Pellet Stove Install question??

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teamorange

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Oct 8, 2008
53
RHODE ISLAND
So I bought the englander stove from HD, the smaller one and the chimney kit. This is going to be installed in an unfinished basement. Foundation is about 6 feet. So I am going to go up in the basement and then I want to go out right above the foundation and below the floor/ceiling. There is like a 10 inch wood gap from the top of the foundation to where the floor/ceiling begins. My question would be, outside the house the wall thimble will not be a problem, inside the space for the thimble is too small. Can I trim some of the thimble? It would not be that much, but didn't know if this would be ok or not. I am also going to put a piece of heat shield on the exposed floor/ceiling. Hope this all makes sense. What do you think?
 
as long as what you trim is the square trim plate, you will be fine. The actual thimble (the round parts) are the critical componant - don't trim them!

read more about it here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/24677/
 
forgot to mention, you need to be sure the pellet pipe is at least 3" away from the wood of the walls, joists, or subfloor
 
Ok great, just what I wanted to hear. If there are only 2 inches from the top of the 3" pipe to the floor joyce am I able to do this and install the heat shield above to make code? Or would this not pass? There could be 3" but I have not checked that piece yet and I am not home to look now.
 
The stove manual states the pipe has to be 3" away from combustibles. The pipe manual says 1". You usually have to go with the more strict of the regulations. If you can find and exception in the code that allows the clearances to be reduced with approved heat sheilds, I see no problem with it. I would run it all by the building inspector, they have the final say anyhow.
 
The stove in your basement isn't going to do much for heating the rest of your home, so if that what you're going for you may want to reconsider its location.
 
All I am looking to obtain from this stove is to heat the unfinished basement and the floor above which shouldn't be a problem. I have 6 vents that I am going to install to allow the hot air to pass through. The house is a cape, I am not worried about the 2 bedrooms on the top floor.
 
It should heat the basement fairly well, but as you'll see if you do a search on this site that's usually all that gets heated. I'm not trying to rain on your parade here, but would like to save you from some aggrevation.
 
teamorange said:
All I am looking to obtain from this stove is to heat the unfinished basement and the floor above which shouldn't be a problem. I have 6 vents that I am going to install to allow the hot air to pass through. The house is a cape, I am not worried about the 2 bedrooms on the top floor.

If you're going to just cut holes in the floor to put these "6 vents" into, you MAY have a problem with your code enforcement occifer. My $0.02 HK
 
Hmm ok, thanks for the advice from everyone. So basement is not a good idea huh, hmmmm. So if find some room in the living room, this would heat the whole first floor or a good part it and much better then in the basement?
 
teamorange said:
Hmm ok, thanks for the advice from everyone. So basement is not a good idea huh, hmmmm. So if find some room in the living room, this would heat the whole first floor or a good part it and much better then in the basement?

yes place the stove where you spend most of your time and depending on btu it should do fine heating most of the area. You never want to just cut holes in the floor for heat if you ever have a fire then it will run right up through the holes and get real messy real quick
 
If you can put the stove on the first floor that's the way to go, but you may find it too loud and warm when watching tv. I have a cape as well and the stove is in the kitchen which is about 20' from the living room. This keeps my living room at, a too warm for me but good for the wife, temp between 70-73.
 
I think we have the same stove - I installed it last year in an unfinished basement approx 25x25 and it went through 1 bag/24 hours on lowest setting and kept the basement around 50 on coldest days.
If setting on 7 or so it would get to high 60's but chew through 40# bags.
So....yes install in basement is only if you want the basement heated.
My basement had a 4x12 opening for stairs going to 1st floor and it really didnt do anything up there for heat.
 
I have an installer coming today to look at everything. I think I am looking at 3 options now. One would be in the basement. Two would be in the living room (which is small) but could manage it with switching around some furniture. Three would be in the kitchen, there is actually a good spot for it. Kitchen would be the easiest install as well, straight out the back of the house. The stove is about 20 feet or so from the opening of the living room, point directly at it. So I would think the stove would heat the kitchen, the living room and then with a fan I should be able to blow some of that warm air down towards the 2 bedrooms. And now how much of the hot air would creep up to the second floor master?
 
