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catia
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2015 02:41pm
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The little house I bought once had a coal stoves for heat, & those vented up a small brick chimney which has 2 flues & is in the center of the house.
In the 90's the owner converted to an oil fueled force air furnace, a Thermo King. It is in fine condtion. It uses 1 of the flues in the chimney.
I want to use the other flue in the chimney for a small wood burning stove.
I have tons of questions about what I will need to do to the chimney, because I do want to do it properly. I want to run a metal flue up through the chimney, but also insulate the entire chimney between the outside of the flue & the brick. I believe I need a 6 inch flue.
Has anyone here DIY'd their old brick chimnet & added metal flue & the pour in aggregate type insulation?
--If yes--please share!
I'm not up to date on all of the proper terms/language for the parts & materials, so will do the best I can to describe what I am wanting to do.
Also have questions about quality SMALL wood burning stoves.
Over the past year, I've read a lot, & 2 stoves keep popping up that seem would suit my purpose & size.
1 is the Moreso Squirrel. #2 is the Hobbit by Salamander.
I've looked at marine wood burning stoves, but the price is beyond what I can afford.
I'm wanting the stove for secondary heat but also would like to have a top to cook on or heat water.
Would like info on all of the releated stuff--like adding mass to hearth to retain heat, user experiences with various stoves.
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Martian
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2015 04:42pm
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I have a Morso Squirrel down in Kansas which heats 550sqft quite well. There have been many meals cooked on it. too. Aside from a small propane heater in the bathroom, it is the only heat source. No problems with it at all.
Tom
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Steve961
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2015 05:08pm
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Another option for a small wood stove is the Jotul 602. Two advantages for this one are that it can take 16" logs, and enough of them have been imported that you can usually find them for a reasonable price on Craigslist if you are diligent. I have a 602 in my cabin and love it.
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rmak
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2015 10:31am
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I wanted to give a second recommendation for the Jotul 602. I thought with my small square footage (192) I would need something smaller. I've used wood heat in two of my homes and I've had the experience in my first of having too big a stove. Being too hot is just as bad as being too cold.
Especially when you can't turn the heat down.
Anyhow, I looked at all kinds of stoves, from the cheap made in China to the exotic super expensive hand cast sailboat variety. I finally settled on the Jotul. First, I have a Jotul fireplace insert in our farmhouse and know it's a quality product. Second, I could buy the stove and parts close to my home. Third, the stove has a shield you can buy that allows for extra close wall clearance. That's important for a small cabin where interior real estate is at a premium. I decided on using the stove with double wall stovepipe to reduce the radiant heat. There are used stoves on craigslist, but I needed to do something before the snow started. The dealer was having a trade in sale so I swapped an old stove I had in the barn for a new 602.
The big problem I had this first winter was that it took too long to bring the cabin up to comfortable temps when I would visit. Maintaining heat is a lot different than raising heat from sub zero to 50 degrees. Got helpful hints on starting small intense kindling fires that has helped a great deal.
No problem with the stove at all. In fact, the more I use it and learn its burn cycle characteristics the more I love it. It's as cute as a bug, if that is of importance to you.
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Steve961
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2015 04:58pm
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rmak:
Interesting that you use double wall pipe for your smaller cabin. I started with double wall on my 602 and was having trouble heating my 450 sq ft cabin. As soon as I went to single wall I had no trouble at all, even down to -10F. I do have the same problem as you where it takes a long time to get the cabin warm when I first arrive. It seems like it takes about 10 hours or so to get everything fully warmed up in the coldest temps.
Another advantage to the 602 I forgot to mention is the integral cookplate. I try to use mine as much as possible in the winter to save on propane for the cooktop.
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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2015 05:10pm
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Nice looking setup, especially like your roll around island....did the same thing.
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catia
Member
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2015 08:49pm - Edited by: catia
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That is a cute little stove.
Anyone DIY their own chimney using a metal flue inside of an existing old brick chimney instead of using the clay tiles?
I have not had the existing chimney inspected yet, but am betting it needs redone-it's the original from 1920's, & from the 20's to the 90's, they burned coal.
I would rather put a metal flue up it, with the surrounding aggregate type pour in insulation stuff that molds around the flue keeping it safer.
