Venting pellet stove to existing single wall chimney pipe

[Cornerspeed]

Hi all,

I have removed my old wood stove to be replaced by a new pellet stove. I am in the process of venting it, and spoke with a woman at the local "fireplace" store about my ideas, and she gave me some information that I'm trying to verify.

My pellet stove is installed right where the wood stove was. The vent pipe from the wood stove went straight out of the top of the wood stove, and straight through 2 floors, out the roof. The existing chimney pipe is 6" single wall. My idea was to buy a T with cleanout to come out of the pellet stove, and run a section of 3" pellet stove vent pipe into a 3" to 6" adapter into the existing single wall chimney pipe.

The woman at the store told me that was not safe, that pellet stove vent pipe needed to be double walled, and that if I did do it the way I wanted, that the pellet stove smoke would build up quickly and clog and destroy the existing single wall chimney pipe.

I came home to do a little research and I do see that pellet stove pipe is double walled, but I really can't find any information stating that it was dangerous or bad to do the venting the way I wanted. Also, the fact that name brand fireplace supply companies are selling the adapters is making me scratch my head.

Are these adapters made for something different? Is it unsafe to vent the pellet stove the way I want? The section of double walled pipe will be roughly 4' before adapting into single walled. I'm not looking to do anyhting unsafe, but I am just a bit confused by the availability of those adapters, and the fact that I can't find any information to substantiate the claims made at the store.

Thanks in advance for any help,
Jon

 

[pen]

I think a few pictures would help here. Are you saying that the chimney is single wall stove pipe that goes up through the interior of your home..... Passing through floors? Or is is single wall liner that is in a masonry chimney, and using it as a chase?

The woman you spoke with may have the same concern I do,,, which is by the way you describe things, I'm not sure how your house is still standing after having a wood stove hooked to this chimney, and certainly wouldn't recommend another appliance hooked to it.

That said, it may just be a miscommunication making me worry, post a bunch of pics of what you are working with and folks here will be better able to give good advice.

 

[kniffin50]

Pen took the words right out of my mouth.I was wondering how the house was still standing. post some pics and it will get sorted out. and welcome to the forum

 

[Cornerspeed]

Hey guys, thanks for the quick help.

So, I got extremely worried when I read your guys response about the safety of that. I know very little about this type of stuff, and we bought the house not too long ago, the wood stove was already here and piped, and I used it all last winter, so it really bothered me that it may have been unsafe, though I had proof that it was cleaned and inspected shortly before we moved in. So, I did a little looking around and I believe I may have been ignorant about what I was working with here. The pipe that was coming out of the wood stove was indeed single wall pipe I believe, but once it met the roof and began to go up into the house, it looks like it changes into something else. I'm not positive if this is double walled or something else, hopefully the pictures help. It's much thicker then the single wall pipe that's not in the wall, and if you knock on the pipe it's got a very dull thud, almost like it's lined or insulated with something thick. This pipe runs from where the single wall pipe meets the roof line, all the way out of the top of my house. I have the receipt from when this pipe was replaced 2 years ago, and it was done professionally, so I'm hoping the pipe that is in the wall right now is correct, but again, hopefully the pictures help.

The picture of the wood stove is to get an idea of what was there as far as the single walled pipe, and everything else is showing the different type of vent pipe going up through the upstairs, the attic, and out of the roof. Hopefully someone can inform me of what type of chimney pipe this is, and also whether it is correct and safe, I'm very interested now. More or less, the best I can tell, the black piping is the only single walled pipe used, and it does not go into the structure of the home anywhere that I can see.

 

[Cornerspeed]

Ok, so, I did a ton of research last night and today and I'm still a little confused on what I'm gonna need to do it all, but hopefully with some more information on what I have, someone can lead me in the right direction.

I have class A chimney going up and through the house. It is solid packed with insulation. The pipe that runs inside the insulation is 6", so I'm assuming it is measured as a 6" class A pipe.

It looks like what I'm going to need is an adapter from 3" pellet vent to 6" class A. I found this product that I believe will work: http://www.amazon.com/Pellet-Stove-Chimney-Adapter-6/dp/B000KA4O7U#productDetails

What I am confused about is this piece that is listed as required with that adapter. http://www.amazon.com/Durablack-DVL-Chimney-Adapter-6/dp/B001GLUODK

Any help is much appreciated. The more I look into this, the more confused I am getting at times. I'm thinking about having it professionally installed at this point because I don't completely understand it all.

Thanks again

 

[kniffin50]

Good to see your doing some homework. I'm brand new to this to.Burn a lot of wood but first year for pellets. And I went through the same thing.Use existing class a flue- line that flue with 4inch or take it out and start new. I'm starting new.Mine is on the outside of the house making it a little easier to start over. From what I see you could just adapt it. And if it drafts poorly you could then line it. Many say line it others don't. It comes down to you.Like I said this is new to me. As for that second connection piece for the adapter it looks to be a locking piece for the two. I could have done mine myself but am have mine installed for me.Remember when you invite fire into your house safety first. Hoped this helped and i'm sure others with more experience will come along. Rusty

 

[Highbeam]

That class a in the attic is supposed to have a shield to maintain a 2" clearance to insulation and combustible. The roof decking should also be cut 2" away.