I can't afford triple wall stovepipe and I have two used wood stoves. Moreover, I can't afford the through-the-wall stovepipe kits. Does anybody have any poor boy solutions that will be safe but efficient, even if ugly? Help!

-- Mark (su4040@aol.com), October 21, 1999

Answers

You only need triple wall for the piping in the house and so you can have the stove closer to the wall. You can go to double wall but the stove has to be quite aways from the wall. We used triple wall from the stove to the outside and double wall up the outside. I would give some serious thought to the chances of causing a fire by cutting corners.

Check with a couple of local stove companies and get their recommendations. We found that we can buy the pipe from a local Amish hardware store cheaper, but used the regular stove stores to get the specifications we needed.

Insurance companies have requirements you have to meet in case you burn the house down so they will pay. Just a thought.

-- beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), October 21, 1999.

go to a junkyard and get a piece of really heavy pipe. You'll probably need a drill to make a hole in it for the damper.

-- me (me@me.com), October 21, 1999.

Mark,

In my part of the country, we use plain, black stovepipe from the stove to the ceiling, drop a metal box throught the ceiling and attach the double/triple wall pipe in the box to the outside. Seems to meet the codes in SD and I haven't had any problems with my three woodstoves in 4 years. Be sure to clean the pipe regularly to avoid creosote(sp) buildup. The 3' black pipe sells here for around $3.25 per section, double/triple 3' section is about $32.00, ceiling box, I think runs about $18 to $22. Rain cap/spark arrestor is $32.00.

Most folks here install the stove 2' from wall then put cement blocks in a "U" shape around the back and sides of stove with the holes in the blocks up. Keeps the heat off the wall, acts as a heat sink to dissapate warmth during the night, lets you install closer to walls and looks terrible but does the job!

-- Goatlady (MRealty@aol.com), October 21, 1999.

I personnally wouldn't go through the ceiling as there is too many problems with water(snow) leaking. If you keep the stoves far enough away from the walls (usually 36" from a combustible wall) set the stove on a wide hearth of brick, build reflecting panels of light weight metal for around the stove to reflect the heat into the room, use a ceramic thimble surrounded by fiberglass insulation, go through the wall to the outside 3', 90degree to 2' above roof line, secure well with metal strapping to house/eave, you can use black pipe for complete system. Not pretty, but works and is reasonably safe. ***Absolutely plan to clean regularily*** I think every three weeks is sufficient, but if you are at all concerned about creosote buildup, plan on every 14 days. I know this system works, as I've done it before I got my new fangled, code compliant system of triple wall insulated pipe. good luck.

-- Bill (Bill@SHF.com), October 21, 1999.

mark, try this solution to your poormans stovepipe problem. Get a 6 inch pipe and place it inside a 7 inch pipe,but wrap the 6 in with a batting insulation without the paper vapor barrier,then place the 7 inch pipe over the 6 in. cut a hole in side of house 7-1/4" and get two metal pipe covers( like the ones used for water pipes) (sp) "scussions" . these will help in blocking out the cold air from coming in. Triple wall pipe is used usually used going thru a wall and then a regular thickness up from the house 90'elbow... Do check with a heat/ac people to be sure, you could also check out new home construction sites and look at how they put a fireplace pipe to meet code.

-- Furie (furieart@dnet.net), October 21, 1999.