Question on whether or not to install a stove pipe?

[aldurst]

I posted recently and have a follow-up. Let me preface by saying I'm a novice to woodstove installation. We're in a crazy situation - had an old wood stove and recently purchased a pellet stove insert, which we had installed with a 4" pipe through the chimney. We had one problem after another with the pellet stove, so we took it back and are getting a wood stove insert (Englader, from Lowes). I already posted on this site about possibily utilizing the 4" pellet stove pipe, and received great info on NOT using it. So we went to Lowe's today to see about a new pipe kit for the wood stove, and were told that we didn't really need a pipe going the full length of the chimney at all. He said we could just elbow it up from the stove into the chimney and the chimney masonry would serve as a flue system, instead of piping all the way up. Is that correct? If so, does it need to pass through a damper? One more question - if all this is true (and I'm leary it's not), can we utilize the chimney cap that was installed for the pellet stove or do we need to install a new one specifically for wood stoves? Any info would be helpful.

 

[theheatelement]

You can only do a direct connect kit if your chimney is in perfect shape, regardless though if you have a chimney that is oversize it might affect draft and incurr other problems.

 

[budman]

I would really line the stack top to bottom to be on the safe side.
Not only that when you clean the chimney you don't have to pull
the insert out.

 

[aldurst]

Thank you for your replies The Heat Element and budman. I am afraid that we really do not understand though.
How would we know if our chimney is in perfect shape? There has never been any damage to it.
How would we know if the chimney is oversized? We live in a 1930's modest house.
What do you mean to "line the stack top to bottom "? Are you talking about putting in a pipe from top to bottom and ensuring that is in line? Or are you saying the pieces of pipe should be lined up starting from the top piece of pipe?
The shame of the situation is we already had a pipe in the chimney from our original wood stove - but that was removed and thrown away when the pellet stove was put in.
And because we have all these questions maybe this means we should hire a proffessional??

Thanks for your time

 

[begreen]

That's a shame, I ran our pellet flue up the woodstove liner. No way was I going to throw out the rigid stainless liner in there.

The chimney should be inspected and cleaned by a professional sweep. The sweep should tell you the condition of the flue, whether it is tile lined, the condition of the tiles, and the size of the flue.

Odds are you are fine for putting back a liner in the flue. It will need all new parts, none will be recycled from the pellet stove installation. Liners are sold by the piece or as kits that have all the parts needed. If you are handy, work well on the roof and have a good helper, then it is possible to DIY. But if not, have a pro do it. Expect the cost to be somewhere around $1000-1500 depending on the height and complexity of the installation.

 

[budman]

That's a shame, I ran our pellet flue up the woodstove liner. No way was I going to throw out the rigid stainless liner in there.

The chimney should be inspected and cleaned by a professional sweep. The sweep should tell you the condition of the flue, whether it is tile lined, the condition of the tiles, and the size of the flue.

Odds are you are fine for putting back a liner in the flue. It will need all new parts, none will be recycled from the pellet stove installation. Liners are sold by the piece or as kits that have all the parts needed. If you are handy, work well on the roof and have a good helper, then it is possible to DIY. But if not, have a pro do it. Expect the cost to be somewhere around $1000-1500 depending on the height and complexity of the installation.

Thanks BG i just got back to this post. ;-P