Major issue with wood-stove - Need advice!

[rswyan]

Please forgive, the stove is made of 3/8" throughout, not 1/2". I just measured...

Even so ... it's still not some lightweight, flimsy piece ...

I do not know yet, but I'd almost bet the chimney pipe is 1/4" or more, it is S O L I D...

Considering the stove I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were.

You should see the I-Beams in the basement... I have over 1400 square feet of basement with not a single post, and the main floor does not sag, nor bounce... WAY OVER-ENGINEERED...

Yeah ... sounds like the former owner was into building stuff strong and solid ...

But the plumbing, electric, etc is such that rube goldberg would be insulted if I compared it... Such a mess... Sigh...

LOL ... but not so much into the fine details ...

Be well

Thanks ... you too.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

I think if you want to heat with wood long term you will want to install a more modern chimney that goes up through the house. This helps the chimney get warm and stay warm. That may or may not correct all drafting issues but would ultimately be safer in terms of less creosote build up and easier to clean. My parents have that kind of set up with a stove in the basement and they still need to crack a basement window to get good draft.

The correct pipe for an internal chimney is expensive and it may be difficult to find a location to go up through the house. Given you stated the original plan was to demo the house it may not be worth the cost/effort.

The current setup may work OK in colder situations where you need/want lots of heat and a big fire will warm the chimney helping the draft. Also, in that situation leaving a window cracked for draft is a non-issue as the room is bound to be pretty hot anyway.

Charlz,

There in NO WAY there will ever be an internal chimney. There is simply no room. MAYBE someday I will be able to frame something around the existing pipe/chimney...

Yes, when really burning the basement is very toasty...

Thanks,
David

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Even so ... it's still not some lightweight, flimsy piece ...

Yup, it will be a REAL b!tch to get out of the house someday...

David

 

[MossflowerWoods]

No insults intended or histrionics directed at you. Apologies if you took it that way. ...

You can use these for cleaning... Imperial BR0305 Flexible Lot of 5 6' Chimney Cleaning Brush Extension Rod Poles | eBay

and this... Rutland 16906 Poly Chimney Cleaning Brush 6" | eBay Size to your chimney....

If you don't trim the brush slightly smaller than the flue, you won't be able to pull it back down until it clears the top of the chimney. I've also installed a pulley under the cap and put the brush on a long loop of cable extending down to the cleanout door, use just like a long clothes line that can be reeled back and forth from the house.

From my experience, air tight stoves cause the worst creosote as the owner shuts them down too tight. Causes the wood to smolder.

GREAT POST! Thank you for the useful info on brushes

But I am now confused on the Airtight issue.

If I make the stove airtight with a door gasket & sealing the cracks I've found, when I close the vents (it has two, one in the door, one under the door) won't the smoldering embers go out due loss of oxygen??? Also airtight will stop the smoke/CO back into the house???

I have not made it airtight yet, but now I am confused.

Thanks again,
David

 

[buickanddeere]

May be able to do some fire bricking inside the stove to increase efficiency to baffle the stove and improve combustion. The straight line of flow from fire to straight up the smoke stack just wastes heat . Fresh air flow direction into the combustion chamber will also make or break efficiency.
Some people however just don't mind using 4 peices of wood to get the same beat as their neighbours high efficiency stove.
I have a high efficiency fire place insert and we tried it without the firebrick that control airflow. So it operated as an old time stove. What a useless wood devouring device it become with little useful heat from the heat exchanger fans.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

May be able to do some fire bricking inside the stove to increase efficiency to baffle the stove and improve combustion. ...

There is an "s" shaped baffle in the back of the stove (under the exhaust), most of the fire burns under the baffle...

The bottom is completely lined in fire brick.

Thanks,
David

 

[tcartwri]

I have heard of people using well casing or pipeline pipe for a chimney. Not in the past 20 years, but back a ways.

I was gonna say it looked like old well casing...

 

[mbohuntr]

GREAT POST! Thank you for the useful info on brushes

But I am now confused on the Airtight issue.

If I make the stove airtight with a door gasket & sealing the cracks I've found, when I close the vents (it has two, one in the door, one under the door) won't the smoldering embers go out due loss of oxygen??? Also airtight will stop the smoke/CO back into the house???

I have not made it airtight yet, but now I am confused.

Thanks again,
David

Air tight is a relative term... Every single stove and fireplace we've used and installed ( Probably around 10 or so) ran exactly the same. Start the stove, run the stove, bank the stove for the night, shut it down tight.

Not one went out as the dampers still let in a small amount of air. The sole exception was a automatic damper model my father bought that had no manual damper, it was designed to open a spring loaded door when the thermostat called for heat. this model created so much creosote it caused one fire and running creosote. It went to the curb quickly. Now that I think about it, Fisher stoves use a spinning vent that WILL close up tight. We used to tighten it then back it out a quarter turn at night.

The bottom dampers are designed to provide combustion air, the top damper (on the pipe) is designed to ****** the flow of heat up the chimney, putting out more heat from the stove. You should plan on letting the fire burn itself down long before you plan on leaving. Leaving a loaded stove and hoping it goes out or trying to manually put it out is a recipe for trouble.

New gaskets and seals... good. secured (screwed) flue pipe... good. throwing water on hot stove... bad Wood burning crystalizes the steel, adding carbon. Brittle and less ductile. More plastic with heat...

 

[blueriver]

Yup, it will be a REAL b!tch to get out of the house someday... David

Cutting torch !!!

 

[MossRoad]

Charlz,

There in NO WAY there will ever be an internal chimney. There is simply no room. MAYBE someday I will be able to frame something around the existing pipe/chimney...

Yes, when really burning the basement is very toasty...

Thanks,
David

You know, I didn't think we could do an internal chimney, either, but all it took was a 16" square of floor space. So I put it in the basement, up through the floor joists of the 1st floor, up through the ceiling joists and out the roof. Piece of cakes. We used some metal boxes made by the chimney pipe manufacturer similar to this:

Only it was for flat surface instead of for cathedral. Anyhow, it fits between the joists and also provides the proper spacing for framing, so you just build some two-by- framing up against all 4 sides and frame it in, they drywall over the frame. It provides the proper fire-rating distance from the drywall automatically. Pretty much fool-proof. One of these boxes in the floor and one in the ceiling, framed it in. Works great.

Anyhow, just something to keep in mind for the future should you decided to go with an interior chimney.