Tips for installing a wood stove

I'm sure we have people who have experience in this.

I bought a big Fisher woodstove used and I want to put it in place of my current fireplace.  It will be freestanding...however I want to have it pretty much in the opening of the fireplace.

It has a 8" outlet...I was thinking of getting a 90* and then fabricating my own adapter to go thru my existing flu.

We got a quote of doing a similar thing for $750, and thats with my Wife and I  providing and installing the fire board on the floor and me modifying the feet of the stove to sit about 1.5" lower to fit in the fireplace better.

Just seems a little high for essentially sliding the stove over and making an elbow.

sleeve the flu with stove pipe.  Use the double wall stuff and have it be our outside air intake as well as exhaust.

Fueled by Caffeine said:

sleeve the flu with stove pipe.  Use the double wall stuff and have it be our outside air intake as well as exhaust.

 

Im not sure I follow.  The stove has air intakes in doors

Our home insurance required a certified installer and inspection when we installed an air tight insert into our fireplace. Would be a good idea to check with yours.

Put a Barometric Damper in the flue system.  On windy days the weighted flap opens and closes so wind doesn't suck out the fire; more important it keep down drafts from shooting hot coals into your living room.

I would let the pros deal with it.  House fires suck and $750 is cheap in the long term. 

In reply to malibuguy :

That air has to come from someplace.

Insurance companies hate wood burning stoves.

Streetwiseguy said:

Insurance companies hate wood burning stoves.

Ive been burning since 05 and my insurance has been fine with it. All they asked was for professional insulation. 

In reply to malibuguy :

You will want a SS liner down your chimney that is insulated. Also a block off plate at the damper. If done properly, flue fires are never a concern. Of course properly dry wood is a must. Mine sits for 2 years at least before use. I have two stoves, the fireplace insert runs constantly all winter and when I clean the flue in the spring I’m lucky if I get a half a coffee mug of flue dust. All because of proper install and dry wood  

914Driver said:

Put a Barometric Damper in the flue system.  On windy days the weighted flap opens and closes so wind doesn't suck out the fire; more important it keep down drafts from shooting hot coals into your living room.

Never saw the purpose for these. If you have the issues you mentioned, it’s because of improperly designed flue. Either too short, wrong diameter, or an obstruction near the flue. A properly designed system has no need for that. 

Not sure I'm understanding the recommendations to line the flue. 

This is a functional chimney in good condition, I assume. I pretty sure the $750 quote did not include lining the flue. 

SVreX said:

Not sure I'm understanding the recommendations to line the flue. 

This is a functional chimney in good condition, I assume. I pretty sure the $750 quote did not include lining the flue. 

This.

All you should need is an adapter from the stove to the flue plate in the chimney. I ran a Fisher as my primary source of heat for 10 years without a problem. It was almost too much stove for my house and climate.

Do keep an eye on buildup in the chimney. Running a throttled back stove will coat the chimney with soot. I would run a brush down mine ever fall. 

As I recall from reading the manual for our insert, in the US the regulations only require a partial chimney liner into the existing, in Canada though, it requires a full liner, from fireplace to the outside. Seems to me like the full liner is the  better way to go for just a little more cost.

In reply to RX8driver :

Why is it better?  Draft is draft. 

And it's not "just a Little more cost".  Chimney relining can cost $2500-5000. 

That Canadian guideline has nothing to do with performance or efficiency.  It has to do with insurance companies limiting their liability exposure by forcing work to be done by licensed vendors to older systems.  It's an insurance policy for the insurance companies.

If it's damaged, it should be repaired. But if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

The 750 was not to reline the chimney.  He said its not needed as mine is in good shape.   My chimney is much taller then the house with very little obstruction.

Just because I've been interested in this:

What does a good pellet or wood burning stove (do they make variants that can do both) installed in a house with very high ceilings run for professional installation?  

Basically, my house is pretty cold, due to really high ceilings and a pretty small furnace. I've conflicting answers one whether my furnace is properly sized for the house. HVAC guys  of course say "it's too small we'll install a new one for $6,000." but guys who are too busy to actually do such an install say "it's a little small, but should be more efficient than a bigger one." 

In addition to this, I've got lots of friends asking us "do you guy have a wood stove? We always wanted a wood stove. There is something so cool about wood stoves. You guys should have a wood stove installed." 

So what I'm wondering is, in this cabin community of mine, could I sell my house a bit quicker with a nice cozy wood or pellet stove in the house?

It's not that the chimney needed to be rebuilt or anything, ours is a stainless flex pipe inside the old masonry chimney to make sure that the exhaust gas, ash and so on makes it all the way outside. This is for an insert specifically, replacing a standalone fireplace with an insulated metal chimney is different.

In reply to RX8driver :

I understand. 

A chimney (in good condition) does the exact same thing. 

SVreX said:

Not sure I'm understanding the recommendations to line the flue. 

This is a functional chimney in good condition, I assume. I pretty sure the $750 quote did not include lining the flue. 

Old chimney flues are too large for modern stoves and probably are not sound (safe). New construction would be different obviously. 

You want the flue to stay as hot as possible until it exits the chimney. That’s why it should be insulated if it’s going to be a long run up a chimney. Prevents creosote 

malibuguy said:

The 750 was not to reline the chimney.  He said its not needed as mine is in good shape.   My chimney is much taller then the house with very little obstruction.

$300 buys you 20’ of flex SS liner. Not sure why he would charge $750 to run a pipe from stove to the chimney without lining the chimney unless he’s lining his pockets. 

Edit: Good advice can be found here: hearth.com

The taller the chimney the quicker it will cool and condensate causing creosote build up.

rustybugkiller said:

SVreX said:

Not sure I'm understanding the recommendations to line the flue. 

This is a functional chimney in good condition, I assume. I pretty sure the $750 quote did not include lining the flue. 

Old chimney flues are too large for modern stoves and probably are not sound (safe). New construction would be different obviously. 

You want the flue to stay as hot as possible until it exits the chimney. That’s why it should be insulated if it’s going to be a long run up a chimney. Prevents creosote 

I understand there are more efficient ways to do it.  But a functional, good condition chimney does not need to be relined as a matter of general practice when installing an insert.

rustybugkiller said:

malibuguy said:

The 750 was not to reline the chimney.  He said its not needed as mine is in good shape.   My chimney is much taller then the house with very little obstruction.

$300 buys you 20’ of flex SS liner. Not sure why he would charge $750 to run a pipe from stove to the chimney without lining the chimney unless he’s lining his pockets. 

Edit: Good advice can be found here: hearth.com

The taller the chimney the quicker it will cool and condensate causing creosote build up.

 

Because licensed tradesmen deserved to be paid, and earn a profit.  He is carrying the liability, licensing, etc.

BTW, I've never seen a 20' tall chimney.  

My chimney is more than 20 feet tall over all. Two stories plus an attic and then five feet or so above the roof. I assume that is what he was talking about and not that it was twenty feet above the roof. 

I meant I've never seen a chimney that was ONLY 20' tall. 

That's not completely true- a single story with a chimney on the low side would usually make it, but generally, that's not a sufficient budget.