Need Tips for Securing Stove Pipe

[badlander]

Hi everyone. Told DH I would ask folks who knew what we were talking about.

We are redoing our large box stove that we are using as temporary heating and cooking at our farm. The Amish pre-owner didn't have their stove installed to insurance codes and we are making it more insurance friendly.

We know that we are going to have to install hangers for the pipe at intervals as the stove pipe passes through the wall and joins the main chimney pipe out in our shop. The old system had a large wood furnace and their cook stove hooked together in a common chimney pipe. Which is a no-no for any insurance company. We detached the furnace and moved it with the plan of using it to heat the shop and running a new chimney pipe for it in the middle of the shop and use the original chimney pipe for the inside the house stove.

Folks that use wood to heat or cook. Do you do anything to secure the pipes where they join together in order to stabilize them? We set this morning kicking around different ideas but nothing sounded right to us. We have about 6 foot of pipe inside the house from stove to wall (we wanted to increase the heating potential of the pipe) and probably 6 foot of pipe from the wall to the chimney. We are considering dropping a pipe from the chimney to the concrete floor to support the chimney pipe and using a T pipe to access the stove pipe coming through the wall to give it more stability (and adding an access door at the base of the stand pipe to make cleaning easier) But the main challenge is figuring out how to stabilize the sections of pipe where they join so they don't loosen.

Any ideas?

[Harry Chickpea]

To directly answer your question - 3 flathead sheet metal screws at pipe joints.

Do not use a T pipe like that. Use an elbow and if need be a metal bracket. It can be attached with pipe strapping.

Anytime you want to install stovepipe, imagine that stovepipe being cherry red hot, and rattling like the muffler on an old jalopy. If (more likely WHEN) you have a chimney fire, it will be exactly like that. Also, stove pipe must be replaced periodically if you want to be safe. Figure three or four years as a general lifespan. It can vary a lot. When you unscrew one of the sheet metal screws and the hole turns to rust, replace the pipe.

[badlander]

We were wondering about the T connector. EJ our neighbor installed a stove in his workshop using that design.

So we disregard that idea. Should a known it was an Amish thing.

We clean the whole unit from stove to chimney and inspect the chimney pipe twice a year. So far we have had surprisingly little build up so we must be doing something right.

Can you also use sheet metal screw where the pipe connects to the stove? Drilling pilot holes in the stove flange? We have noted some shifting of the pipe there in the past from loading wood in the stove.

[Sawmill Jim]

Hex head sheet metal screws and a cordless drill . Got tired of replacing pipe so found some stainless steel stove pipe .

[Bearfootfarm]

Use self drilling screws and you won't need pilot holes

Also be sure the upper sections fit INSIDE the lower sections , or creosote will run down the outside of the pipes

[Harry Chickpea]

You can drill cast iron, but I'd just rather not unless I absolutely have to. Obviously, you would drill a little oversize and use a bolt and nut and washers at that point to avoid stress directly on the cast iron. Snug down but don't make it real tight.

[oneokie]

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

Also be sure the upper sections fit INSIDE the lower sections , or creosote will run down the outside of the pipes

Is that allowed by code?

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by oneokie

Is that allowed by code?

Why wouldn't it be? This is the way all stovepipe should be fitted together.

[7thswan]

Yes, the crimply edge goes downward.

[badlander]

Not so worried about city codes...there are none where we live. More worried about what the insurance companies want and our own safety. City codes are pussy cats to handle in comparison to insurance codes.

Typical conversation with agent while looking for insurance:

Agent: What type of wiring do you have?

Me: Ummm, none, it is an Amish homestead.

Agent: No, what type of wiring, 110 or 220 it has to be wired with one of those. You do have electricity don't you?

Me: No, it's an AMISH homestead. NO wiring, NO electricity, we are lucky to have an inside toilet.

Agent after a moments silence: Well, what are you using for power?

Me: Generator

Agent: No wiring?

Me: NO WIRING! No 110 No 220 just a generator with extension cords at the moment.

Agent. Oh, we can't insure you if you don't have wiring.

At that point I was ramming my head into the wall and inventing new swear words. What does having on the grid electricity have to do with it? We had everything else. Water on the property, both city and in the form of ponds. There were no problems with our buildings, just the blasted city electricity thing. If it wasn't so serious it would be funny.

The next agent couldn't insure us because we bought the place to cheap. They couldn't replace it for what we paid for it. Therefore, it was uninsurable.

Farm Bureau: You need insurance, no problem. We can do that. No inspections, we will just drive by and take a look. We are at your service. They are nice folks. I recommend any homesteader to check in with them if you need help with any farm oriented problems or needs.

No lie. One agent came out, looked the place over and told us we had to fix the stove pipe like we are doing now. He told us we would have 30 days to do it. No problem. Three days later we get a letter from the company telling us we had 7 days to do the upgrades. That was a problem for two working people who come home exhausted at night and basically stare into space before going to bed to do it all again the next day.

We are so far out in the country that codes aren't a problem. Insurance companies are.