Stainless Steel Chimney?

I have a stoker stove on order (LL Pioneer Top Vent), and am going to be installing it in my finished basement. My thinking all along was to go with a power vent through the foundation wall. This limited me in where I can locate the stove in my basement, because of clearances and the layout of my house.

Any way, my question is, can I buy stainless steel chimney pipe and have an outside chimney with just the pipe, in place of a masonary chimney? Has anyone done this and is it cost effective vs. a power venter. Is there any info available regarding clearances, etc. (the exterior of my house is vinyl siding).

As always, thanks for all the help. This forum is priceless for all the great info.

Stainless pipe will work fine exposed on the outside and I would prefer it to a power vent myself. When you choose the chimny be sure that the warranty covers coal fired appliances

The magic of the internet will bring answers to all your chimney questions at: http://hartshearth.com/chimney/UltraPro.htm After tens of hours of surfing the net and perusing all the chimney info I could find(2 very old masonry chimneys,1-35 year old block chimney)the most cost effective route for me turned out to be a powerventer for my LL Pioneer. RichB

My objection to a power venter is no power,no vent. I realise that the stoker stove its self won't run but I would still worry about products of combustion backing up into my living space in the event of a blackout (happens a lot here).

That is one of my concerns as well. I would also avoid the maintenance of the power venter. And eventually, I'd have to replace the power venter - I don't know what the life span is on a powerventer but since it's running constantly during the burn season it's gotta die sometime.

I lived with a power venter on an oil fired boiler for 10 years. I got it because it was cheaper and I didn't want to give up the floor space that a chimney would take. It worked great for a couple of months, then started to vibrate. Soot would collect on the squirril cage fan & throw it off balance. So, for 10 years, every 8 or 9 months I'd have to take it apart & clean the fan. Not an easy job at all. Eventually we put an addition on the house & it covered the power venter so I did away with it and had a chimney built. I wish now I'd skipped living room carpet & used that money for a chimney. After the chimney went on line my electric bill dropped about $10 a month.

That being said, and noting that a direct vent is a different animal than a powerventer, unless you NEED a powerventer, get yourself a chimney. If you're adding coal and want the old oil unit as a back up I guess a power venter wouldn't be a bad idea for the oil because it wouldn't be used too much. Hey! I think that's the answer! A power venter is a good item if it's not used.

I have had a power vent on my oil boiler for 10 years (and it is used in the summer for domestic hot water as well) and have had zero problems. Never even cleaned it.

I wonder what it does to the efficiency, does it suck the heat out?