First off, I love this forum and have spent many an enjoyable hour reading your posts. That said, I will apologize in advance because, despite my best efforts to search for previous threads that respond to some of these questions, I am sure I have managed to overlook some very helpful threads.... Thank you for your patience! And, I am posting this on behalf of my husband - I'm guessing my understanding is at about 70% of his, so if I say something incredibly stupid, please just give us the benefit of the doubt and assume that my husband wouldn't have been quite so dense!
We have a 1,200 sq ft two story farmhouse into which we will be installing an old Timberline. We are in the process of entirely renovating the house and have some leeway as to installation... My husband is a contractor trained as a mason, welder, electrician, plumber etc etc, making us lucky (or at least me lucky!) when it comes to getting things done cheaply. We have a couple of very helpful old books on wood stove heating from the 70s, he grew up with a wood stove in PA, and we are fairly sensible and conscious of safety. Even with no functioning fireplace at the moment we have two fire extinguishers and about 8 smoke detectors, plus a couple of CO detectors. I say all this so that you are aware that the more basic safety lectures can be bypassed. Some questions follow the list of info below.
Things we have already looked into -
1. Our insurance has no issue with wood stoves - I have called three times and asked three different people, so at this point I feel comfortable assuming that installing such an old monster isn't going to void our home insurance
2. We live in an fairly rural area overrun with old wood stoves, so I am not worried about complaints about the smoke etc
3. I have a copy of NFPA 211 that I will review more carefully when I find some time, but I have looked over it briefly.
Stove Specs:
Approx 3.0 cubic feet. Yes, we know this is overkill in a small house, but we will be adding an addition and our insulation is currently crap (though it will be getting better soon). If it is just too much we'll swap out for a small Nashua sitting in our barn.
8" Flue
Front loading (not sure if there are any other types of Timberlines?)
Installation Ideas at this point:
1" air circulation between walls and stove surround achieved with metal studs (he called them some other name which I can't remember but I am assuming they are fairly similar to studs) and cement board
Brick lining all around the stove, including as a hearth
Minimum of 18" clearance to bricks - I am aware of the 36" recommendation for older monster stoves, but I am assuming from other reading and posts on this site that the air circulation and brick hearth will mean that 18" is sufficient.
Chimney Specs:
We will be building a new chimney from scratch and here is where we are running into some interesting decisions.
The chimney will be a straight shot from stove to roof, approx 25' top to bottom, entirely interior and not near an outside wall
He is planning on using chimney block, 16"x16" exterior dimensions, 8"x8" interior square
Lining - round terra cotta flue tiles (not sure of the name)
Because there will be no bends and the stove is hot, we are thinking a damper will be necessary (forgive me if that is not quite the correct spelling of the word, but perhaps you can take my meaning).
The reason we are thinking of taking this route is basically cost - we can install the chimney for approx $500... Good chimney pipe is incredibly expensive, and refitting our existing chimneys will be a lot of work and almost as much money.
Questions:
1. I have seen many posts of whether to install flex or rigid pipe lining in chimneys on this forum, and my take away is that if your chimney is built well enough and of appropriate size, this is not necessary. Is this a safe assumption? We know liners add an added measure of safety and insulation, but are willing to forgo these benefits given the cost provided our current plan isn't a death trap.
2. Is there any reason you would advise not to build a chimney as described above? If so, what would you suggest in its place that isn't massively expensive? (A broad question, I know)
3. If we do the above chimney design, do we need to insulate the spaces between the round chimney tiles and the square block (this is my question, my husband might know the answer already, so one of those cases of assuming that he is smarter than me!)
4. Is there a significant advantage to setting the chimney 1" off the nearest wall so that all four sides are exposed - I know this is supposedly preferable, but just how much so?
5. Lastly, any good threads on tips and tricks for using old Timberlines as efficiently as possible?? I have looked and have seen a few videos on this site on stoves that aren't quite the same...
Thanks for reading this massive post and for any help!
We have a 1,200 sq ft two story farmhouse into which we will be installing an old Timberline. We are in the process of entirely renovating the house and have some leeway as to installation... My husband is a contractor trained as a mason, welder, electrician, plumber etc etc, making us lucky (or at least me lucky!) when it comes to getting things done cheaply. We have a couple of very helpful old books on wood stove heating from the 70s, he grew up with a wood stove in PA, and we are fairly sensible and conscious of safety. Even with no functioning fireplace at the moment we have two fire extinguishers and about 8 smoke detectors, plus a couple of CO detectors. I say all this so that you are aware that the more basic safety lectures can be bypassed. Some questions follow the list of info below.
Things we have already looked into -
1. Our insurance has no issue with wood stoves - I have called three times and asked three different people, so at this point I feel comfortable assuming that installing such an old monster isn't going to void our home insurance
2. We live in an fairly rural area overrun with old wood stoves, so I am not worried about complaints about the smoke etc
3. I have a copy of NFPA 211 that I will review more carefully when I find some time, but I have looked over it briefly.
Stove Specs:
Approx 3.0 cubic feet. Yes, we know this is overkill in a small house, but we will be adding an addition and our insulation is currently crap (though it will be getting better soon). If it is just too much we'll swap out for a small Nashua sitting in our barn.
8" Flue
Front loading (not sure if there are any other types of Timberlines?)
Installation Ideas at this point:
1" air circulation between walls and stove surround achieved with metal studs (he called them some other name which I can't remember but I am assuming they are fairly similar to studs) and cement board
Brick lining all around the stove, including as a hearth
Minimum of 18" clearance to bricks - I am aware of the 36" recommendation for older monster stoves, but I am assuming from other reading and posts on this site that the air circulation and brick hearth will mean that 18" is sufficient.
Chimney Specs:
We will be building a new chimney from scratch and here is where we are running into some interesting decisions.
The chimney will be a straight shot from stove to roof, approx 25' top to bottom, entirely interior and not near an outside wall
He is planning on using chimney block, 16"x16" exterior dimensions, 8"x8" interior square
Lining - round terra cotta flue tiles (not sure of the name)
Because there will be no bends and the stove is hot, we are thinking a damper will be necessary (forgive me if that is not quite the correct spelling of the word, but perhaps you can take my meaning).
The reason we are thinking of taking this route is basically cost - we can install the chimney for approx $500... Good chimney pipe is incredibly expensive, and refitting our existing chimneys will be a lot of work and almost as much money.
Questions:
1. I have seen many posts of whether to install flex or rigid pipe lining in chimneys on this forum, and my take away is that if your chimney is built well enough and of appropriate size, this is not necessary. Is this a safe assumption? We know liners add an added measure of safety and insulation, but are willing to forgo these benefits given the cost provided our current plan isn't a death trap.
2. Is there any reason you would advise not to build a chimney as described above? If so, what would you suggest in its place that isn't massively expensive? (A broad question, I know)
3. If we do the above chimney design, do we need to insulate the spaces between the round chimney tiles and the square block (this is my question, my husband might know the answer already, so one of those cases of assuming that he is smarter than me!)
4. Is there a significant advantage to setting the chimney 1" off the nearest wall so that all four sides are exposed - I know this is supposedly preferable, but just how much so?
5. Lastly, any good threads on tips and tricks for using old Timberlines as efficiently as possible?? I have looked and have seen a few videos on this site on stoves that aren't quite the same...
Thanks for reading this massive post and for any help!
