Question for wood burners

[Reg]

Mods, if this is in the wrong area, please put where it needs to be.

A quick question for those in the flock who burn wood to heat their homes.
Am thinking of adding a wood burner to help with the winter heating and cut some of the propane bill but have some questions about draw and chimney.
Want to use a stainless steel chimney liner because our old chimney is pushing 100 years old. Was well made at the time and has a tile liner that measures 6 1/2" on the inside. Checking with suppliers,it seems the "T"'s for 6" liner are actually about 6 3/8" on the outside and because of the usual misalignment of the tiles during construction it was recommended that we go to a smaller liner. 5" actually as the 5 1/2" "T"'s are the same 6 3/8" on the OD as the 6' are.
Because the house is two story the total height of the chimney ( I want a clean out in the basement ) will be roughly 32 feet, basement to top.
Most wood burning stoves it seems are set up for a 6" pipe.
I guess my question is, will the system develop enough "draw" for it to work properly.
I worry about this 1" stepdown. The liner that will be used will be the 316 smooth wall so this should give a better draw but will it be enough?
Thanks for any info you can give.
Reg

[Bullshop Junior]

5" should be fine, as that is a pretty long length of pipe.

[Bullshop]

The efficiency of draw will depend on the length of pipe, outside temp, and weather you have a high or low pressure weather system. Colder temp and lower pressure will draw better than the opposite. Longer pipe length between burn chamber and exaust draws better than shorter. The outlet of the pipe has to be higher than any roof trusses that may cause air turbulence to the pipe under windy conditions. Air turbulence thus created will cause back drafting especially in windy high pressure conditions.
Install your system with an outside air intake to the burn chamber and keep the pipe clean by using Red Devil creosote destroyer in the burn and you should be good.

[Reg]

I take it then that the longer length of pipe will actually work in my favor ? Had it in my head the other way around. Also the mfgr. says the very smooth interior of the pipe should give it a 20 percent increase in efficiency.
If no one knows of any different then this looks like a go.
Thanks
Reg

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Yep, longer is better for draft, is my understanding as well.

I have a house that's similar, 2 story with full 3rd story attic. My "class 3" brick chimney has no liner, so I had no issue with the one piece 6" stainless steel liner I had installed. while I have no idea what your stove's requirements will be in regards to draft, my 20 year old "Century" air tight wood stove get's lots more draft then needed. When I start a fire with the door cracked open, it's like a tornado in the firebox :shock:
Good Luck,
Jon

[Reg]

Seems like everyone is in agreement with this as far as the draft goes. Have never messed much with wood so really didn't have any idea. I thank all who responded.
Did finally contact a fellow at a supply house this afternoon to get the order finalized and it was kind of funny. More than anything he was concerned with a code for this and a code for that, you can only do this if you do that and it must be reported to such and such a person in the town where I resided. Finally had to tell him don,t worry, just ship it. I don't live in a town don't even live near a town and codes ????? " We ain't go no stinkling codes !!!" Just ship it.

[RED333]

That will draw a rag wadded up, you will be fine.

[trails4u]

I would recommend adding a barometric draft regulator. They're not necessary....but they do add some control over the amount of negative pressure your flue will draw. In your case....it may be beneficial at times to slow your draft, which a regulator will allow you to do. I can't imagine trying to run my wood furnace without it. I'm sure you can get all you need without one.....but it will increase efficiency of wood use and allow you greater control of burn rate/temp.

My 0.02... :)

[Reg]

No, there will be no "sharing" on the chimney. My only thought for now is to make a good chimney even safer. I do want it set up however that if the need should arise some day in the future that we must burn wood then it will be the safest and best way to go and also at which time every thing else will be disconnected and plugged.

Will keep that barometric draft regulator in mind, sounds like it could be a good idea.

[OBIII]

Also remember to burn well seasoned hardwood. Pine is a no-no (other than for starting or emergencies) unless you want to clean your chimney frequently. Green wood will also accelerate the creosote accumulation. A liner is a good thing, as I have heated my home for 31 years with wood, and never had chimney issues once I had liners and triple wall pipe installed. Three chimney fires with terracotta lined and brick lined flues.

OB

[Wayne Smith]

Terracotta and Brick lined flues need to be cleaned every year if used regularly and every other if used infrequently. My fireplace is used infrequently, I will clean it in the spring. That's cleaned with a brush, the fireplace sealed with plastic.

