Woodstove questions

suzyhomemaker09 · #1 10/18/05, 09:49 AM

We live now in a mobile home and it has a fireplace in it ( more of a decorative thing really as it's pretty small) I would like to put a woodstove inside as i feel it is a more functionable alternative. My question is ..How hard would it be to put a smallish woodstove in and use the existing chimney for it...is this completely crazy to think of or is it a doable project? If anyone could give me an idea of what would need to be done? I see smallish woodstoves on sale at my local fam stores for just a bit above $100..something liek this I'm sure would be just the thing I need..not too big or anything. Any help would be appreciated.

VALENT · #2 10/18/05, 09:57 AM

Its probably not too difficult to do what you are asking. But, it wouldnt me a whole lot more difficult to do it right. And, this way, you can put the woodstove exactly where you want. One bit of caution, though, price out everything before you buy the very economical wood stove.

almostthere · #3 10/18/05, 10:27 AM

You will also need to contact your homeowners insurance carrier and get specifics from them, and then you will need to find a "mobil home approved" model. You might also want to contact your home manufacturer and ask if the fireplace was built as such, or just for decoration. Good luck, we just installed ours, waiting to get papers signed with the ins before we light it up.

Cyngbaeld · #4 10/18/05, 11:13 AM

The main thing I dislike about the cheap woodstoves is they are not airtight. It is very difficult to control the burn rate. You usually end up with the fire burning too hot so you have to feed frequent, smaller amts. That is why I am trying to find a good used heater instead of the cheap new ones.

thedonkeyman · #5 10/18/05, 11:33 AM

To many regulations. Add on a back porch of Concrete or concrete block and blow the heat under your house. You will find that in the long run this will work out better. Ours runs the full length of the north side of the house.

prairie hill · #6 10/18/05, 11:31 PM

We have had a woodstove in a mobile home for years. We had our first one about 22 years ago and no problems. Some thoughts, though:

1) Checking with your insurance IS a necessity.
2) The cheaper woodstoves, as Cyngbaeld said, are not airtight and waste a tremendous amount of energy. Look for a good used airtight one.
3) DO NOT cut corners on your piping. You HAVE to use triple wall pipe to be safe, and make sure you do it right. DO NOT assume the earlier stove you mentioned was installed correctly.
4) Check with someone who has the right info, to make sure you go high enough outside with your pipe to avoid risk of a roof fire.