Draft Management, Steel Chimney, Flue Sizing

Vermont Castings Madison

Draft Management

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 stove 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 differ- ence, 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 with the stove’s air inlets fully open indicates a weak draft. A brisk ﬁre, supported only by air entering the stove through the normal inlets, indicates a good draft. The inlets are passive; they regulate how much air can enter the stove, but they do not move 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 collar

-determine how quickly it will warm up and how well it will sustain the optimum temperatures necessary to maintain strong draft and efﬁcient combustion. Here fol- lows a description of various ﬂue system characteristics and 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 become 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 com- pounded if the chimney is located outside the home or if the chimney ﬂue has a cross-sectional size 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. Although steel chimneys are not as attractive as their masonry counterparts, they are very durable and gener- ally outperform masonry.

Inside/Outside Location

Because the chimney’s function is to keep the smoke warm, it is best to locate it inside the house. This loca- tion uses the house as insulation for the ﬂue and allows some radiant heat release from the ﬂue into the home. Since an interior chimney does not continuously lose its heat to the outdoors, it takes less heat from the stove 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 over- sized 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 disappoint- ing. The best solution to an oversize ﬂue problem is the installation 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 ex- haust 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 performance 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.

30001453