one chimney two stoves???

[beanbone]

Ok... I know the immediate reaction to this will be a big NO, but give me a chance to explain -

I have an interior wood stove hooked up to a through the wall, double lined chimney system. Everything is properly sized and to code.
Here's the idea -- I want to hook up another stove outside on the patio directly under the existing chimney system. During the summer, I would unhook the current tee and connection to the interior stove, and hook up the exterior stove to the chimney. I would never use both stoves at the same time.

I guess I'm wondering, permits aside, whether this causes any problems. The only thing I can think of would be introducing different draft and smoke patterns to the chimney in the summer.

Thanks for thoughts!

 

[edthedawg]

Maybe a sketch would help describe the "directly under" and "unhooking" parts better. I wonder how you plan to block off the un-used connection during the alternating seasons. ANY air leakage on either "un-used" T connections would be a VBT.

 

[beanbone]

Master of Fire -

Thanks for your response. The unused section would be fully disconnected, so the chimney would be serving only one appliance at a time. There would be no threat of air leakage. I have attached a sketch of what I want to do...

thanks for your feedback!

 

[edthedawg]

I can't see anything inherently dangerous, I suppose. I'd really have to defer to someone more experienced w/ outdoor burning regs. F'rinstance, if you have vinyl siding, I think that outdoor stove needs some kinda really good protection behind it.

and because it needs to be said, these outdoor chimneys are just a poor solution almost all the time. If it works for you and you keep it clean and problem-free, that's great. But too many of these outdoor metal chimneys become creosote factories...

 

[d.n.f.]

I don't know about down your way, but out here that is verbotten. Code does not allow two units on one chimney.

What if you go crazy one day and decided to use both. Crazy stuff!

The code is there to protect the other people that would try to use both at once even if you would never do such a thing.

Good luck, maybe it will pass.

 

[beanbone]

dnf - you're right... I might flip and try to burn both. best avoided all together. I think I'll put the other stove in my garage.

 

[dougand3]

Well, check your codes on a garage install. Many times verbotten - gasoline, acetone, etc in there. If garage is a defacto "shop" - may be a work around. Boy, we're just sucking the wind outa your sails!!

 

[BrotherBart]

I don't see a thing wrong with it.

 

[Backroads]

I'm no expert on code but the inspector may look at this scenario:

You are completely competent on how to use this set up safely...but...You get lucky, become a movie star and move to Hollywood thus selling your house.

Who's to say the people that buy the house are as competent as you...Six months later they have an accident trying to use both at the same time or fumes fill the house, ect... Who's responsible then? You? The inspector? The installer? We all know someone has to be responsible.

 

[fossil]

Looks to me like unless you got a tee for the outside, there's no way you could hook them both up at the same time. I don't really see a problem with it, either. Installing a wood burning appliance in a garage, however, might be a real problem. Dunno why you want a woodstove out on the patio, but then I don't need to know that. Switching the piping over twice a year would certainly facilitate sweeping the chimney. Rick

 

[beanbone]

fossil -

do you say sweeping because of the amount of burning, or the different patterns caused by the different setups? Just curious.

 

[fossil]

All I'm sayin' is that based on your diagrams, the flue is going to need to be disassembled to effectively sweep it, even if it only ever stays hooked up to the inside appliance...unless there really is a Tee outside, in which case that might make it really easy for somebody to fire 'em both up someday...and that would be a bad thing. Rick

 

[firefighterjake]

While I personally wouldn't have a problem with the set up idea I think Backroads is right . . . the Fire Inspector might look at it differently as it is his or her job to look at potential problems that might arise when someone not fully understanding the mechanics of a set up could end up getting hurt.

 

[firefighterjake]

. . . Dunno why you want a woodstove out on the patio, but then I don't need to know that. . . .

My brother's wife told him she wanted one of those chimineas/fire pits outside on what will be their future patio . . . right now it's just leveled gravel. He figured that would cost too much and since he had a perfectly good coal stove he dug out his old Vogelzang (OK, maybe describing this stove as "perfectly good" is over the top) and proceeded to attempt to use that in place of the chiminea/fire pit.

Of course this did not have quite the same desired effect since I believe my sister-in-law's goal was to be able to sit out on the future patio with a nearby fire that woudl be both warming on cool spring nights and relaxing to watch the dancing flames and listen to the snap and crackle of the fire . . . a problem since this Vogelzang glows red when stoked with wood (so much for the gentle relaxing heat to take off the chill on a Spring evening) and there is no "glass" so all you see is a black (or glowing red) stove belching out smoke when you're next to it.