[historicfirearms]

I installed a stainless chimney myself in our last house. We lived way out in the country but there was still code that we had to follow. Do what you wish about having it inspected, I would have just done it my way because I hate government intrusion. The decision to follow code was based on my house insurance company. If the house had burned down because of some code that wasn't followed, wether it actually was or just accused, the insurance would not have paid out.

On a related subject, my insurance premiums did not go up one cent when I installed the wood burner. I had always been told that wood burners insurance was higher, but even after declaring the new wood burning stove to the insurance company, my rates did not change.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Homeowners insurance is a crazy subject for me.

When I first started burning wood (1998), the carrier I had at the time would have doubled my policy cost, according to my independent agent, when he was inspecting my house/woodstove setup. I had a unlined class 3 chimney and my agent said it'd have to be upgraded to get any coverage...but then he whispered to me, "if we never had this conversation, and you burn wood in that stove with that unlined chimney, the insurance will cover your first house fire, even though it isn't declared that you are burning wood in your policy, because of the courts..." he then said, "You'll never get normal priced home owners coverage ever again, and to get it, you'll have to sign a statement that you'll never heat with solid fuel...and other things that apply to common house fire risk"

So I flew under the radar for a couple years. Then that carrier dropped the region I live in, and my agent said it was nothing about me, they dropped the whole area. when looking for new coverage, My agent found a carrier that would insure me for a very reasonable price and heating with solid fuel wasn't a surcharge on the policy...but I had to get a class one liner to up to code to qualify for the coverage. that's the year I had a stainless liner installed. Been happy with it ever since.
That's my 2¢,
Jon

[Akheloce]

Also remember to burn well seasoned hardwood. Pine is a no-no (other than for starting or emergencies) unless you want to clean your chimney frequently. Green wood will also accelerate the creosote accumulation. A liner is a good thing, as I have heated my home for 31 years with wood, and never had chimney issues once I had liners and triple wall pipe installed. Three chimney fires with terracotta lined and brick lined flues.

OB

I respectfully disagree.

While you are absolutely correct in principle- softwood creates more creosote, in reality, it's not a big deal.

Where I live, spruce (like pine for your lower 48ers) is the only wood available. I've been burning it for 10 years exclusively. Yes, it creates creosote, and I clean my chimney usually every year. This process takes 5 minutes, and is usually a not necessary, but eases the conscience. As a rule, I run a creosote removal powder- available at home stores, I toss a small amount in every 2 or three burns, and tap my chimney to let the creosote dust fall I to the stove.

What is most important in managing creosote, is to not allow the gasses coming out of the stove to cool down. The hotter the flue stays, the less creosote. This means keeping the pipe insulated as much as possible, and limit long, slow burns when possible (which does not mean never- I usually choke mine down for a long slow burn every night during the winter).

[w5pv]

I have been burning wood for all my life(over 70 years) and no fires,about once a week build the hottest fire with dry wood as you can and it will keep the cresote and other tars burnt out.If you have to burn green wood try to keep some dry seasoned wood on top,it will help to keep that tars and cresote out.My dad used this and taught us to do the same.I use dry oak limbs about 2 inches in diameter to build my hot fires with,I save the limbs just for this purpose.Try to it hot enough to get granny to shed house coat and complain about the heat.

[FISH4BUGS]

We had a 6" insultated stainless chimney professionally installed with our Jotul Norsk woodstove at 30 feet high. We heat the house with wood with propane only as a backup. The prior owner (who inherited the house from his parents when he was 21) tore out the chimneys because he had to bring in wood when he was a kid and HATED it. It had been in his family since it was built in 1791, and we are the first non-family members to own it. I am grateful for every minute of the day being able to live here.
I went out and got quotes on new homeowner's insurance (which I do about every two or three years or when they piss me off with a rate increase) and when they did the inspection, they were fine with it.
They were interested in the professional installation more than anything. I showed them the invoices and certifications of the materials and they were fine.
There is something very comforting about a wood stove. You know you will have heat no matter what. We burn 6-7 cords of wood a season, and get our deliveries starting next week. 2 cords per week for 3+ weeks of air dried wood. Our dealer also has kiln dried but air dried is fine with me. It was cut over the winter and processed in the spring so it has been drying for some 6 months.
Annual cleaning is mandatory just to be safe.