Made Up My Decision - Still couple of questions

[mr2autoxr]

I have decided to put in a PE Summit insert into my fireplace. I talked to my local dealer today and I discovered I can still get a better price through Chimney Sweep Online so I'm pretty sure I'm going to go through Tom.

I still have a couple of questions however.
1. My dealer said he only uses flex liner the first few feet to get through the damper. I noticed on Chimney Sweep Online it is flex for the entire liner. Is this OK?

2. My chimney is in the center of my house and is 14ft from the fireplace floor to the top of the chimney. My dealer said I don't need an insulated liner. He uses a block off plate at the top. On here it seems the block off plate should be at the bottom. So do I need an insulated liner? Where should the block off plate be?

3. Clearances say you need 16in clearance in the front of the hearth. I have a 21 1/4 from the face of my chimney to the edge of my raised hearth. The PE Summit says it sticks out from the face of the fireplace 6 1/16 in. So (16+6=22inch) I'm roughly 3/4in short on clearance here, but it is raised off my hardwood floor 11 1/2 inches. See pic below. So should I be OK? Or do I need to do something different here?

Thanks for your help
Mike

 

[summit]

flex liner all the way thru is fine, and if you have an existing tile inside the chimney now, you should not have to insulate the liner unless it is a col (i.e.) outside chimney. you will be short on hearth space in the front, but this is minor,and an 18x48 pebble board will get you the rest of the way and then some.. Good choice on the stove, by the way! the block off plate is at the top of the chimney w/ the cap, but you should insulate/block off the damper opening at the bottom.

 

[iceman]

does he mean flex and then the straight rigid pipe the rest of the way up?
yes as summit said you need block off at damper and top of the chimney

 

[summit]

does he mean flex and then the straight rigid pipe the rest of the way up?
yes as summit said you need block off at damper and top of the chimney

flex or ridgid up all the way thru should give you the same results, the flex is easier to install all the way down as it is one continuous coil, rather than piecing rigid sections together on the rooftop.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

my personal preference is to use as little flex as possible, easier to get ridgid clean, and its cheaper!

 

[mr2autoxr]

Summit -

Can you explain what the pebble board is? Never heard of it. Would it just lay on top of the wood floor? or on the brick hearth? Kind of like one of these? http://www.fireplaceessentials.com/c116/Black-Stove-Board-and-Hearth-Extenders-p31.html


I do have the clay liner all the way up the chimney and it is an internal chimney so I'll probably not go with an insulated liner. I will do two block off plates though as you all have mentioned.

 

[iceman]

my personal preference is to use as little flex as possible, easier to get ridgid clean, and its cheaper!

and rigid offers less resistance but personal pref..

 

[begreen]

mr.. good choice of stoves. It will keep you nice and warm. If you go with Chimneysweeponline, Tom and crew are first rate to deal with.

Is this an interior or exterior wall chimney? Is the chimney tile-lined? If this is an interior chimney with a solid, inspected tile liner, insulation may not be needed, nor the damper block-off plate. If this is an exterior flue, then I'd do both if possible. Heating outdoors (via the transfer of heat from the flue) is not efficient. Regarding the block-off plate, every installation I think has a top plate, seems like the installation would be kind of leaky without one.

If the flue is nice and large and a straight shot up, consider going with a rigid liner. It is heavier gauge, easier to clean and will last a long time. The rigid liner can be transitioned to flex at the damper if necessary.

Regardless of choice, a couple important things to have done first are:
1) get the chimney cleaned by a certified pro and
2) get a report on the size of the tiles (assuming tile-lined) and their condition.

 

[summit]

Summit -

Can you explain what the pebble board is? Never heard of it. Would it just lay on top of the wood floor? or on the brick hearth? Kind of like one of these? http://www.fireplaceessentials.com/c116/Black-Stove-Board-and-Hearth-Extenders-p31.html


I do have the clay liner all the way up the chimney and it is an internal chimney so I'll probably not go with an insulated liner. I will do two block off plates though as you all have mentioned.

yes, like one of those: just lay it over the wood floor for the winter, then store it somewhere else in the summer when you are not using it. they call it a pebble boadr in my neck of the woods because of the "pebbling" or texture that is applied to them.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

depending on your local inspector, pads of that kind( which are ul or otherwise listed, btw) should be attatched in such a way that they cant be kicked or moved out of the way..... gaps need to be sealed so sparks cant fall thru to flooring

but not every inspector is so anal...i have seen county inspectors who thought non combustible throw rugs were code/ ok for hearth extention!

