Pipe & Chimney Layout
Every turn the smoke must take in its travel from the stove to the chimney top will slow it down. The ideal pipe and chimney layout is straight up from the stove, to a completely straight chimney. If you’re starting from scratch, use this layout if possible. If the stove- pipe must elbow to enter a chimney, locate the thimble about midway between the stove top and the ceiling. This achieves several goals: it lets the smoke speed up before it must turn, it leaves some pipe in the room for heat transfer, and it gives you
There should be no more than eight feet of
Single Venting
Each ‘airtight’ stove requires its own flue. If an airtight stove is vented to a flue that also serves an open fire- place, or a leakier stove, it’s easier for the chimney draft to pull air in through those channels than it is to pull air through the airtight, and performance suffers. Imagine a vacuum cleaner with a hole in the hose to see the ef- fect here. In some cases the other appliance can even cause a negative draft through the airtight, and result in a dangerous draft reversal.
Creosote
Creosote is a
Because letting the smoke cool off and slow down is one of the keys to creosote production, it makes sense to line a chimney to match the stove’s outlet size, for safety reasons as well as performance. Canadian law requires a matching liner to serve any stove or insert vented through a fireplace chimney; in the US, the National Fire Protection Association recommends one if the flue is more than three times bigger (in square area) than the outlet on the stove or insert. Some localities enforce the NFPA guidelines as part of their building codes.
Vermont Castings Intrepid
Fuel
Even the best stove installation will not perform well with poor fuel. The best fuel is hardwood that has air- dried
Dry wood burns readily with a good chimney draft. But with modern stoves, especially catalytic ones, the wood can be too dry. While
If you hear a rumbling or roaring noise, like a propane torch, from the stove, that is a sign that the catalyst is seriously overfiring. The catalyst is a platinum film on a ceramic base; the metal can get to higher temperatures than the ceramic can take, and overfiring the catalyst can break it. Dry wood can also burn out faster than you want. If your dry wood burns out too quickly or overloads the catalyst you can mix in greener wood to slow the fire down.
Backpuffing
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