My chimney is only 11.5' tall. Too short?

[Newbie18]

Hello,

I am new to the site and am gaining interest on the subject since i just purchased my first wood stove insert yesterday. I have been reading and I am going to reline my chimney with a flexible smooth-wall 316 liner and .5" insulation wrap. In some of the forums and even the directions for the insert (Vogelzang TR004) they say you need a chimney height of 15'. My chimney is only 11.5 ft tall. Most installs on youtube cut of the liner at the cap. Will this work for me or do I need to extend it somehow? If so how would i do that?

Thank you

 

[claydogg84]

Your draft will surely suffer at that height. The minimum recommended for the stove should be followed.

 

[Woody Stover]

You can add a 3' section of pipe, but anything over 5' must be supported.

 

[Newbie18]

How would i go about adding height? Can i somehow add rigid liner to my flex liner? Or is there a way too make the flex line stay up the entire 15'? Perhaps sleeving it in slightly larger pipe?

 

[glennm]

I'm not sure what other people have done but I have a bungalow with a low pitch roof and I clean my chimney with a 10' rod. I get right to the top of the stove and have had no problems. Been burning wood here for 30 years in this house, never had a problem

 

[toddnic]

The minimum for my stove is just over 14'. You should definitely adhere to the instructions in your Owners Manual. It will have a significant affect on your draft.

 

[saskwoodburner]

I live in a mobile home, and my total pipe/chimney height is quite short (around 10 feet?) and it works pretty good now that I have good wood, and the understanding of how an epa stove works. Don't think I'm trying to talk you into having a short stack, cause if 10 feet of pipe works good, 15 feet can only be better.

You'll definitely notice a shorter stack when the weather is mild, the stove will be pokey to come up to temp and it'll take longer to get marginal wood going with a poor draft. You may also end up with smoke leaving the stove with the door open if you have a poor draft.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

More is better. I grew up with chimneys as tall as 40 feet, and they worked great. Now that I am using a 10 foot chimney in an old farmhouse, there is a lot to be desired. My first chimney went from the basement to the peak of the roof in a 2 1/2 or 3 story house. The second was the same. The third was 32 feet and performed flawlessly. That one had a big barrel stove on it. Our current house (farmhouse) has a central chimney, but no place to put a big cook stove, so we are using a short chimney on the single story end of the house. The draft is weak, but it does work. Some smoke rolls out the door and strong wind from certain directions will reduce the draft. not the best chimney, but it is working until we get things changed around here.

Make that chimney as tall as you can.

 

[begreen]

I think the correct way is to either build the chimney taller with masonry or anchor a transition plate to the chimney top and continue on with class A pipe. There's also a product called Extendaflue that might work to add 2-3 ft here. Not sure if that will be enough. The other option is to put in a stove that has larger and less complex secondary passages for easier passage of secondary air and therefore require less chimney height.