Hey Rap, do you happen to have a picture or two of where you stove is positioned? Just curious if it will be somewhat what I am thinking about doing...
 
teamorange said:
Hey Rap, do you happen to have a picture or two of where you stove is positioned? Just curious if it will be somewhat what I am thinking about doing...

I don't have any pics at the moment, but could get some tonight. My cape has been modified so the first floor is open. The kitchen opens up to the dining area which leads to the living room. I've found this setup to be great for heat and watching tv.

What part of RI?
 
I am in Warwick. Yeah I wish I could open up the kitchen and the living room but because the chimney from the boiler is in the middle of the house, it would be a lot of work and not worth it for me. Luckily if i put the pellet stove in the kitchen it points into the living room.... I will get some pics in a little while.
 
Ok, so I took some pictures of the install space. I am finally updating the kitchen as well, so I will be removing the wonderful paneling :) But as you can see the stove will go right under the window. Fits perfect in that area. Now my question is this, the pipe is going to come out the back of the stove and go directly through the wall to the back of the house. When it comes out the back of the house it will be about 4.5 feet off the ground. Can I just install the cap right there and I would be good to go or do I have to come up a little bit then cap? From this link:

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/P/AE_pellet_stove_installation.html

It seems like Figure 2 is what I want to do...

Any thoughts?
 

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You're pretty close then, I'm in WW. I had the contractor that was selling my house open it up before I bought it in 2000. The chimney is like yours, dead center of the house.

You can run the pipe horizontally, but you'll need to screw the window shut so it's no longer a functioning window. This is to meet code and for safety purposes. Make sure the pipe has a slight rise in it for some draft effect. Many other folks on this forum have run their pipe horizontally without any issues.
 
Ahhh ok cool. That window doesn't really serve a purpose anyways. I usually have some plants in there and only the top portion cranks open about an inch or so. Gotta love the dead center chimney!!! If I were to open the house up now it would be some big bucks because of the flooring as well. Hardwoods throughout except for tile in the kitchen, so everything would need to be ripped up and the flooring fixed or replaced. Would be nice, but not in this house by me at least, haha...

Well hopefully this time next week the stove will be installed. Will be going to HP to pick out the flooring for the stove. Not sure what I want to go with, probably something to match the granite countertop that is going in the kitchen... From what I read it only need to be a 3 x 3 foot section for my stove, not bad at all...

I will also post some pics of the install process so maybe it will help someone out in the future.
 
Seeing as how we're so close, if you run into any issues let me know and hopefully I can help you out.

P.S. If you can, light the stove outside for its first burn. There will be lots of smoke as the oils burn off and the paint cures.
 
Hey rap, i started another question about installing straight out but figured I would ask you. The chimney kit I bought says something about the pipe having to be at least 4 feet below the window. Do you know if that means a functioning window or not? Because you mentioned screwing the window shut to pass code. Just wanted to check on that. I am waiting to hear back from the inspector, left a message with him today...
 
I'm not sure if that will in fact pass code, it truly depends on the inspector's mood that day. If the window is sealed and can't be opened then is it still a window? You may want to wait to hear back from your inspector before cutting a hole in your house that you can't use.

If he says no , then you could always go with the 4" vent, come out below the window and use a 90 to direct it away from the window and then use straight pipes to get your 48" away. This won't look pretty, but it'll pass code.
 
re: pellet stove install near window ... code is 18" from operating window when you have a fresh air kit (this is easy to install within the thimble or get a thimble with fresh air inlet already installed. I have 3 pellet stoves now - one in fireplace (harmon) one in a sun-room (harmon) and am in process of installing one in basement - ( had to remove old large window from concrete and install a glass block wall) this is a Lenox/Whitfield Montage. I have floor vents in all bedrooms and a large floor vent in living room. The old owner heated with wood years ago ( 1500sf up and 1000 sf down of finished living space).
There have been posts I read about not trying to heat upstairs and the inefficiency of doing so. I think I will be content with my set up due to the floor vents. I had wood stoves and coal stoves but so far these have been big addition to saving money(except intial investment) and quality of life. Easy to clean for most guys/girls with some common sense and an independent mindset.

Installing near window will be easy but what was that next to the area of the stove? fridge?? hmmm not sure if I would be so close to that. Try and insert ?? with small fans to move the air ( we have one small one mounted to push it towards the back of home.
 
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