Quadrafire 7100fp - Chimney Location

[Gazerbeam]

I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on a Quadrafire 7100fp, but have some concerns about my chimney location. The home originally had a gas fireplace which is vented out the back of the existing chase at about eye level. There is currently no hole at the top of the chase, just a cover made of what appears to be concrete. That said, I'll of course need to run the chimney pipe up the inside of the chase. I'm planning on using the optional 8" Simpson DuraPlus chimney pipe instead of the SL-300 pipe.

Anyway, one concern I have is the chimney location relative to the typical windward direction and roof of my house. Where I live, the weather and wind guts usually blow from the west. My exterior chase is located on the west side of my house. Figure 7.1 from the installation manual suggest that this is not an ideal location. I've attached a photo of my house and the existing chase. My question is, base on your experience, is this a disaster waiting to happen if I install the fireplace here. What sort of issues could I potentially have, if any?

The other question I have is regarding the chimney termination and what the installation manual refers to as the 2-10-3 rule. I think I'm ok here. I used a laser distance finder and laid it on top of the chase and projected a horizontal beam over to the roof and took the two measurements shown in the photo. I guess, based on the figure 26.1 of the installation manual is that chimney needs to terminate 2 feet above the chase top? Is that your understanding of the 2-10-3 rule base on the photo I've attached?

If this chase location will result in nothing but problems and an unpleasant fireplace experience, I will likely decide not to invest the money into it.

Looking forward to hearing any advise that you guys have.

Thanks,
Brad

 

[Gazerbeam]

Any thoughts on running a chimney up this chase for a Quad 7100? Are the modern EPA certified fireplaces really not a sensitive to chimney location as the more traditional fireplaces were? I probably shouldn't worry too much about and just go for it.

Thanks

 

[madison]

brad,

your total height as indicated by the picture , of <= 15' may be marginal, the mfg 13' min. to me seems way short and could cause some headaches with draft. Tall, straight and interior are the goals for good draft. A friend of mine who's place i stay at when fishing out west has a large quad with a shorter stack, it works fine once it is hot, but if you are not going to burn 24/7 it (the short stack) may lead to headaches. I would fathom a guess that you could extend the stack above the top of the brick chase, but that could look a little cheesy in such a nice looking brick home.

Code issues are another issue, and you will have to check with your local building inspector, if the brick chase is hollow, I would assume you could run the stack inside the brick chase.

Nice pics and drawings, an inside picture of the existing gas setup may also draw some more advice , ie, you need to do some major hearth reconstruction etc.

Also, add your location, as that may also help with some advice.

 

[Fsappo]

EPA appliances can be just as sensitive to draft/wind as the older style wood burners. I cant tell from the photo if your existing chimney meets the 2' 10' rule. You could always add a little class A if you ended up with wind issues. The only problem is your home/chimney chase is beautiful and you wouldnt want a pipe sticking up more than a foot or so out of the top of that chase. Considering there are good looking ways to enclose the Class A pipe coming out of the chase, I would just go for it. Your spending money on a high end appliance (7100) your spending money to use the better piping..if you need to spend a little more to modify the chimney, what the hell. You get the fireplace where you want it.

By the way, I have sold dozens of the 7100s in the past on Long Island and always made happy customers with them. I also burned a 7100 in our showroom maybe once a week and loved it. That fireplace is a big beautiful beast.

 

[Gazerbeam]

Hi guys!!. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I live in central Illinois - near Peoria. It can get pretty cold in the winter around here and we usually get a cold snap in January or February where the high only gets to about 8F for a week or two.

As far as how much I plan on burning,...for now, I plan to burn primarily on the weekends and in the evenings when I get home from work and then let it go all night. That said, I would eventually like to go 24/7, but I'll need to get comfortable with the idea of leaving the fireplace unattended while no one is in the house.

I've made my mind up to use the optional DuraPlus Class-A chimney pipe vs the air cooled SL-300 pipe that is standard. Hopefully that will be in the direction of improving the situation. I'm also planing to insulate and sheetrock the interior of the chase. Right now, there are exposed 2x4s with fiberglass insulation between them and no sheetrock or drywall.

If I understand it correctly, I think the chimney pipe will need to extend above the top of the chase by 2' in order to conform with the 3-2-10 rule. The distance between the center of the chase and roof is 10' at the closest point, so the chimney will need to terminate at least 2' above that point. That's my understanding anyway. I might actually only need to extend 1' above the top - I'll take a another measurement.

I'll see how the chimney looks sticking out the top. If it looks too bad, I was thinking about concealing it with a chimney pot of some sort .

I think I'm going to just go for it, so I'm sure I'll be back with more questions!!

Thanks again,
Brad

 

[madison]

The part that extends could be painted to help with aesthetics. Second glance at the pictures I noticed there is already a stainless pipe on that side of the roofline. And if the chimney is in the back of the house .....