Woodstove dilemma...need your thoughts...

[Beltane]

We purchased a used 1985 Hearthstone I woodstove for $800 this summer – we were so excited! 100,000 BTU’s….just perfect and beautiful. My husband had to disassemble the entire thing first to move it into our house, clean it, and then put it back together – a weekend’s worth of time.

But then we got the manual from Hearthstone, and they stated that we can only use 8” diameter chimney stove pipe with the stove…and of course we only have 6”. The Hearthstone manual and our chimney sweep were insistent not to go from 8" to 6" for safety reasons. We have priced new 8” insulated pipe and it will probably cost about $2000 – wayyyy more than the previous 6” pipe we put up a few years ago. I’ve posted looking for used stovepipe on craigslist but everyone has 6” for sale.

Should we sell this stove and purchase one that is more efficient that is catalytic that would work with the 6” chimney or stick with this and pay for the new stove pipe? We had our hearts set on the Hearthstone...and the equivalent would be the Mansfield which is about $3K new and wouldn't need the 6" pipe. We’ve already found a buyer (in our quest for 8” pipe) that would like to purchase our current chimney…but that really won’t make a dent in the cost of the 8” pipe we need.

Arrggghhhh – what to do? Thoughts?

[kyJeeper]

Its the stove you want to use right? So buy the 8". I have to do the same thing. Congraduations on your stove buy.

[Cabin Fever]

The diameter of the "required" stovepipe for an airtight woodstove is based on the size of the firebox door. Stoves with larger doors require larger diameter chimneys. A six inch chimney will work just fine for your stove, until you open its door. If you open the door wide open, smoke may enter the room using a six inch chimney. If you never open the door to its fullest extent, a six inch chimney will work just fine.

Most airtight stoves with large "double doors" or two doors (side and front) require 8" chimneys because the combined area of door openings is so large.

[mamita]

our stove has 2 doors, side and front...can't remember actual front door dimension, but it was one of the nicer sized...and required only a 6" pipe. ?

[Beltane]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

The diameter of the "required" stovepipe for an airtight woodstove is based on the size of the firebox door. Stoves with larger doors require larger diameter chimneys. A six inch chimney will work just fine for your stove, until you open its door. If you open the door wide open, smoke may enter the room using a six inch chimney. If you never open the door to its fullest extent, a six inch chimney will work just fine.

Most airtight stoves with large "double doors" or two doors (side and front) require 8" chimneys because the combined area of door openings is so large.

I didn't know that, but that's the kind of information I'm looking for. Thanks for replying.

[jross]

We put a six inch liner in our 8 inch flue and our Avalon stove has an 19 x 11 inch door, Actually the stove burns better now than it did with the 8 inch flue. Opening the door to load it hasn't been a problem with smoke. Aany stove will back smoke if you yank the door open quickly. What is the flue outlet size of your stove? If it is 6 inches, then you can use a 6 inch flue.

[kyJeeper]

My king air tight stove door opening is 132 square inches with a 6" horizontal out going pipe. My Forester air tight stove (the one I'm switching to) has a door opening of 130 1/2 square inches with a horizontal out going pipe of 8". So I should be fine reducing right ??? I would hate to make the stove less efficicient.

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

The diameter of the "required" stovepipe for an airtight woodstove is based on the size of the firebox door. Stoves with larger doors require larger diameter chimneys. A six inch chimney will work just fine for your stove, until you open its door. If you open the door wide open, smoke may enter the room using a six inch chimney. If you never open the door to its fullest extent, a six inch chimney will work just fine.

Most airtight stoves with large "double doors" or two doors (side and front) require 8" chimneys because the combined area of door openings is so large.

[WindowOrMirror]

I purchased - and installed myself - Class 1A chimney, triple-wall, 8" for a 2.5 story run for around $1100, every part included. www dot ventingpipe dot com

(it worked for me and I don't get a kickback there)

R

[Beltane]

Originally Posted by jross

What is the flue outlet size of your stove? If it is 6 inches, then you can use a 6 inch flue.

It is an 8" outlet. Originally we though we would just use a converter pipe to reduce it to the 6" pipe.

[Beltane]

Originally Posted by WindowOrMirror

I purchased - and installed myself - Class 1A chimney, triple-wall, 8" for a 2.5 story run for around $1100, every part included. www dot ventingpipe dot com

(it worked for me and I don't get a kickback there)

R

Thank you - I would certainly like to buy new and that is much less than what we were finding. Thanks for posting.

[Beeman]

My stove requires an 8" chimney which I recently installed. I used SuperVent chimney system from Lowes. If you check history I made posts about the costs which weren't that expensive. They also tend to dent a lot of that expensive pipe and are willing to discount it for the slightest dents.