Stove Swap

[Dan491]

Hello,

I'm looking to get some advice from the knowledge base here.

We moved into our house about two years ago which has a Dutchwest India FA288CL or Federal Airtight woodstove. We've been using the stove since we moved in and while I'm thankful to have a heat source, I'm not the biggest fan of the stove. It doesn't seem to be the most efficient stove, but I'm sure I could improve things if I put new seals on it.

My parents are relocating to another state and they gave the me the woodstove from their old house which is a Lopi Model 380 circa 1984. I think it is nicer to look at and it is built like a tank. I'd like to replace the Dutchwest with the Lopi in the house and move the Dutchwest out to my detached woodshop. The Dutchwest has 8" chimney and the Lopi has 7".

My question(s) is this: Can I simply add an increaser to adapt the 7" pipe to the existing 8" pipe? Is this likely to create draft issues? Also, my shop has 17' to 18' foot ceilings which would make for a 25' or so chimney. Is this OK? Last question (I think)... Would the Lopi benefit from a chimney damper?

Thank you very much for entertaining my questions.

Dan

 

[begreen]

Using an increaser for the Lopi should be ok. It may not need a chimney damper unless the flue system height is excessively tall. I'd try it without the damper at first. If the shop doesn't have a chimney at this point I'd consider selling the Dutchwest and putting in a new low priced stove from Englander or Drolet that has a 6" flue requirement. The savings in piping and sale of the Dutchwest will make the cost of the new stove pretty reasonable.