Wood/Pellet Stove venting options....?

[zinfendel]

About this time every year (-2.4F last night) I start dreading my gas bill. Paid over $500 last Jan....

I have a house (1997 const) with a family room with a large slanted ceiling, 22ft high at the peak (half "A"), and no fireplace in the house. My gas furnace it power side vented out of the basement sill.

Originally I was looking at pellet stoves and was told they could be side vented (my brother in law has one installed that way), but with the rising price of pellets and my 3+ acre lot of wooded land, I'm thinking wood stove.

Can I side vent a wood stove? Would seem unlikely, but if so, what are the rules? It would be all but impossible to come out the side and then go up with B vent to above the roofline (30+ ft).

I would prefer not to penetrate the ceiling/roof, and would expect that any "above roofline" codes would still apply.

I am in MA, is an inspection required for any install? I would want to be compliant and make sure my insurance company is happy.

I can post pics of the location/walls I am thinking of installing the stove in, I know more details might be needed.

Are there any sites which show/discuss non-chimney wood stove venting options and codes?

TIA

JH

[suemarkp]

I think you can vent through a side wall, but you need a minimum vertical stack for the chimney to draft right and the chimney needs to get above the roof line (so on the outside wall it needs to bend up again). New stoves require insulated chimneys in most cases. I really tried to put a woodstove in my basement, but no one will try to put a stainless steel liner in my 6x10 clay lined abandoned oil chimney. I may be able to do it with resources I've found online, but I hate to drop $400 on a chimney liner only to find I can't get it around a bend in the chimney (or rip it apart trying).

Here's a decent fireplace/stove forum site:
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewcategory/1/

The Hearth Room forum is the most general and seems to be one of the main ones where questions are asked.

[zinfendel]

I understand the need for vertical to create draft, but from where I would side vent, the roof line (peak) is probably 30+ ft, and 20+ ft away horizontally. What do codes say about horizontal proximity?

I can take pics and post, if neeeded, its an atypical setup....

[Bumblerazz]

As Marc says, you can side vent, but only after a vertical section over the fireplace (I think the min is around 2' or one full sized section of flue pipe). Once outside, proximity is not much of an issue as code says that the exterior stack is insulated to prevent radiant heat. I think there is a minimum distance required, around 6" or 7". Your maximum will depend on how strong a draft you want, the more horizontal the less draft you get.

You will also have to have a "clear-out" at the bottom of the exterior vertical section, i.e.: as the horizontal section exits the house, use a T section with the bottom capped. This removable cap makes cleaning the flue very easy and significantly reduces the soot getting into the house during the cleaning.

You can see what you might need from the attached pictures. I got them from a site I used when trying to plan my own stove: http://www.fireplacecenter.com/Chimneys/planner.htm

1885 1886

[Bumblerazz]

...put a woodstove in my basement, but no one will try to put a stainless steel liner in my 6x10 clay lined abandoned oil chimney. I may be able to do it with resources I've found online, but I hate to drop $400 on a chimney liner only to find I can't get it around a bend in the chimney (or rip it apart trying).


Marc, I had the same worries when I had the liner put into my old clay tile chimney. They opened the clean out at the bottom and rammed a "practice" piece down (an old steel pipe of the right diameter attached to some 2X4's) and removed the pieces of tile that fell out. It worked rather well and the real sleeve went in without a hitch. I guess you try a chord with a weight to see how bad the corners and crooks are, as long as there isn't birds nest somewhere along the way!