Wind gust problems Smokey house

[ScottF]

We installed a Vacu-Stack last year to deal with the same type of problem you describe. We have a range of small mountains just behind our house in western Maine and the winds from the north that pour down from them tend to be quite gusty. When the wind is gusting or blowing hard (25mph+), we got a poor draw from the chimney which is masonry and about 25’ tall. While we’ve only got about about a half season of burning with it installed, we’re quite pleased with the results: it has essentially eliminated our draft problem.

Dznam, thank you so much for your reply. That is exactly the feedback I was looking for from this forum. I spoke to the engineer from Vacu Stack yesterday. It is most likely that our problem is very similar to yours. We are located in a cleared lot in the middle of the woods.
The trees surround the house . He said the wind likes to follow the terrain. It is very gusty around our house. The wind comes over the tops of the trees and just drops down when it hits our lot and blasts the house and the tops of my two chimneys. He said the vacu stack should work 100% of the time in my condition. Also getting the chimney higher would only help so I will be doing some masonry work this weekend to raise it as much as 4 feet prior to installing the vacu stack. this is to get it further away from the roof so there is no high pressure situation caused by wind bouncing off the roof. I am confident this should solve our problems. All of my symptoms point to the fact that it will . Thanks again for your reply. I will let you know how it turns out. Glad to hear you solved your problem.

 

[dznam]

Scott,

Good luck with your project. With this cold front, it's going to be chilly up there if you're tackling it soon - be careful! Funny thing, we extended our chimney 4' prior to installing the Vacu-Stack for the same reasons you describe. That alone only had a minor impact on the draft - the Vacu-Stack made a much more significant improvement, for us. Dave

 

[ScottF]

Scott,

Good luck with your project. With this cold front, it’s going to be chilly up there if you’re tackling it soon - be careful! Funny thing, we extended our chimney 4’ prior to installing the Vacu-Stack for the same reasons you describe. That alone only had a minor impact on the draft - the Vacu-Stack made a much more significant improvement, for us. Dave

Dave, I have the same problem with a fireplace chimney on the same side of the house also. I also extended it 4 feet but never put on a vacu stack . It too only made minor improvements. Our solution was just not to burn if any wind at all and it has been that way for years. The stove is a different story because it is how we heat our house so we can't opt to not burn. I expect also that raising the height will only make a minor difference. The real difference will be with the vacu stack just like you experienced. I just figure I can do it myself and I want to gain all of advantage I can so I never have to deal with this again. Raising it certainly wont hurt and could possibly help so I will do it. Yes it will be very cold. I will be staging it tonight at about 9PM under lights. Its the only time I can do it. Thanks again and I will let you know how it turns out. It will take a few weeks to get the vacu stack. If this works I will vacu stack the fireplace but that will mean very high staging and removing a granite cap. Equals summer project. Scott

 

[dznam]

Scott,

I actually have a spare brand new Vacu-Stack that wouldn't fit because there wasn't enough clearance between the two flues (fireplace and stove) for 2 Vacu-Stacks. . It's up at camp, but am headed up there next week and could measure it to see if it fits your application (as I recall it's an off the shelf size for either a 6" or 8"square flue tile though I think it would fit different sizes with the correct size adapter plate). Let me know if you're interested and if it works, you can have it for 1/2 price of a new one.

 

[ScottF]

Thanks Dave, I will PM You. Scott

 

[ScottF]

Also Dave, The engineer said you can fit and 8inch pipe into the 8x8 tile flue and extend one higher than the other . You might have to do some adaption and seal a little around the edges but this would allow you to put 2 vacu stacks next to each other. It would not even be difficult to make a custom transition cap so you can go to round pipe on one of the flues. Once you get it above the other you can use both. If you want to put on both this would work for you. If that doesnt work you can adapt both to round ss pipe and put a 45 dogleg on each to get them apart enough. You definately can adapt a way to use both.
Scott

 

[dznam]

Scott, I'm going to give your suggestion a shot. The wind blows so hard up there (camp) that I was hesitant to extend the pipe further for fear of it blowing off - those things have pretty big surface area and the wind howls hard - but you've motivated me to try something industrial strength in the springtime. Good luck with the project.