 

[jtp10181]

All I can say to the original post... is that dealer has a lot to learn.

As for other comments about not insulating the chimney....

Can you guarantee that your masonry chimney structure has a 2" air gap all the way around it top to bottom? No combustibles touching the masonry structure anywhere? Can you also guarantee that the clay tiles have the required 1" air gap around them all the way up the chimney?

If you can't guarantee that, you need an insulation wrap on your liner, otherwise you will be at risk of the house starting on fire if you have a chimney fire.

More info in this post: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/39164/

 

[mr2autoxr]

Thanks for that link, I came across that post yesterday.

The chimney is an interior chimney and was cleaned and inspected and said it looked in good shape. I don't know for sure if that means no cracks in the tile liner now.

I will most likely go insulated just to do it right. I'll have a top and bottom block off plate too. Now I just need to get a hold of our township and see if I need to get it inspected.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[stejus]

Here's a few pics to show you what a flex liner looks like and how it's installed. I too had to extend the hearth to meet the 18" out from the stove door. I purchased a stone called brownstone (2" thick solid rock) that is laser cut and rough cut, your option. I looks a lot better and it can be placed on the wood floor with a wool rug under it because of the raised hearth. It's just there for ember protection and removed when the stove is not in use. This year I am looking for a rectangle rug to put under the rock. You can get a matching mantle as well.

Good luck.

 

[summit]

Here's a few pics to show you what a flex liner looks like and how it's installed. I too had to extend the hearth to meet the 18" out from the stove door. I purchased a stone called brownstone (2" thick solid rock) that is laser cut and rough cut, your option. I looks a lot better and it can be placed on the wood floor with a wool rug under it because of the raised hearth. It's just there for ember protection and removed when the stove is not in use. This year I am looking for a rectangle rug to put under the rock. You can get a matching mantle as well.

Good luck.

thats the advanrage w/ flex... just dump it down, no rooftop assembly required.

 

[stejus]

[/quote]


thats the advanrage w/ flex... just dump it down, no rooftop assembly required.[/quote]

Well, there was a little something to assemble…

 

[karl]

I have the Summit insert with a flex liner the whole way up the chimney and a bottom and top block off plate. 14 feet is too short per the Summit install manual. They want 15 feet. Mines right around the minimum. I think I fished 16 feet of flex liner down the chimney. Factor in the bend for the damper and smoke shelf and I probably have 15. My liner is not insulated.

I would consider insulating the liner since you are below specifications. Mine drafts fine in cold weather, but I occaisonally get a little bit of back puffing when reloading when the temperature is in the high forties or wamer. Also, I can't close my air control all the way. I have to leave it open about an inch. This isn't a problem for me and it seems alot of people with Summits leave it open a little bit.

You're in MI and I'm in WV, so you see colder weather, and colder weather drafts better, but I would still give some thought to insulating it. If you get a load of semi wet wood or if it's a bit warm out, you may get back puffing with the short chimney. I would also consider put kaowool above your block off plate and around the back of the fireplace behind the insert. I haven't done this yet, but I will be this year. Even with the block off plate, I loose alot of heat up the chimney. You can look at the roof and see where the snow melts off around the chimney and not on the rest of the roof.

Other than that. You're going to love this stove. It's easy to use, puts out tons of heat, and burns a long, long, time on a load of wood.

 

[mr2autoxr]

Great pictures everyone! They help a lot.

I am going to insulate and I never saw that the liner had to be a certain length. I got the 14ft just throwing a tape down the liner, not taking account for the slight bends I do have in there so I think that will get me to 15ft. If needed I'm sure I could extend a foot above the chimney with a solid piece. Seems like I've seen pictures of that before.

Can't wait to order and get this stove. I'm hoping in the next couple weeks to place the order.