Your stove is only one part of a system that includes the chimney, the operator, the fuel, and the home. The other parts of the system will affect how well the stove works. When there is a good match between all the parts, the system works well.
Wood stove operation depends on natural (unforced) draft. Natural draft occurs when exhaust gas is hotter (and therefore lighter) than the outdoor air at the top of the chimney. The greater the temperature difference, the stronger the draft. As the hot exhaust gas rises out of the chimney, it generates suction that draws air into the stove for combustion. A slow, lazy fire when the stove’s air inlets are fully open indicates a weak draft. A brisk fire, supported only by air entering the stove through the air inlets, indicates a good draft. The inlets are passive; they regulate how much air can enter the stove, but they don’t force air into it.
The efficiency of a modern woodburning appliance, (in which the amount of air available for combustion is regulated), depends on the chimney to keep exhaust gases warm all the way outdoors. The characteristics of your chimney - whether it is steel or masonry, interior or exterior, matched or mismatched to the stove outlet,
-determine how quickly it will warm up and how well it will sustain the optimum temperatures necessary to main- tain strong draft and efficient combustion. Here follows a description of various flue system characteristics and the related effects on stove performance.
Masonry Chimney
Although masonry is the traditional material used for chimney construction, it can have distinct performance disadvantages when used to vent a controlled-combus- tion woodstove. Masonry forms an effective ‘heat sink’ - that is, it absorbs and holds heat for long periods of time.
The large mass, however, may take a long time to be- come hot enough to sustain a strong draft. The larger the chimney (in total mass), the longer it will take to warm up. Cold masonry will actually cool exhaust gases enough to diminish draft strength. This problem is worse if the chimney is located outside the home or if the chimney flue has a cross-sectional volume much larger than the stove outlet.
Steel Chimney
Most factory-made ‘Class A’ steel chimneys have a layer of insulation around the inner flue. This insulation keeps the smoke warm and protects the surrounding structure from the high flue temperatures. Because the insulation is less dense than masonry, the inner steel liner warms up more quickly than a masonry chimney; this makes the steel chimney support a good draft more quickly than masonry does. Steel chimneys are not as attractive as masonry, but they are very durable and generally outper-
form masonry. 28
Indoor/ Outdoor Location
Because the chimney’s function is to keep the smoke warm, it is best to locate it inside the house. This location uses the house as insulation for the flue and allows some radiant heat release from the flue into the home. Since an interior chimney doesn’t continuously lose its heat to the outdoors, less heat from the stove is required to get it warm and keep it warm.
Flue Sizing
The flue size for a controlled-combustion appliance should be based on the cross-sectional volume of the stove flue outlet. In this case, more is definitely not better. Hot gases lose heat through expansion; if a stove with a six-inch flue collar (28 square inch area) is vented into a 10” x 10” flue, the gases will expand to over three times their original volume. As gases cool with expansion, draft strength decreases. If an oversized flue is also outside the house, the heat it absorbs will be conducted to the outdoor air and the flue will remain relatively cool.
It is common for a masonry flue to be oversized for the stove. Such a chimney can take quite a while to warm up and the stove performance will likely be disappointing. The best solution to an oversize flue problem is the instal- lation of an insulated steel chimney liner of the same diameter as the appliance flue outlet. The liner keeps the exhaust gas warm and the result is a stronger draft. An uninsulated liner is a second choice - although the liner will keep the exhaust restricted to its original volume, the air around the liner will require time and heat energy to warm up.
Check your local codes. You may be required to install a flue liner in any oversize or masonry flue.
Pipe & Chimney Layout
Every bend in the flue will act as a brake on the exhaust as it flows from the firebox to the chimney cap. The ideal pipe and chimney layout is straight up from the stove through a completely straight chimney. Use this layout if at all possible as it will promote optimum stove perfor- mance and simplify maintenance.
If the stovepipe must elbow to enter a chimney, locate the elbow about midway between the stove top and the chimney thimble. This configuration lets the smoke speed up before it must turn, keeps some pipe in the room for heat transfer, and allows long-term flexibility for installing a different appliance without relocating the thimble.
There should be no more than eight feet of single-wall stove pipe between the stove and a chimney. Longer runs can cool the smoke enough to cause draft and creosote problems. Use double-wall stove pipe for longer runs.
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