# wood burning stove question



## chrpmaster (May 5, 2004)

I am in the process of finishing my basement. I have a large family room I am completeing and wanted to put in a wood burning stove to provide heat for it. When the house was built they put in a single stone chimney with two flue pipes in it. One for the upstairs fireplace and one for the downstairs. The problem is that they located the downstair flue pipe about ten feet away from where I want to put my wood burner. my question is can I run the stove pipe horizontally about 10' to the flue pipe and then use the existing chimney? any thoughts or sites I could go to for answers?


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## Archdean (Jul 15, 2004)

No No to the horizontal idea!!

talk to a stove dealer in your area and in the meantime this will help get you started!

http://www.ehow.com/how_115706_fix-wood-burning.html


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

A flue pipe that long going horizontally would be unlikely to draw properly not to mention the fire hazard of that much exposed hot pipe. I recommend that you place the wood stove immediately in front of the fireplace flue. If the opening to the fire place is too low to allow the flue pipe to enter without slanting down; you may have to cut a flue pipe thimble into the fire place flue stone which is a tricky proposition. Finding a low profile wood stove would be the best way in this circumstance.


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## HarryG (Mar 28, 2004)

Keep any horizontal to a absolute minimum. Draft is affected and creates a area for creosote to accumulate.


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## chrpmaster (May 5, 2004)

thanks for the responses guys. I kinda thought that was going to be a problem but always like to get advise from others who have more experience in these things than I do. My situation is:

1. that I have an unlimited free (except for my time and labor) source of wood. So wood burning stove would be very economical long term.

2. the chimney is already built and has the unused flue pipe in it which of course is in excellant condition. unfortunatly it comes out in a much smaller room that will eventually be a bedroom near a doorway so the location of the flue is a problem. 

3. I can think of no place to run another chimney flue that would not detract from the look of the house because three sides of the basement are undergrond with only the west facing side exposed. (think of the house being built into the side of a hill with only the upstairs above grade). most of the west side is covered by the walkout slider doors from the basement and a large deck coming of the upstairs family room with the existing fireplace in between.

I really like the idea of a wood burning stove to heat the basement family room for alot of reasons. So I am wondering if there is a way to add some kind of fan to draw the smoke up the flue better than would normally be the case? If I can't get a good solution I will have to forget putting one in but I think it has enough good points to make it worth the effort.

As always any ideas are welcomed.


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## Archdean (Jul 15, 2004)

"Andy said. "I really like the idea of a wood burning stove to heat the basement family room for alot of reasons. So I am wondering if there is a way to add some kind of fan to draw the smoke up the flue better than would normally be the case? If I can't get a good solution I will have to forget putting one in but I think it has enough good points to make it worth the effort.

As always any ideas are welcomed."

Andy in a nutshell the problem is this, in order to keep your flue clean it needs to maintain an internal temperture of around 2000 degrees to prevent the rapid build up of creasote and moisture from not only the wood you burn but from condensation from the outside!!

Creasote (when not if) it catches fire will produce a temperature in excess of 10,000 degrees!! Some moderen high effeciency wood (pellet) type stoves are able to reduce the flue to about 2/1/2 to 4 inches and use a very clean pelitized fiber fuel with zero moisture content!!

I still think you should pay a visit to a knowledgable dealer in your area as they will have the latest answers!


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## chrpmaster (May 5, 2004)

Dean thanks for your ideas. I appreciate your input and looking for a local dealer is my next step. I was hoping to get some ideas for options that someone else has used or seen so that I can go into the dealer with some level of knowledge versus the complete lack of knowledge I have now  

I will do some more searches on the web for other ideas then go find a local dealer to continue the process. Of course when I mentioned my idea to my wife she wasn't sure she even wanted the stove where I was going to put it even if I could get it to work OK :dazed: 

I don't know why I'm surprised :argh:


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## Archdean (Jul 15, 2004)

Andy, A little bit of knowledge is often times worse than no knowledge at all!!

I have installed 7 wood stoves total and each time I have spent at least 4 times the cost of the stove on purchaseing and installing the proper flues !!

I can't caution you enough!! It's that important to your home and your family.

Glad I could be of some limited help!
Dean

PS I heat with wood all winter (pic is in the Other Andys Thread on floors) I gave up on wood stoves long ago and now just use a large masonary FP with 1/4 inch steel doors and sweep the 18 inch chiminey twice a year!! Not the most efficient but by far the safest!!

I found it for you! this is a fireplace located in the center of the house on the first floor with two thermostat controlled blowers!!

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/Archdean/Hardwoodfloor001.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Andy, another option you might consider is a Buckstove fireplace insert. You can find them used for under $400. I sold one about 7 months ago for $300. It just slides right in your exhisting fireplace and has sheetmetal flashing that you install R-19 insultation with to make an air tight seal. The blower is thermostatically controlled and looks alot like the pic Dean posted. 

If you can find a Fisher fireplace insert; that is the "holy grail" of inserts and will pump out monsterous amounts of heat via convection. Fisher is no longer in business but if you can find a used Fisher, they are the best in my opinion. I have one and also a Fisher "Grandma Bear" woodstove. The Fisher fire place insert is REAL heavy. Like upwards of 500 lbs. so you will need King Kong and his entire family to move it. :dazed:


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## chrpmaster (May 5, 2004)

I wanted to post a followup on this topic.

I finally got a woodburing stove dealer to stop out to the house and look over my situation. He said the same thing Dean did that the horizontal run would not work. (way to go Dean!) He said I could either go with an insert in the upstairs fireplace or stove downstairs with a new chimney.

After discussing the options with him I am leaning towards a stove downstairs. It would be lots easier to get a good draw of the smoke and heat the downstairs rooms. plus if I am lucky I may be able to get some additional heat to the upstairs bedrooms which are directly above the downstairs family room. 

The question I had was has anyone installed their own chimneys? It sounds like an easy job to just connect the pipe sections and attach it somehow to the side of the house until it is 5-6 feet above the roof. cut a hole in the wall install the pipe and flanges and connect it to the top of the stove.

Any idea if this is stupid or not?


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## Archdean (Jul 15, 2004)

No my friend it's not stupid , the trick is to use a spindle to go through your wall , I have installed both kinds , metal-bestos which I perfer and air vent!! Not sure if metal-bestos is still legal EPA wise but it is the safest in my opinion!!

Good luck and thanks for the atta-boy !!


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

I am not sure what the latest technology is with stove pipe chimneys but triple wall stove pipe is what I have seen used to run through the ceiling and roof.


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## chrpmaster (May 5, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Archdean _
> *No my friend it's not stupid , the trick is to use a spindle to go through your wall , I have installed both kinds , metal-bestos which I perfer and air vent!! Not sure if metal-bestos is still legal EPA wise but it is the safest in my opinion!!
> 
> Good luck and thanks for the atta-boy !! *


Thanks Dean

What is a spindle?


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