There’s a wonderful, magical place about 35 miles away, with a McDonalds and a Safeway, the coolest alcohol, tobacco and firearms store in the known universe, and a darned good hardware store that sells wood stoves.
That last place has been much on my mind lately. They sell a stove that is just barely in my price range, and I’m finishing up a keyboard gig that could put one in my cabin. But I got to talking about that with my neighbors D&L yesterday afternoon, and they asked, “How much will the stovepipe cost?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I need ten or twelve feet of six-inch double-wall, and I haven’t priced it yet.” The current stove uses eight-inch, though everything going through the ceiling is six-inch. I occasionally do some things right, just to keep the universe guessing.
So D pops his cell phone off his belt. He and L are the only people I know who have a hardware store on speed-dial.
“How much for ten feet of six-inch double-wall stovepipe?” he asked the phone. “Uh huh…Uh huh…Okay, thanks.” He folded the phone and announced, “$306.”
I believe my exact response was “eep.”
That’s half again as much as the stove itself, and effectively put the whole project out of my financial reach.
“Yeah,” said D, “But why do you want double-wall? You’ve already got double-wall through the ceiling, right? So use single-wall up to the ceiling box, and then you’re not throwing away all that heat.”
I have always assumed I’d replace the current (single-wall) stovepipe with double-wall because…well, because that’s official or something. I don’t know. But it’s not as though any of this has to pass any inspection other than “Did it burn your house down?”
Out came the cell phone again. “How much for ten feet of single-wall?” The answer turned out to be a hair over $100, which is what I’d originally guessed. That put the project at about $350 with tax, and that’s doable. I’ve got well over half that much already coming, and the rest is in sight.
So there may be a genuine factory-built stove in the Lair’s near future: Possibly this very winter. My aching fingers are happy with that.
Congratulations! Zoe will simply have to find a different warm spot, I suspect. 🙂
Yeah. When you light your stove and come back half an hour later to find your kitten laying on top to warm her toesies, it’s time to do something about your heating plant.
You are correct that, according to the National Fuel Gas Code, the flue should be double-walled. However, IF you maintain enough clearance around the flue, i.e. nothing combustible within 18 inches; IF you have double wall through the roof penetration AND 1″ clearance around the double wall; and, IF you keep it meticulously clean of creosote, you’ll probably be fine.
The big problem as I see it is that juniper is a soft wood. It doesn’t burn hot enough to keep creosote buildup from forming pretty rapidly. As you found out last year. You MUST do something about creosote buildup. Maybe burning those special logs (may be pricey) regularly, or cleaning the flue regularly and OFTEN. I know the juniper is available and cheap (read free), but it does cause some problems.
Sorry it’s a bit long-winded, but I used to be a licensed Master Gas Fitter and installed and serviced heating equipment. The code contains all kinds of information on heating sources and venting, and the test (it’s the government) of course had questions on wood-fired heating. I’ve also seen the results of burning soft woods in a stove. I’m from southern Georgia where there is plenty of pine and not much else.
You’re not as good-looking as Tam, but we do enjoy reading your screeds. Stay safe.