Insulated the liner today

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

NextEndeavor

Burning Hunk
Jan 16, 2011
248
Southern Iowa
Our chimney is masonry up the outside of the house and has done fine the past two seasons with the miserable exception of my first year supply of wet fuel. Second season much better and now this third season is going great regarding quality of fuel. The viewing glass stays pretty clean now but the creosote from about 8 weeks of shoulder season was nearly two 12 oz pop cans worth. I expected less with such dry wood. However, two cold starts/day doesn't help.
So we disconnected the liner and slid the stove out followed by pulling down the small amount of fiberglass I had jammed in the fireplace smoke chamber area a couple years ago. Then we filled the smoke chamber area way up 30 inches with Roxul supported by a newly fabricated block off plate. The next step was to get Perlite down around the liner, from the top. I'd calculated a 4.5 bag requirement of Perlite from the stove top by estimating the inside chimney cubic area minus the liner area. We were able to get 3.5 bags in. I'm guessing the math was fairly accurate until I forgot to figure the 30 inches of Roxul in the smoke chamber. We used a makeshift funnel (traffic cone) to pour the Perlite in a 2.5 inch hole we'd drilled in the top plate. That stuff actually flowed in there like water until full. We cut a cover for the top plate after that. The 1" by 1/4" inch steel straps under the top plate is there for expansion of the liner when hot. They give the flexible caulking some room to expand/contract as the top plate tries to move up/down.
So, guess we'll see if all this messing around changes anything. My chimney has always drafted just fine. I'm hoping the insulation reduces creosote buildup. I might get even better draft when the fire has reduced to the coaling states.
 

Attachments

  • 1 Full view.jpg
    1 Full view.jpg
    247.3 KB · Views: 205
  • 2 Makeshift Funnel.jpg
    2 Makeshift Funnel.jpg
    216 KB · Views: 242
  • 3 Pouring it in.jpg
    3 Pouring it in.jpg
    182.8 KB · Views: 198
  • 4 Perlite Entry Hole.jpg
    4 Perlite Entry Hole.jpg
    149.6 KB · Views: 209
  • 5 Hole Cover.jpg
    5 Hole Cover.jpg
    160.6 KB · Views: 206
The perlite once once used to insulate our liner was fine particles and found its way down through the tiniest openings around the liner. That funnel is really neat. Your project looks well planned and thought out, it's bound to improve draft even more and reduce the creo buildup. We also do frequent restarts from cold which must also cause buildup, but I think that top-down lightups help. Is the perlite poured around single-wall pipe?
 
Yes the perlite is around single wall stainless liner. The picture is misleading because I put a four foot extension of class A double wall on up through the original fireplace concrete chimney cap taking it from 12 to 16 ft above the stove top. When in fireplace mode things would cool down about 2 am, back drafting the house full of smoke during certain wind conditions. Wasn't fun hauling coals out to the snow bank so we quit using the fireplace until I learned about how great woodstove heat can be.
 
Update: too warm for 24 hr burning currently. But now have done two evening and two morning cold lightups. Happy to report the startups are quicker with strong draft catching on faster. This system has always drafted well, not puffing much smoke at all into house even on a warm day starts but its definately better now. Also when the load is all said and done I have nothing left but fine ash dust so draft is remaining strong enough at tail end of burn to finish off the coals. Next report in 30 days or so after I sweep to see if goal of less creosote gets achieved.
 
Hello again, next report out here regarding insulated liner efforts. It's been just over four weeks since my last note on this. I swept today. I will say the creosote captured down in the stove is definitely way less. However, I do still have "some" but little to report. I did notice more of it floated straight up to me at the top (glad for the breathing mask) as I ran the brush. The flakey creosote was very lightweight. The warmer, insulated flue and better draft might be part of the reason for it going up out the top more than I've experienced previously. I've burned mostly black locust cut this past January/February/March 2012. Moisture content reference is 20% and less. Wood was stacked in 12 foot rows, separated by 40 inches of air space. We had very little precipitation this past summer but another year would have made for better fuel. When first cut, this firewood was seeing over 40% so I somewhat trust the cheap MC meter. Now we have not yet hit very many days of 24 hour burning but I am feeding the stove enough wood for just a few coals in the morning. (loading any more fuel runs us out of the house so far) I've been giving it a little fuel at breakfast time but she is completely cold at 6 pm requiring a complete cold start.
So, bottom line, I'm very glad we insulated the liner. To quote a popular on line ordering website: "Would you recommend to a friend": Yes!
 
I swept the chimney yesterday. We've burned a lot of pine during this fall shoulder season already and I didn't sweep last spring after shut down. The black flaky creosote wouldn't even have filled a pop can. This small amount was from full time burning January 2013 through spring plus this fall so far. I think the good dry fuel and the well insulated liner played a major roll on the great results. I'm about done with pine till spring and just started on my large assortment of good hardwoods, all very dry. Sure don't want to repeat my first season and steep learning curve! I have nearly 4 years of fuel banked already. Let it snow ....... on weekends when I'm not at work!
 
  • Like
Reactions: lopiliberty
Nextendeavor where about are you located? I'm south of DM 20 min. Howdy neighbor
 
Status
Not open for further replies.