Pelpro PP70 Venting at 8000 ft Altitude

[Arbo.Doughty]

Hi All, I have a new Pelpro PP70 that we purchased for a remodel in the foothills of Colorado at 8000 ft. It's a corner installation on the main floor of 1300 sf upstairs area (fairly open design) and was going to vent it straight up (no horizontal except for clean out "t") and will be inside using the code-required 4-inch PelletVent Pro venting & installing the required fire prevention vent accessories for the ceiling /attic (e,g. shield through roof). It's a 5/12 roof.. There's also a ceiling joist about 12 inches (standard 8 ft ceiling height) from the corner so it's kind of tight and may require a couple 45-degree elbows to make it all fit. Again, installing a clean out "t" on the back of the stove. However, I'm kind of stumped as to the exact height I need. The Pelpro manual says a minimum of 11 ft vertical with three 90 degree elbows (counted each 45 elbow and "t" clean out as 90s with minimum of a 1 ft equivalent to straight pipe for the 45s, and 3 ft for the 't' ) and that's with up to 2 ft horizontal (there's no horizontal, just vertical),. Also following the 10/2 rule. However, on a Canadian site, I was shocked when I saw that an additional 2 ft of vertical run was need for each 1000 ft increase in altitude. That would make the stack ridiculously high...like three stories high! Any thoughts from you other members with high altitude experience? Thanks in advance.

 

[johneh]

Any possibility of getting a link to the Canadian site?
I would love to see where they say 2 ft. of pipe for every 1000ft of altitude

 

[Arbo.Doughty]

Any possibility of getting a link to the Canadian site?
I would love to see where they say 2 ft. of pipe for every 1000ft of altitude

Here's the link. Unless I'm not understanding something in entering values, I get a value of 28.5 ft vertical. Yikes...

https://noutilitybills.com/chimney/Calculators/PVentCalc.html

 

[ARC]

Here's the link

You do understand that that calculator is not telling you how much length of venting you need? It is telling you what your elbows, T's vertical, horizontal runs and altitude are equivalent to for the purpose of telling you to install 4 inch venting not 3 inch venting. Do a search on this site for altitude there are a number of threads. Most suggest contacting manufacture of stove for high altitude installation. Second most suggestion is 4 inch vent with at least 5 foot of vertical pipe. The problems with altitude installation is moving enough air/oxygen through the burn pot a few stoves have different exhaust blades that pull more air through system. It is my understanding that the longer your venting the harder it will be for your stove to pull enough air through the burn pot. I have never installed a pellet stove above 3000 ft so have no practical knowledge .

 

[Arbo.Doughty]

Thanks. Yes. I did realize that about the calculator after rereading and recalculating. I just heard from Pelpro today and the message from one of their tech supervisors was, “honestly, this may not be the best stove for you at your altitude” for the exact reason you mentioned…it’s harder to move air. Four-inch pipe is a no brainer because nowhere in my county is it below 5 000 ft elevation. I obviously should not have taken the salesperson’s word for it that this was a workable pellet stove for altitude installation. My own fault for not doing more due diligence & being persuaded by the deal I got in addition to the 30% tax write-off. Even with observing the 10/2 rule, my stack would be 13 ft. We had an old Jotul that was a wood burner with a catalytic installed years ago that had a 14 ft stack. Worked like a dream…but decided to take it out when renters twice over-fired and killed the catalytic, once almost burning the place down. At least I sold it 8 years in for what paid for it. I’ll have to find those altitude threads and also call the retailer’s manager & wrangle them to return & refund for the Pelpro. Thanks again.