Using wood stove in fireplace...Updated, Pics added

[cartboy]

I recently bought a house in central VA that has two fireplaces. One in the main level living room and one in the basement. The fireplace located on the main level has doors and I do not intend to use it. The fireplace in the basement has a steel plate covering the front of it with a hole nearly centered. I am considering buying a small wood stove and venting through the existing hole. Finally to my main question/concern. Do I need to run pipe all the way up the existing chimney and out, or just up past the flu?

 

[bfunk13]

Do a search on this forum for "direct connect"
That is what its called to only run a few feet of pipe.
You will find plenty of info on the subject.
Read enough and you will want to line the whole chimney.

Brad

 

[fossil]

The chimney structure in your home undoubtedly has two separate flues running up through it to daylight. You can install a wood stove downstairs if you want, but you should pull that cover plate and find out what's going on behind it. It'll certainly have to come off in order to accomplish any installation anyway. Whether you can do a "direct connect" installation (shove a liner partially up into the existing flue) depends on the stove and the size of the existing flue. The best installation includes a full stainless steel liner all the way up. I'm assuming the chimney structure's on an outside wall of the home, right? How big is the hearth where you think you want to put a stove? Why would you rather put a woodburner down in the basement rather than up on the main floor? Can you post a pic of where you want to do this? Rick

 

[cartboy]

Rick
I will be removing the plate to inspect what is there and see what I am working with. I wanted to gain some info prior to purchasing any equipment or materials. The chimney is on an exterior wall and is vented separately between the two fireplaces. I am just looking to get a small stove to heat the basement and to sort of suplement the heating system in the house, not planning to try to heat the entire house with this installation. The hearth is only about 16-18 inches deep, and is 10 inches high. My plan was to use a stove board in front of the hearth on the floor, concrete floor with tile, and vent through the steel plate and up past the flue. The stove I was looking at was just a small inexpensive Vogelzang from Tractor Supply.
Steve

 

[fossil]

Price-wise, I know the little Vogelzang's can look pretty attractive. But you need to look way beyond that. Those are not high quality appliances, and I, personally, would not have one in my home. The clearances to combustibles required to safely install them alone are enough to make one think twice. Vogelzang is now marketing some EPA certified models that might be worth a look, but little is known about them. Englander and Drolet make some very attractive small stoves that are highly regarded. Installing a wood burning appliance in your house is something you really want to take your time about and learn all you can before you do it, because your personal safety and that of your family is at stake here. My advice would be to not be in a hurry, do a lot of homework, ask lots of questions here, post some pics of the location, and proceed at a reasonable pace toward the goal. Rick

 

[drdoct]

Cartboy, The biggest problem with putting a stove in front of a fireplace is that the flue discharge probably needs to be a rear discharge instead of top. That somewhat limits what you can do. I couldn't afford a new stove so I kept on craigslist just looking every single day. I finally hit the jackpot, but it took about 8 months before getting lucky. There are usually a few stoves that pop up and inserts also. Do a search here for blockoff plates and also full liner install. I've done both. The liner wasn't more than $500 for everything, but was definitely worth every penny. You've got a lot of work to do before buying anything though. Hopefully everything will be open and good condition. I wouldn't go for a non epa model ever again. If you've just got to do with what you can find then if I was not looking for epa I'd get an old Fisher. Those things will run you out of the room with the heat they put out. Good luck and let us know how it works out!

 

[cartboy]

I have been doing some looking around and agree that a rear discharge type would fit the bill much better than the little Vogelzang I was looking at. I was talking to a guy I work with and he has an old stove with rear discharge that he is going to give me. He didn't know the brand or much about it other than that it is real heavy. It was in his house when he bought it, an old house built in 1939, it was the sole source of heat for the entire house. I am going to pick it up tomorrow or Wednesday, I will post more on it later when I find out more about it. Maybe some of you guys can help me out with some Do's and Dont's or maybe even a "do not use" warning after I find out what type and brand it is. I appreciate all of the responses and helpful information everyone has provided so far.

 

[drdoct]

Free will work pretty good in the short run. I did a slammer install until I found a good deal. I'm not too proud of it, but it got me through the hard time till I could get a stove with a 6" discharge so I could run flex down the chimney. A lot of people on here are very knowledgeable as to what's safe and not. Pictures will help them tell you about your chimney and setup. I realize that you open yourself up to disappointment if it's not deemed safe here. Better safe than sorry though. Post you some pictures so we can see what you've got stove wise and hearth wise and what's behind the iron curtain.

 

[cartboy]

Saw this on Craigslist for $200, Black Ponderosa Wood Burning Stove - that's all the info I can get. Deal or not? Remember guys, I don't know anything about stoves so don't beat me up too bad.

 

[Pagey]

I may be way off base here, but the only other stove I've seen that 'white' was one that was over fired during what should have been its break in period. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

I would also take a few minutes to read this page:
(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/pages/masonry.html)

That will give you a good idea of how to safely and properly vent your stove into an existing masonry fireplace or chimney.

Read this, too: (broken link removed to http://www.woodheat.org/technology/woodstoves.htm)

This will give you a good intro as to what is new in stove technology today vs. the older stoves.

 

[cartboy]

From earlier in the post, I was supposed to get a stove from a guy I work with. It turns out it is a large homemade stove, I started to get it for an interim, but it vented out the top, not very good for my setup. I will have to start my search again, still looking for a small to medium size stove for the basement and an insert for the main level.

