotohound]

Elk -

As usual, you are a virtual shelf of DIY books... Thank you for your comments.

The furnace is a 10-15 yr old Burnham. The zoned heat is run off of individual circulators. I do not have any insulation on the pipes, but will before the snow flies. THe hot water is tankless, right off the furnace.

After thought, deliberation, and crunching quite a few numbers, I think I have come to the following conclusion: It would cost me around $2,500 to get another wood stove, pipe, hearth, and get the power vent installed on the furnace. It would then take me 3.2 years to break even as compared to hooking up the free pellet stove I already have to a much easier side-wall vent that I already have the pipe for. Bottom line is I can do the pellet stove for nothing outside of the cost of pellets. I realize that after 3.2 years, the cost would be virtually $0 to run the extra wood stove, and pellets wouold cost me every year, but it's still cheaper than oil!! Also, I don't know if I can get (or want to split) another 3 cord of wood per season!!

Like Senor Frog mentioned in another thread, somethimes you just have to bite your lip and realize that your set up is not perfect, never will be, and you just need to deal with it. I have to realize that I will not heat the entire house for free! I can do my best, though, to do as much as makes sense in my situation.

 

[begreen]

I think it's fine to come up with an interim plan. Nothing is engraved in stone. You'll learn a lot about the house during the first year. Often it's not a good idea to rush in and change infrastructure until you have a handle on the full scope of issues you wish to address. Who knows, you may conclude that it's better to run the house on a wood/oil combi-furnace?
The one thing that will pay back right away is doing an energy audit on the house, then addressing the issues that come up in the audit. For example, they may say don't insulate the pipes as they are helping raise the ambient temperature of the basement space. If heat is 'lost' in the living space, it's not really a loss. If the pipes are going through an unheated crawlspace, then insulate them for sure. Sealing cracks, beefing up insulation, fixing window leaks will start paying back right away.