Stan in Oly, WA
Well-known Member
A few years ago I had a fireplace insert installed in my living room. It is a Jotul Kennebec, a model which my research had indicated to be efficient, relatively trouble free, and a good performer. Unfortunately, it has never worked well for me. It draws poorly, making it hard to get a fire going, and no matter how hot a fire I get going in it, or how long it burns to heat the stove, chimney, etc., it allows some smoke to come back into the room when I open one or both of the doors. It has done this since the beginning, and I know it is not because of any obstruction.
The stove vents through a flexible stainless steel liner inside the masonry chimney, as required by the local building code. It is about 14' from the top of the stove to the top of the chimney. The chimney cap of the liner is directly on a flue cover/flashing on top of the masonry flue. It is the highest point of the roof, but it is not much more than a foot higher than a ridgeline which is within ten feet, to the north. The other problem is that the fireplace does not have a dedicated source of outside air. In fact, to get a fire started when the fireplace is cold, I sometimes have to open the front door and the storm door. Would I benefit enough by adding a couple of feet of chimney (easy) that I might not have to provide an outside air source (extremely difficult)? Or is there something different that I might try first?
Stan
The stove vents through a flexible stainless steel liner inside the masonry chimney, as required by the local building code. It is about 14' from the top of the stove to the top of the chimney. The chimney cap of the liner is directly on a flue cover/flashing on top of the masonry flue. It is the highest point of the roof, but it is not much more than a foot higher than a ridgeline which is within ten feet, to the north. The other problem is that the fireplace does not have a dedicated source of outside air. In fact, to get a fire started when the fireplace is cold, I sometimes have to open the front door and the storm door. Would I benefit enough by adding a couple of feet of chimney (easy) that I might not have to provide an outside air source (extremely difficult)? Or is there something different that I might try first?
Stan