Our house came with a Franklin stove, which was improperly installed. The clearance behind the stove was not adequate, and there was an electrical outlet back there that was pretty much melted. One has to wonder how the house did not burn down. When we re-built the living room area, I decided to move the location of the wood stove, then though better of it and bought a whole new wood stove. I did quite a bit of research on installing and using a wood burning appliance, and while we did it ourselves, I don’t recommend it to the uninitiated. I purchase a very good book called “The Wood Burner’s Companion” by Dirk Thomas. I found this book to have loads of information and safety tips for people who heat with wood.

One thing about installing any wood burning appliance in the state of New York; it requires a building permit. This is for the home owner’s protection. A building permit ensures that the installation will be inspected by a building inspector. This, in turn, ensures that the installation will be done correctly, which means the Insurance Company will not have any problems with insuring the structure, and if the worst case happens, paying out the claim on a damaged structure.

An improperly installed wood burning appliance can create Carbon Monoxide (CO), a deadly, colorless, odorless gas that will kill humans and any other red blooded animal. An improperly installed chimney will fill your house up with smoke and can create structural fires. If you are unsure of what you are doing, hire a professional. You should have a working CO and smoke detector installed and tested regularly. There should be an all purpose fire extinguisher located near the appliance, and the required maintenance must be performed. The chimney must be cleaned once a year.

The first thing I did was read, then re-read the installation instructions in the owner’s manual. This gave all of the information on required clearances for the appliance. I researched on line for the required clearances for the connector pipe, hearth size, wall protection, and chimney installation. I chose to install Simpson DuraTech HT class A chimney. This is rated at 2100 degrees F, which, under normal conditions, the chimney should never reach. The chimney installation instructions were also quite detailed, and included a list of all required parts and clearances to keep the chimney in a “listed” state. Listed means that it has been tested and listed by the Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) as an assembly. If you use different components from different manufactures, even though they look and function the same, the assembly is not listed, and should not pass inspection by the building inspector. Seems a little nit picky, but it really is for safety reasons.

It is very important the the chimney have the correct inside diameter, neither too small or too large. If it is too small it will not have enough volume to remove all of the smoke from the wood stove and it will over heat. If it is too large, it will not heat up properly, causing draft problems and creosote buildup. Creosote is a bad hombre and is to be avoided at all costs.

The instructions for the Jotul Nordic F100 are very detailed. We installed our stove in a corner with protective shields on the walls per NFPA 211. The clearances give for the corner installation stipulate that the stove must be not closer that 7 inches (178 MM) from the wall surface if the protective shields are installed. Our stove is about 8.5 inches (215 MM) away. The next area is the clearance around the stove connector pipe. This is very important because the connector pipe gets almost as hot as the stove. Our wall shield are 48 inches (609 MM) tall, so part of the wall is exposed behind the stove. Using a single wall connector pipe requires 18 inches (457 MM) of clearance between the pipe and the wall. Double wall connector pipe requires 5 inches (127 MM) of clearance. We are using Simpson DVL close clearance connector which is a double wall pipe.

I purchased the following items for the chimney assembly:

(All sizes are 6 inch inside diameter)

The class A chimney installation was straight forward. The chimney is supported by a support box which is installed between ceiling joists. The chimney goes up through the center of the house just off center of the ridge vent. The chimney requires two inches of clearance from any combustible material.

A attic insulation shield is required in an open attic so that insulation does not come in contact chimney. A locking band is required to join the two four foot sections together. On the roof, a vented adjustable flashing attached to the roof.

The chimney passes through this flashing and rises 3 feet above the roof line. A storm collar goes around the chimney to prevent water from entering the flashing vents or running down the chimney.

I purchased the following items for the stove pipe connector assembly:

(all sizes 6 inches in diameter)

The connector pipe assembly was also straight forward. Each piece is secured with three sheet metal screws to the next piece. This is very important because the connector pipe expands and contracts as it heats up and cools down. If the pieces are not fully secured they can work themselves apart and you would not want that to happen. The stove adaptor is available without a damper. I had to use two 45 degree angle elbows to make the connection to the chimney support box in the ceiling.

The real test for for a chimney installation is whether or not it drafts properly. When I am lighting a fire or putting more wood in the stove, no smoke comes into the house. With no fire in the wood stove, I can feel an up draft at the chimney exit on the roof, if I put my hand near the chimney cap and the stove door is open.

For some very good information about installing wood burning appliances, check out this article at Hearth.com

Popularity: 10% [?]