Hi! I'm aggravated and confused about the whole wood stove process. I apologize ahead of time for being so 'green' in this area, but I would like to know if it is possible to insulate around an external wood stove 22ga. stainless steel pipe. After building our first fire this year, it appears to be leaking some black soot back into the house (crusting up around the stove pipe). We recently extended the height of our external flue and I speculate that the smoke is cooling too fast before it can escape. Any advice would be sincerely appreciated!