decided to buy a stoker. chimney question

Well i'm tired of getting jacked for home heating oil so i decided to get a coal stove this summer. i stopped by my local dealer and they recommended either the Keystoker 90 or the Harman Magnum. I have a two story house with a full basement. i am planning on installing it in my basement and tying it in to my existing ductwork. My question is on the chimney. i was toldby the dealer i needed a stainless chiney that would need to run to the height of the roofline. Looking at the price of s.s. chiney pipe that will be one expensive chiney on a two story house. my oil furnace just has an exaust outlet mounted to the side of the house. do i really need a super tall chimney? If so i see the install and chinmey costing more than the unit itself.

You don't have a chimney now? You don't need a stainless steel chimney necessarily, terra cotta and block is fine. Actually better because you don't have to worry about it rotting out over time. Not sure how the cost compares to SS. Be sure to check how your local building codes apply, I'm only saying that because I don't want to steer someone into something that some ridiculous local law forbids.

I'm pretty sure you can power vent the Keystoker or the Harman but that is not an ideal setup long term. It's also a lot more maintenance.

no i have no chimney now.The oil furnace just exits out the side of the house. Is that how a power vent works?

Yep same deal, not really familiar with it but they do require more maintenance than the one on you oil burner.

In Maine if you build a mason chimney and then hire a licensed person to install the coal unit, they will tell you "We can't install it until a stainless liner is put in the chimney". Stupid new law.

Your boiler might be power vented, it mght be direct vented. The power venter is a seperate unit that sucks the smoke out of the burner and blows it outside. A direct vent is a pipe that geos from the boiler to the outside powered by the fan in the burner. The smoke with a direct vent does not BLOW out, it gently wafts out.

The problem with powerventing a coal stove is that the venter has to run 24/7 as there is always a fire.

Are you sure you need a stainless liner? My quick search Google searches show that Bangor, Maine has adopted the 2006 International Mechanical Code. See:

http://www.bangormaine.gov/cs_lb_code.php

Saco, Maine has required, NFPA 211. See footnote (18) in:

http://www.sacomaine.org/departments/co ... dments.pdf

Both these adopted requirements allow clay lined masonry chimneys for solid fuels. Is someone just trying to sell you chimney liners?

There is a strong push by the construction industry to adopt standard codes all over the country. The International Code Council is pushing it's Mechanical Code and I'd be very surprised if any state or city amends the section on solid fuel chimneys.

The dealer that I am buying my KA-6 boiler from is trying to sell me a S.S. liner. I have a two story house with a terracotta lined cinder block chimney. He said there would not be enough draft because of the new boiler having lower stack temperatures and the S.S. holds the heat better and create more draft.

To me this sound like b.s. but I am new to this and thought I'd ask the experts before consider spending something like $1500?

I am doing the install myself and I want to be safe but I am not worried about bogus codes.

Thanks,
Jack

Do you know what size the chimney is? Unless the flue is really oversized, it should work just fine. If the chimney is located inside the house, that's better yet.

PostBy: markviii On: Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:28 am

markviii wrote:Do you know what size the chimney is? Unless the flue is really oversized, it should work just fine. If the chimney is located inside the house, that's better yet.

Thanks "markviii" for the fast reply,

My chimney is 20 feet high and is located on an outside wall but it is stuccoed which I think would add to the r factor.

Added- My flue is 8 inch wide.

Jack

You can't get any better then an masonry chimney. Unless the flue is really oversized it should work just fine. I have an Alaska stoker stove in the cellar running into a 6"X6" masonry flue that is on the outside of the house. It works just fine, even with a low fire. Remember a stoker has a combustion fan to feed air to the fire, it doesn't depend on draft alone to keep the fire going. Many times the piping to the chimney is only warm to the touch.

Most oil burners are now very efficient and not much heat goes up the chimney. Oil burners and stokers run on about the same draft, around -.02" WC.

My opinion (for what it's worth) is to go with the unlined chimney. You could always add the liner later.

As with any application where combustion is present in a dwelling-make sure there are 1 or more CO detectors on the premises.

When I first installed my hand-fired stove I was having a lot of problems getting a good burn in the stove. I was blaming poor draft from the external masonry block chimney. I was all set to have the liner broken out and have a SS liner installed for $1800. Then I found this forum. Turned out to be really bad coal. The chimney actually will create an enormous amount of draft, exactly the opposite of what I thought.

A 20' chimney with an 8" flue should work just fine, I would hook it up and see how it runs.

Thanks Wood'nCoal and markviii,

Very good information and a excellent forum!!!

Jack