Woodstove in an old chimney

[hypocrite64]

Young couple here, just recently bought our first house, c.1760. We had our chimneys swept and someone come look at lining one of them for a woodstove. He said the biggest he could go was 6" if all went well and there wasn't mortar sticking through on the inside, otherwise we'd be looking at 5". Said he could run a 6" test piece through to see if it could make it all the way. Estimated at $3,000 for 6."

Additionally, we picked up an 8" Vermont Castings "Vigilant" for free from a friend. They said it's a bit leaky (as I've heard they're known to be), but we couldn't beat the price. My father had one and wasn't too excited about it. Would like to get something like an All Nighter or something eventually. He said I could maybe get away with the Vigilant and 6" but he wouldn't recommend it.

My other option is rebuilding the chimney for an 8" flue, which he ball-parked at $8-10k.

We'll likely be staying here for many years, and just recently put in a propane furnace, and are locked in at $1.47/gal (through employer), so huge savings there.

Have wood available to be essentially free, and certainly will need a woodstove, but am struggling to decided to burn more propane this year, take out a loan and rebuilt the chimney, or settle with 6" and the Vigilant or buy another stove (he also suggested a soapstone stove for $2,500, but I've heard mixed reviews)

Any input would be much appreciated. I'm a bit stuck at the moment.

Thanks, Erik

 

[Huntindog1]

Many use like a 5.5 " Liner and the reports are good.

How tall is your chimney?

Oh but I see your stove takes a 8" that maybe an issue but there are lots of good economy stoves out there that are 6"

 

[webby3650]

Rebuilding the chimney would be silly! It would make a lot more since to buy a new efficient woodstove that takes a 6" flue.
$3K for a 6" flexible liner is outrageous!! Go talk to a local hearth shop. You should be able to get a new stove and a liner for not much more than $4K. Definitely get another opinion.

 

[pen]

3000 seems high for a liner, but I don't know the specifics of the chimney we are working with (height, offsets built within it, etc). Also, this price will vary with location which I don't know.

At the end of the day, if the chimney is sound and the installer feels a liner is a safe way to go, then you'd be far better off installing a liner and then forgoing the free vigilant for a more modern stove that is acceptable with a 6 inch liner.

That said, I do believe if the chimney is tall enough (if memory serves) the vigilant can be run on a 6 inch liner so long as you don't plan to operate the unit with the doors open.

If the stove truly is leaky, then I wouldn't burn it before a rebuild. Doing so with is a prime situation for a scary overfire that you cannot control.

pen

 

[fossil]

New stove with a 6" flue collar...hands down would be my decision. Rick

 

[Nick Mystic]

Yes, how tall is the chimney? A twenty foot SS flexible liner kit usually runs around $500.00, so a quote of $3000 is rather extreme unless you have a very unusual situation. A new propane furnace is likely to be very efficient. We have something similar in our home and it's rated at 95% efficiency. It does a fantastic job of heating and the entire house is warm in about 15 minutes. However, we heat entirely with wood. Our last propane purchase a few weeks ago was $2.19 a gallon, but we have 11 acres of woods on our property so our wood is free.

If you are going to get a woodstove, as you said you thought you would eventually, then I'd recommend checking with another installer (assuming you aren't interested in learning how to install a liner yourself) for another quote. If you can fit a six inch flex liner in the chimney then I think your best option would be to pass on the VC Vigilant if it needs an 8" flue and look around for another stove. Most modern EPA stoves use a 6" flue. As for soapstone, I haven't really heard many mixed reviews from people who actually own them. Just the opposite, nearly everyone has good things to say about them. We have a Woodstock Classic (soapstone) in our lower level and it's a great stove. We have a Jotul F600 on our main level and it's a cast iron stove and it's great, as well.

Tearing down a good stone chimney and rebuilding it for $10,000 so that you can fit an 8" liner in it makes no sense at all from a financial standpoint.

