Which is Safer: through roof or through wall Class A chimney?

[Charles Bourque]

Hello all, first post here. I've burned wood before, but always with a masonry chimney in a big old house where you could crank it 24/7 and just monitor the stove pipe temperature and be happy.

Now I've got a much different situation. I want to put a small woodstove in my well-insulated ~700 square foot 2nd story over unheated garage (insulated floor, walls, ceiling in 2nd story). I've got an asphalt shingle roof (7 / 12 slope) and two possible locations for a small stove.

Kitchen location would be near wall and in that case I'm inclined to NOT put a hole in my roof, but to go through the wall and up ten feet or so. My preferred location is living room, chimney going straight up through the attic just to one side of the roof ridge vent (modern, ten year old building here, currently heated with Toyo Laser 73).

I'm a safety first kind of guy, so how 'bout it? Which is safer?

Thanks, and it looks like an excellent forum.

Safe-Burner to be.

 

[begreen]

Welcome Charles. Both are equally safe when installed correctly. However, if you have the option, by all means go straight up. It will draft better and stay cleaner. It will also look better and most likely cost less in parts.

 

[HotCoals]

Welcome Charles. Both are equally safe when installed correctly. However, if you have the option, by all means go straight up. It will draft better and stay cleaner. It will also look better and most likely cost less in parts.

x2
Have you considered a small cat stove?

 

[jeff_t]

Considering it's a second story install, and already pretty short, I'd recommend going straight up. The short pipe, coupled with couple of turns, is asking for draft related problems if you go thru the wall.

 

[Hogwildz]

Agreed with previous replies. I'd only add that unless your plan on having minimal 12', preferably 15' or more of stack, your going to most likely have smoke spillage and draft issues.
In this case, less is NOT more.

 

[Charles Bourque]

Agreed with previous replies. I'd only add that unless your plan on having minimal 12', preferably 15' or more of stack, your going to most likely have smoke spillage and draft issues.
In this case, less is NOT more.

Thanks for replies. I'm guessing 5' to ceiling, 7' to roof, 2' above roof so 14' including stove pipe and metalbestos. Likely 6" stove pipe. I'll likely get a professional install, so if I need more chimney I suspect they'll be happy to sell it to me. I'm glad my preferred choice of through the roof seems to make sense to all who posted. Will follow up with more questions later.

 

[begreen]

The pipe needs to be at least 3 ft above the point of roof penetration and 2ft higher than any building structure (typically the roof) within a 10ft radius. If you want the best performance, take it up to at least 16 ft total pipe. Add a roof brace at 5' if there is more than 5' of pipe above the roof.

 

[KaptJaq]

Both, if installed correctly, are safe. Straight is better for draft. Through wall is easier to eliminate water leaks. In either case with proper installation (CTC, pipe length, etc...) there should be no problem.

KaptJaq

 

[OrpingtonManor]

I agree with the thought that both are safe, if done correctly. I second the thought about the cost of a wall installation. That's what I did to preserve a vintage T&G ceiling, and it cost me plenty! However, it works great. It's true that shorter chimneys won't draft as well. I'd go straight up.

 

[Bub381]

Straight up and an installer is great for insurance purposes as well.I sent for the paper work from my insurance company and had the installer fill it out and sign it.They never did acknlowledge getting it though.Hmmmmm!

 

[pen]

They never did acknlowledge getting it though.Hmmmmm!

That's exactly why I scan and email everything I can anymore.

If you kept a copy, I'd suggest talking to them and finding out where to email it.

pen

 

[Bub381]

Right. Whereas we had 2 stoves and 2 seperate installs and both filled out and signed, i thought they could've acknowledged 1 of them.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Straight up and an installer is great for insurance purposes as well.I sent for the paper work from my insurance company and had the installer fill it out and sign it.They never did acknlowledge getting it though.Hmmmmm!

Its amazing how some mail just never reaches it's destination

 

[ddahlgren]

Right. Whereas we had 2 stoves and 2 seperate installs and both filled out and signed, i thought they could've acknowledged 1 of them.

If you are going to mail it certified with signature required on anything important. Fedex or UPS letter with signature required is the best 15 bucks you can send. USPS lost a business tax form for the town a couple of years ago and cost me 5k for a 43 cent stamp..

 

[begreen]

Getting off on a tangent here. USPS has certified, signature required with tracking too, for a third the price. FWIW, I have filed a couple claims against UPS for lost packages.

Charles, do you have any other questions about the install?