 

[potter]

I recently looked around at inexpensive stoves for a friend- found the Englanders at the Do It Best website. They were on sale 10 days ago.
If you have a Do It Best nearby there is no shipping. EPA, glass door to watch fire, and highly recommended on this site.

 

[drdoct]

I would stay away from the stove above. I'm not sure why the stove is white. My first idea was that it was in a house fire and dragged out afterward. I guess you can get a white stove from overfiring before breaking in. Either way, it doesn't look normal and I'd be scared to fire something like that in my house. Keep looking on Craigslist and ebay too. What's your limit on spending? Also, have you looked at your chimney?

 

[Valhalla]

If it were my home and hearth stove project, I would burn only in a high quality stove. Certainly, I would not consider an open "blowtorch" stove like you found at TSC or others. Shop wisely! It is your family abode.

I am now researching for my spring project to put the smallest Jotul on/in the hearth of our current living room fireplace. It will be a smaller second stove, but in the middle of our house.

 

[cartboy]

I am looking to spend no more than $500 on my initial install. I know this limits me on getting a newer efficient stove, but have to stick to the budget, that ex-wife payment keeps my pockets fairly thin on the green stuff. I have thoroughly given up on the TSC "bargain" and am looking on Craigslist and ebay for a decent stove and insert. I have checked out the chimney, went up yesterday and checked the caps and the liner. I had to patch/repair the mortar around the tops, fill in some cracks and re-do the slope away from the flue to the outer edge of the chimney. It has a 1 inch thick 13X13 liner all the way down both flues. It is typical fireplace flue, no damper, just the flue that slopes to an angle and then back the other way. I will get a pic of the main level chimney and setup this evening after work. I would like to thank all of you who have helped me so far. This will be my first stove install, so I have tons of things to learn and want to do a good, safe install the first time.

Just found this on craigslist, any suggestions? (broken link removed to http://lynchburg.craigslist.org/hsh/958155794.html)

 

[drdoct]

I looked up treemont and see that Harman stoves bought their name. For $100 I don't know how much you could pass up. Honestly, what you could do is get the stove and clean it up. Get the information on it and if it's not what you want then sell it with all the information and good pictures for like $250. If it's an 8" discharge on the stove then you may be ok using direct connect. that 13" liner, is that inside or outside measurements? If it's outside then you should be around the same area as a 8" pipe. If it's a 6" discharge then I doubt you'll get enough draft. Maybe but that would be questionable since 6" is almost 1/2 the 8". The good news with that would be that you could run a 6" liner down it perfectly and still be right around $500. I'd go pick it up as long as it looks ok when you get there. Something else you may want to consider is that this may be a CAT stove. You MAY want to call Harman to make sure you can get a new CAT for it and how much it would be (ballpark since you don't know the model). Those CATs are like $150 or so I think. Once you get there you may be able to knock $20 or so off the price if you have the Harman info and how much a cat will cost. Just an idea of course. My disclaimer is always... have a chimney sweep check your chimney first. I didn't, but it IS the safest route and the legalest.

 

[cartboy]

drdoct,
Thanks for the info. I was thinking along the same lines as you mentioned as far as getting it and cleaning it up. I talked to the person who has it and will be going to look at it this evening. The liner I have is 13X13 OD with 1 inch walls. After reading many posts here and doing some other reading on the net, I have decided that I will be going with the full liner thru the flue top to bottom. How do I determine if it is a CAT stove when I get there? Just remember, I am extremely new to all of this. I will post this evening after I look at it and get more info on it. Thanks again.

 

[drdoct]

well? did you get it? if so post some pictures!

 

[cartboy]

I put a deposit on it and will pick it up on Sat morning. Where it is located and the lay of the person's yard is going to make this a rough job. I wasn't able to find a model number on it because it is still installed and I think that most identification plates are on the rear area of the stove. It is in rough shape cosmetically, but all of the parts seem to be in working order with my limited knowledge of stoves. I wasn't able to fully determine if it is a CAT stove or not, I talked to a few of the guys I work with and from what I can tell, it is not a CAT stove. I got home late so I didn't get the chimney pics done and uploaded. If I get time tonight I will get some pics and upload them, trying to get some lights wired in the washroom this evening.

 

[cartboy]

Picked up the stove today, well, mostly scooted/slid it. It is a Treemont Vansco, not sure if it is the TAC520c or the TAC260C, but it is a CAT stove. I opened the basement fireplace to find numerous items there, a few dead mice, one dead bird and tons of bird droppings, oh yeah and alot of creosote. I cleaned all evening on the fireplace and finally got it to a point where I could work in there without getting a face full of creosote. The chimney looks real nasty and in need of some repairs. I am in the process of removing the damper frame in order to fit the 8 inch pipe up into the clay liner. I have other pics but can only put one at a time and didn't want to post too many items.

 

[meathead]

May want to give that clay flue a good scrubbing before you get to far with running pipe up into it. Even if you are lining it, no point running a liner through a creosote / animal nest packed flue. I wouldn't rush to remove a damper, run pipe up through it (and put in a blockoff plate?) before cleaning the flue. A good cleaning now while there is nothing in your way would be pretty convinient - scrub it out and go to town with a shop vac around the damper opening etc. Bird droppings + dead bird + dead mice sounds like some likely animal nest findings. Best of luck with the install - post some pics.