Welcome to the forum. You might want to spend some time reading old postings to broaden your wood burning education, if you are new to it. When I stumbled upon this site last February when I was researching fireplace inserts I must have read a few hundred posts and threads. In a couple of weeks I learned enough that I switched my thinking from getting an insert to instead buying a free standing stove to place in front of my fireplace on my hearth extension. I was planning on having the stove shop do the installation, but with what I learned here I was able to do it myself and save over $800.

 

[hypocrite64]

Thank's for the helpful replies thus far. Chimney is about 30ft from the thimble I would say.

 

[Huntindog1]

Well a 30 foot tall chimney will get plenty of draw you might go ahead and install a flue pipe damper while your at it.

The damper will help control the draw some if its too much.

Whats your location?

 

[hypocrite64]

New Hampshire

 

[Huntindog1]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Englander-2-200-sq-ft-Wood-Burning-Stove-30-NCH/100291302#.UlS5nNL_-So

 

[mellow]

I would burn the propane this year and save up for a new/newer wood stove for next year (spring time you get some good deals). Get your free wood supply this year split and stacked so it will be ready for next year, get some maple or cherry or something else other than oak as the oak will take 2 years to season at a minimum.

You have cheap propane so don't go all gung ho on this because you have a free stove. If your young and handy you can do your own liner install and save the bucks, just stick around and read on here and check out past installs.

If this is an older chimney I would be willing to bet you have cracks in it, which forces you by code to install an insulated liner. Check out to see if you can run an insulated 5.5" liner down, at 30ft it would have more than enough draft.

Take some pictures so we can see what you are up against.

 

[Sprinter]

How old is that Vigilant? I'd strongly urge you to consider a new stove with a 6" collar. You'll be much happier with it, and a 5.5" or 6" liner will likely fit your flue . I know that free is a very good price, but not if doesn't work out. It's too important to get it right. There are many, many options in new stoves.

PS. There's nothing wrong with soapstone stoves per se, but there are several brands. Woodstock, for example, is highly regarded.

 

[dalt]

I vote for new stove also, recently bought a used quadra fire(isle royale) and purchased flue liner with insulation (20ft stainless). i will still be in the ballpark of 2k with me doing the install myself. Wouldnt waste the cash on the chimney!

 

[jharkin]

The vigilant is a 35 year old stove. Its day has passed performance wise and even getting parts is hard now. The All Nighter will have even worse efficiency than the VC and that company is long out of business.


Look at are current generation EPA certified stove. You will be glad you did. For example here is a catalytic stove installed in a c.1800 hearth. They were able to get the 6 inch liner up through the old chimney no problem, you might be surprised how big the inside of those old flues are.

 

[dougand3]

I agree with others. 5.5" liner and new 6" flue stove. Your wood will go so much further. Sell old Vigilant and if you feel compelled, split $ with friend who donated.

 

[newbieinCT]

Just wanted to jump in and say I'm enjoying reading this thread and I'm learning a lot.

Wish I had more input. We are new to the world of home ownership, chimneys and stoves. We have an old house (1890s) but newer chimneys. The only old chimney is for the furnace and I don't know how it compares to your situation, but a new liner for that chimney is going to be $1800. Pretty sure yours should be closer to that than $3000 ((assuming there it's a standard situation with no weird stuff going on) so I agree, get another opinon ! We were going to do it ourselves but there's an issue with the thimble and something else (I zoned out when husband was telling me. He was determined to do it so if he gave up and hired someone, I believe we were in over our heads)

As for the Vigilant - all I can say is BOO HISSSSS! Avoid if at all possible. We had one from the 1970s in the cottage we rented. Granted, there were many things wrong with the set up (right angles in the flue piping and a short chimney) but even under the best conditions, we had issues with that stove. I can't blame it all on the stove but it it was hard to get started, keep warm and we didn't trust an overnight burn. I vote for burning propane and seasoning wood for next year - or splurging on a newer stove now. I saw a friend's woodstove last winter - dont know the make/model but it was purchased in 2011. I was shocked at how warm it kept the house and how well it burned compared to the old clunky vigilant.

Thanks everyone for all the info...I'm taking notes