Installing new stove in old house...

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windsong

New Member
Nov 7, 2022
2
Western Nebraska
Hello!
I moved into my grandparents' house in northwest Nebraska (you can see both Wyoming and South Dakota from a hill) a couple years ago and finally got around to replacing the flooring in an addition, and decided to pull out the 1974-ish Earth stove in the process. The old Earth stove was vented with 8" pipe straight through the ceiling, attic and roof.
I'm replacing the stove with a Master Forge WS110: https://pdf.lowes.com/productdocuments/e8112e76-7d98-4912-be79-39dc907f9a47/60397709.pdf
I know there are better options, but the budget dictates economy.
When I pulled out the Earth stove, which had single-wall stovepipe with a 12" rear wall clearance, I discovered that there was no real heat shield (just Z-Brick over sheetrock, nailed to the studs) and the paper backing on the insulation was charred, and the studs were pretty dark. The floor under the stove was fine--they built a Z-Brick platform. When I pulled out the stove, the stovepipe crumbled.
So...
The new stove should be here on Friday. I'm looking at replacing the stove pipe and the chimney. I'm hoping to be able to find someone local who has done this before who can help me out, but I probably need to gather up all the components from a store an hour and a half away.
Here are my questions:
1. What do you recommend for stovepipe? It already has an 8-inch thimble (not sure that's the right word) through the ceiling and attic, which seems to be solid, still. Would it be better to try to downsize everything, or to put in a reducer at the stove, or at the ceiling? The stove needs a 6-inch pipe.
2. What do you suggest for the chimney? The chimney on top blew over today in our 70 mph winds, but all the joints were getting pretty ragged anyway. 50 years will do that to about anything. The chimney is located on the lowest roof of a multi-level roofline. I'll try to post some photos.
3. I'd like to use old corrugated tin behind the stove. Is that acceptable? It should still have a 12-inch clearance. Do I still need to build in the 1-inch gap if I use the tin and have enough clearance?
4. Anything else I need to know about and am not thinking of?
Thanks for any help you can offer! I've read a lot on here and am always amazed at the amount of expertise (and number of opinions) you all are willing to share.

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Sounds and looks like you have a bit of a mess to fix inside and out.

Do you think this will be the final location for the stove? I ask because it's generally recommended to avoid single-story flues with a 2 story house attached. They often perform poorly. The 8" pipe will make this worse. This would have been less of an issue with the old Earth stove but the new stove is going to want decent draft and dry wood. I suspect that the new stove might be somewhat balky with this setup due to a short flue system. It requires at least 15' of flue.

The chimney outside looks bad. The joint just above the roof looks compromised. Depending on what is damaged all the chimney pipe may need to be replaced. 8" pipe is more expensive and will slow down the draft so at this point I would probably replace everything and also think about where I really want the heat. This is where the stove should go.
 
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Sounds and looks like you have a bit of a mess to fix inside and out.

Do you think this will be the final location for the stove? I ask because it's generally recommended to avoid single-story flues with a 2 story house attached. They often perform poorly. The 8" pipe will make this worse. This would have been less of an issue with the old Earth stove but the new stove is going to want decent draft and dry wood. I suspect that the new stove might be somewhat balky with this setup due to a short flue system. It requires at least 15' of flue.

The chimney outside looks bad. The joint just above the roof looks compromised. Depending on what is damaged all the chimney pipe may need to be replaced. 8" pipe is more expensive and will slow down the draft so at this point I would probably replace everything and also think about where I really want the heat. This is where the stove should go.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Yes, this is where I want the stove--we spend most of our time in this addition, and it doesn't have any ductwork for the fuel oil furnace, so the only heat is from the wood stove. I'm planning to replace the chimney as well--you're suggesting to switch everything over to 6" pipe, top to bottom? I could probably get 15 feet of flue, I think. Is there something (other than the miserable wind) limiting how tall the chimney should be in this case? I have an Amish neighbor who is stopping by today to take a look and figure out what kind of setup we should go with, so I'll definitely make sure your concerns are part of the conversation.
Thanks again for your help!
 
Just in case Amish neighbor arrives before begreen:

1. Yes, if appliance has 6" connector, and unless manual states otherwise, 6" top to bottom would be ideal.

2. Issue with chimney height has to do with the neighboring part of the house being taller than chimney. Can you have a tall exposed stack? Yes, but it will require bracing.
 
Yes, I would replace everything and go with 6" stove and chimney pipes. Given the shorter chimney, I would recommend getting a stove that breathes easily and is rated for a 12' chimney.

Hopefully, this neighbor is well versed in options. If the neighbor's experience is limited to burning in a coal/wood stove from DS, his or her experience will probably be different from a modern EPA stove. And if their house is of a different construction, then comparing experiences may not be that helpful.

A lack of bracing may be what caused the damage to the chimney. The extension on it shows me that draft probably was an issue, even with a very easy-breathing old stove. This may be due to the prevailing winter winds creating a positive pressure zone over the single-story roof area as illustrated in the Wood Heat article provided.
 
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