Running VC Winterwarm large on 6” liner

[hydes2004]

We will be moving our VC Winterwarm Large from our 1st floor living room into the basement fireplace. I’m going to need to run a liner down the exterior chimney to the stove in the basement. The VC calls for an 8”flue, and that’s the liner I currently have in the living room.


I’d like to future proof my install downstairs because eventually we will be getting a BK Princess.

I would like to run a 6” liner down to the basement and run my VC off of it, and then when the time comes, just swap the VC for the BK.

Has anyone ran a stove rated for 8” flue into a 6”?


Thanks


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[jetsam]

I think every single "I Hate My BK King" thread ever has started that way....

Why? 6*6*π =~ 113. 8*8*π =~ 201. So the 6" liner is giving your stove 56% of the flue area it was designed to have.

I don't know that stove, but I would expect all the normal symptoms of poor draft once you move it.

I've heard of people doing it, but not many glowing stories about how well it works.

 

[hydes2004]

What do you mean with that first comment? Every 'I hate my bk thread' was someone looking to upgrade????


A 6" pipe is 25% reduction in size compared to an 8".

 

[edyit]

your math might be off it should be A= pi r* : or 3x3x3.14=28.26 vs 4x4x3.14=50.24

so 6" has 28.26 square inches and 8" has 50.24 square inches

side note, if you're going to use the diameter of the circle instead of the radius then the formula is
A = d* .785 : or 6x6x.785=28.26 vs 8x8x.785=50.24

 

[SculptureOfSound]

Either way, that's a 44% reduction, not 25%. You have to look at the reduction in area of the circle, you can't just say "6 is 75% of 8, so therefore only a 25% reduction."

I know I'd be in a foul mood and work sub-optimally if my air intake was reduced by 44%. Wheezing just thinking about it.

 

[DaveLeno]

FWIW, I moved last spring after dealing with a Winter Warmer Large which I had installed in 1995. My opinion started with "what's wrong with this installation" and gradually settled on "what an expensive piece of junk!" The draft was always horrible, breathed a lot of smoke with that thing. 2 rooms away I had a Resolute which I bought new and installed in 1985 and that was a dream - easy to start up, never a draft problem, easy to regulate. I rebuilt it due to a cracked fireback and side and it kept on going. I wish I'd taken it with me.

So you probably know what I have to say about reducing the flue area. I wouldn't waste my time and effort unless you like to breath smoke.

I'm new here and I need to figure out where to ask if anyone has a recommendation on a newer, still supported equivalent to the Resolute?

 

[hydes2004]

I have my Winterwarm large in my upstairs living room with an 8” liner and it works like a dream


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[Bootstrap]

Your eventually going to replace it with a BK? If the BK requires a 6" flue then that's fine.
In the short term you want to run the VC on the 6" flue your going to eventually run the BK on. And you don't want to install the liner twice.
In my opinion, it may work out ok or it may not. Height of the chimney will be a huge factor.
Running the VC on the 6" flue for the short term may be tolerable. If the chimney is 25' tall, then it may not smoke in the house. But if its 15' tall I would bet on smoke coming in the house when the door is opened.
I would think that the stove will probably run ok otherwise.

 

[hydes2004]

Your eventually going to replace it with a BK? If the BK requires a 6" flue then that's fine.
In the short term you want to run the VC on the 6" flue your going to eventually run the BK on. And you don't want to install the liner twice.
In my opinion, it may work out ok or it may not. Height of the chimney will be a huge factor.
Running the VC on the 6" flue for the short term may be tolerable. If the chimney is 25' tall, then it may not smoke in the house. But if its 15' tall I would bet on smoke coming in the house when the door is opened.
I would think that the stove will probably run ok otherwise.

The other option for the time being is to put the 8” liner in, use the VC for a few years, then upgrade and reline to 6”.


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[jetsam]

What do you mean with that first comment? Every 'I hate my bk thread' was someone looking to upgrade????


A 6" pipe is 25% reduction in size compared to an 8".

Every "I hate my King" thread is someone trying to run a King on a 6" flue. Sometimes it also has a bunch of elbows and a large horizontal run. Sometimes they also want to argue about how OK the 6" duct is when we already know it doesn't work very well, and the owner's manual says it doesn't work at all.

6" is a little more than half of the cross section of 8". (56%, or 44% less of you want to look at it that way). I screwed up the original math by using diameter instead of radius, but that error doesn't change the ratio. (Thanks edyit.)

 

[hydes2004]

Gotcha. I thought blaze king was a 6” flue????


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[bholler]

Gotcha. I thought blaze king was a 6” flue????


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Most are but the king is 8".

 

[jetsam]

Gotcha. I thought blaze king was a 6” flue????

"Blaze King" is the name of the company.

Most of their wood stoves take a 6" flue. One model takes an 8" flue. Its model name is 'King', making it a Blaze King King.

When people say just "King", they're usually referring to the stove, not abbreviating the name of the company.

 

[hydes2004]

Yeah I’d be doing the princess insert


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[black smoke signals]

Good Choice