Wood Stove Advice

[cavemann310]

Hello everyone,

I have a few quick questions in regard to wood stove inserts. I bought my house last November, the basement has a Timberline wood stove insert that was already in place, it works great and gets the basement roaring hot. The living room upstairs has a huge open fireplace which is nice but isnt practical for heating which is most important to me. I found the same model timberline insert as the basement and I am considering buying it. I wanted to get some advice on the flue set up. Currently it has a 12" liner, I dont see it being an issue to dump a smaller 6-8" liner into the 12, the only obstacle I see it attaching it to the 12", if thats even allowed. Can some one give me some insight? Its either going to be DIY or I am going to have a local company do the install, I dont want to drop $600 on a flue liner kit if its not necessary. Thanks in advance.

 

[Jo191145]

Hello everyone,

I have a few quick questions in regard to wood stove inserts. I bought my house last November, the basement has a Timberline wood stove insert that was already in place, it works great and gets the basement roaring hot. The living room upstairs has a huge open fireplace which is nice but isnt practical for heating which is most important to me. I found the same model timberline insert as the basement and I am considering buying it. I wanted to get some advice on the flue set up. Currently it has a 12" liner, I dont see it being an issue to dump a smaller 6-8" liner into the 12, the only obstacle I see it attaching it to the 12", if thats even allowed. Can some one give me some insight? Its either going to be DIY or I am going to have a local company do the install, I dont want to drop $600 on a flue liner kit if its not necessary. Thanks in advance.

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I'm not an expert on liners but basically yes you will need one. Your 12" round masonry flue will not create enough draft to operate a new stove correctly. Nor will it get sufficiently warm. You may be able to burn fires and stuff in it but it will be one cranky, smoky stove with creosote problems.

That's a heck of a screw auger damper opener. Never seen one that big. Awesome.

 

[begreen]

You will need to install a full 6" stainless steel liner from the insert or stove to the chimney cap. 12" has too large a cross-sectional area. Even if it was a good fit, stubbing into the chimney leads to messy, incomplete cleaning.

How tall is the opening at 14" off center? I'm wondering if you could fit a freestanding stove in there with no surround.

 

[cavemann310]

You will need to install a full 6" stainless steel liner from the insert or stove to the chimney cap. 12" has too large a cross-sectional area. Even if it was a good fit, stubbing into the chimney leads to messy, incomplete cleaning.

How tall is the opening at 14" off center? I'm wondering if you could fit a freestanding stove in there with no surround.

Thanks for the input thus far, the more I thought about it the more I would much rather drop a new liner down the chimney and have a seamless connection, it is also far less of a headache and less opportunity for a misstep. The cleaning issue is an excellent point, looking up the flue of the wood stove in the basement it is a seamless liner install from unit all the way to the roof. The height of the opening is about 29" at the sides, higher in the middle if i remember my measurements correctly, i like that the insert has a surround to cover the gaps, makes for a cleaner finish i think. What were your thoughts, cheaper unit and more modern if I go freestanding?

 

[begreen]

I kind of like the arched opening, but both ways will work. Some freestanding stoves are made to also work as inserts, like Buck stoves and the Avalon Rainier. Otherwise you need a stove that is flat on the bottom and has nothing going on there like ash pan, air control, etc.. If it's close one could carefully cut down the legs an equal amount. For alternative inserts, there are the Drolet Escape 1800i, Pacific Energy TN20 insert, Englander 30NC, and Century CW2900.