Coalcast Ep9: "Venting, Dampers and Flue Pipe" - November 5th, 2009

The topic for our ninth live broadcast will be "Venting, Dampers and Flue Pipe".

In this show the discussion will be about venting with focusing on dampers, flue pipes, chimneys and power venting. The show will cover different options for both stokers and hand fired stoves as well as safety issues.

List of Archived Shows

What would be great would be to have some figures on how much a traditional masonary chimney would cost versus a steel, prefabricated unit. The benefits long term and short term could be discussed along with the short and long term benefits of power venting versus the more traditional options.

Will

Masonry chimneys are over $200/foot last time I checked. My metal 6" cost me $25/foot plus $25 per hour labor (4 hours) and it draws real good. Bought pipe on sale usu $35/foot. Masonry not as safe tends to age and mortar fall out of joints.

If you do your own labor you could build a 28ft for about 27.00 a foot and it will outlast you and your kids.

Masonry or steel? At the rates for steel it's about the same for a power vent vs steel. I assume you need to run a certain number of feet above the peak of the roof. M installation would be more difficult since my vent is under my deck in the back of the house. Maybe I could get the chimney installer to put up my antenna too! Here in the capital district there are lots of free digital channels compared to most of upstate NY. I imagine Buffalo are is pretty good too. Used to get a lot of Canadian channels when I lived there.

Masonry, But you have to do the labor!

You can't beat tile lined masonary. I installed a clay lined chimney, refractory cement at every joint on the clay liner as well as skim coating the footing with refractory prior to setting the first tile. This chimmney is 30 years old, and shows no signs for wear. Periodically I have to visit the top, meaning the chimney cap and surrounding bricks about every 10 years or so. Stainless chimney cap is a must. Also the gap between the tile and the surrounding block is insulated with mineral insulation, by the way the mason said this was all unecesary, but I stuck to my guns and the results are showing. I was 21 and did not know anything, and now 51 and know something. Go figure

I would love to hear your recommendation on the best setting for the barometric damper for various hand fired stoves.
I have a Harman Mark II and the weight on my barometric damper is set at 6" WC. Some I've talked to think this is too low, some say it's too high.
I seem to have good results with this, but sometimes I think maybe I'm pulling too much heat out of the stove. But then I think it's better than having fumes push out through the doors.
I would love to hear your opinion on this.

Second issue for possible discussion: I live on the side of a mountain, and sometimes when the wind blows down the mountain I lose draft on my 30 foot masonry chimney. I made an oversized (18' x 18") chimney cap to help stop this. It seems to work. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

Of course if you don't want to discuss this, feel free to discard both ideas.

pine grove coal user wrote:I would love to hear your recommendation on the best setting for the barometric damper for various hand fired stoves.

Something like that would be impossible to cover because there is so many variables in different makes and models let alone particular environmental circumstances.

Will my stainless chimney really just rust away? Is there a good way to protect it in the off season?

Thanks again for the great show!!!

Does it make sense to put a T at the bottom of the flue instead of the 90. for easier cleaning?

The flue starts at the back of the stove with a 90 elbow. then strait up.

What about CO detectors? Are these a good idea?

Don't you get back draft down the chimney and out the stove into the basement during the summer if you don't disconnect the chimney?
That's my problem.

Thanks guys....

Yes thanks again for great show Paul V and thank you Paul W for the great explanations.

Recording will posted sometime shortly if you missed it.