This place has LOW ceilings, barely 7.5 ft on the 1st floor, & the 2nd floor is the attic, so maybe about 15 ft of chimney.
From what I can see, judging from the bsmt & the roof, it is 1 chimney with 2 seperate flues.
The brick was plastered over, which I will eventually chip away.
It's an awful & tedious job to get plaster off of brick, especially old original plaster-I did it once before in another house. If anyone has tips to make it go faster--I'd love to know!
Or maybe a better idea would be to leave that rock hard plaster in place & put something over it.
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rmak
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2015 12:45am - Edited by: rmak
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Quoting: Steve961 Interesting that you use double wall pipe for your smaller cabin. I started with double wall on my 602 and was having trouble heating my 450 sq ft cabin. As soon as I went to single wall I had no trouble at all, even down to -10F.
I am thinking about maybe taking 3 foot off the double wall and replacing it with the single to provide more radiant heat as an experiment next winter. I'm less than half of your square footage so it takes me about 3 hours to get comfortable. Another issue I face is all the windows as you can see in the photo. I bought window quilts (a brand name) to insulate the big windows which helps with the warming speed. The recommendation I got here was to build a more intense fire using smaller wood pieces the size of kindling really heats the stove up a lot faster, and hence the cabin.
Do you have any over heating problems with the single wall? I'm concerned that it might be difficult to use the stove in 30-40 degree weather with too much single wall pipe.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2015 05:29pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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Build smaller fires in warmer weather.
We have and love a Vermont Castings Aspen.
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Steve961
Member
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2015 11:23pm
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rmak:
Jotul does make a fireplace screen for the 602 that makes it a less efficient heater. I have one, and it does work, but I usually just make smaller fires like MtnDon recommends.
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catia
Member
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# Posted: 11 Mar 2015 11:41am
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Rant:
The more I speak with friends/coworkers, & compare it to researching myself about what is needed to properly line a chimney & costs etc--the more I am inclined to do as much of the task as possible myself. This way I KNOW what is in there & the quality of the work & materials.
There seems to be a real problem, not just in my area it seems, with chimney repair scams, & it appears to not just be companies that fly by night.
It also seems "legitimate" HVAC companies are able to inflate prices since people are getting ridiculously high bids in the 1st place. Since people don't know what they are dealing with & have been terrified by the scammers, if they forgo updating their wood burning stove, they are willing to pay ridiculous prices.
I guess that's the rub, since they won't do their own independent research, all they know is what they are told by the 'professionals'.
Most people I am talking with are/were getting bids btwn 3k & 5k+ just to reline or install a new flue--for just 1 wood stove!!!
What I am talking about here is people who are just getting bids on a stainless flue installed up their existing masonry chimney. The 3k bid didn't even include an insulation jacket?!
It was single wall stainless 8" flue--
So $3k for $300 in materials at best, & 1 day of work with 2 guys on the job?!
That comes to more that $100 an hour, for each person, even if you factor in overhead/insurance/license etc--crazy!
Also, most are being told that since they will save so much in gas/oil/electric heating, it's a cost they must accept if they want an alternative heat source. Much is also said about not wanting to die from fire or CO poisoning...
I'm beyond disgusted, because I've heard the same story/sales pitch tactics over & over from various people.
Somehow, since heating with wood saves people $$ on their utilities, companies are justifying their costs that way--instead of "we do a quality job & make it safe & to pay our guys a fair price & to give you a guarantee"
Most people I know have dropped the idea of a wood stove because they cannot afford the cost of relining their existing chimneys. A few have stopped using the ones they actually had had, & instead had new furnaces installed--since the price was about the same--incredible & disgusting.
On one hand, I feel that if you don't do your homework & learn what is actually needed, it's your own fault, but on the other hand, if your paying for what you believe is a professional's opinion, you should be properly informed.
And yes, some of these people paid for their estimates, others received them "for free" when paying companies to do a chimney cleaning & inspection. The chimney cleaning & inspection being used as a foot in the door...
What have your experiences been? what costs have you incurred? Either as DIY or hiring out.
I'm not trying to be cheap, I have no problem paying a fair & honest price for proper work, but I'm not sensing proper work or honest prices. I'm detecting deceptive practices & fear mongering to inflate the cost of the job, & it's not an isolated event.
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