.... When the 'chimney guy' comes to knock down the chimney from the roof through the second floor and then knock the liner out of the rest of the masonry chimney. Totally re- building the second floor of my house and the existing chimney has to go. It will be replaced with a DuraVent SS double wall chimney but not sure exactly when. Although I think I may put up a temporary DuraVent chimney through the second floor so I can continue to burn wood until the <real> second floor and new roof is installed. <sniffle: no more wood heat for us- onto oil for a bit> Brian
Yeah, well we passed 'remodeling' so long ago that we cannot see it in the rear- view mirror. This is de-construction / reconstruction. The structure was overloaded by snow last year and is in structural failure. Whole new second floor starting with.... well, a new floor (joists and sub- flooring). This really caught us by surprise and we were just not prepared to take this one on. No complaints though, stuff happens and everyone is fine so no need to whine. Brian
My wife is thinking before snow flies (Dec. usually around here but sometimes Nov.). I am thinking before snow flies too but not this year's snow. Shssssss- I do not want to upset her. Brian
Like this? : This is a boiler firing cycle to create hot water in an indirect heated water heater tank. Took a couple of months to fine tune the system so I could wring every last BTU out of the boiler. Over the summer, it would fire about every 30 hours for ~18 minutes (burning 0.55 GPH of fuel) to satisfy domestic hot water needs. Really, really nice system. Not the most efficient because those were condensing, variable throttle boilers that were uber expensive and to be honest, quite finicky, requiring service often and causing diasaster when the final heat exhanger failed (and they seem to do so at an alarming rate). The best systems are around 91% efficient; this one is 88% and the boiler / burner / controls system used here was about $8,000 less expensive. By the way, it is a Buderus boiler and Riello burner fed to its own Class- A, all stainless chimney. Wanna' see a photo of the install? Brian
OK, change of plans with the chimney guy. He can get Duravent double walled stainless steel chimney (all the parts apparently) from a local supplier. The old chimney is gone to the first floor, all the tile has been removed, the hole in the tiled wall behind the stove has been enlarged to take a full 6" ID X 8" OD piece of double walled Duravent.... and tomorrow he will pick up enough pipe, storm shield, hangars, etc. to install a new SS Class A through the temporary piece of plywood on the roof. It may well be a while yet before that roof comes off and I really do not want to be without the woodstove for that long. I can take down the installation going in now and re- use every single piece and build a chase around it when the second floor and roof is replaced so there is really not any more expense replacing the chimney right now as opposed to later, after the upstairs is complete. And the new chimney is going to be five feet taller than the old one so it will be interesting to see how that draws on the Ideal Steel. By the way, I thought the old flue was pretty clean when I put the flexible SS liner in it but was amazed to find a hard, shiny layer of creosote about 1/2" thick almost all the way up the chimney! Coupled with the fact that there were gaps between the flue clay sections I could put my thumb through, and every single flue was cracked all around it and I have to say, my confidence in masonry chimneys is not going up at all. There were also a lot of creosote stains on the inside of the cement block chimney sheathing, clearly indicating the flue had been leaking, at least a little, for a long time without me knowing it. Brian
No direct knowledge of the chimney but I know a little about the buildings' history and suspect the chimney was initially installed in 1948. Then the cellar (basement) was hand- dug in the 1950's, and the chimney goes all the way the concrete floor so either 1) the chimney was modified (not really following how they could have built it 'lower' though) or a new chimney was installed at that time. The building was originally built in 1905 as a barn, and the chimney was NOT installed at that time because the original rafters have been cut and a header put in to go around the chimney where it goes through the roof. No cap- just the usual brick covered clay flue outside, capped with mortar. The chimney was connected to an oil fired hot water boiler during the 1950's and that was its primary use. There was also a closed off thimble on the first floor, which I opened to install a woodstove; the Ideal Steel uses that same chimney and thimble now. The oil burner has been moved to a new, outside mounted chimney, also double walled, insulated Class A (although that one is a Champion brand, the new one going where the masonry chimney was is a DuraVent brand). Brian
Maybe but not yet- have an ongoing squabble with the ins. co. over this one. They accepted it as a 'covered peril' and said they were ready to make payment but then reversed themselves; I have no idea when that issue will be resolved. Brian
Yep, but as they say, The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine. I can attest to the slow part but do not yet know about the fineness Brian
BDF, yeah that what I got.. My experience is the extra 2 or 3 % gain in efficiency is never obtained because... 1.. parts are more expensive 2.. life span is shorter and 3. most techs are not skilled enough to maximize them.. That Buderus, if good effective efficiency.
I came w/in a whisker of buying a more efficient boiler / burner combo that I really liked (still do) but fortunately, had a gentleman whisper in my ear that it will be discontinued at the end of this year in the US! Yikes! Almost had a burner that 1) no one has parts for. 2) no one is trained to service. 3) Is probably finicky and a bit temperamental due to the advanced design as compared with simpler burners. Nice boiler / burner combo but I think it would have bitten me in the butt w/in a couple of years. A Buderus G115 (74K BTU, the smallest one), a Riello F3 burner and I think I have a nice combination of efficiency, modern devices but still serviceable by virtually anyone. Not the <most> efficient on the planet but I think an extremely good value for us and whoever lives here afterward too.... Brian
Well, the "no chimney" lasted exactly one day: the chimney service man gave me some outstanding service and I ended up with a new, Dura Vent double wall SS. chimney extended up about 6 feet above the roof in a temporary (but fully code compliant and absolutely 100% safe and correct in every way) installation. It will have to come down when the new structure is put up on the second floor but I can use virtually all the parts over so very little money wasted. And I get to use wood as the main heating source until the construction actually begins upstairs. Sparked up the stove last night and I have to say, the longer chimney makes an amazing difference; the firebox of my I.S. was full of flame at 1/4 draft and that has never happened before. I ended up nearly closing the draft to back the fire off as it was in the high 40's F here; enough to need a bit of heat but not cold enough for a hard burn. Now I have to re-learn how to run the stove but really, that is a good thing This also allows me to know exactly where the new chimney will go and space the joists and trusses accordingly. Of course the initial design of a double i- joist around the staircase is toast because there is not enough clearance but still, better to find out now then when trying to nail the new joists into place. And by the way, now having used Champion and DuraVent 6" S.S. chimney back- to- back in the same year, my preference is for the Duravent. Specifically because it requires no screws to hold it together and it is self- aligning while the Champion can end up a little askew at each joint. Both are excellent products IMO and I would readily recommend either one but the Duravent is just a bit easier to install IMO. Brian
