Placing a Wood Stove Design Problem

[rwalter]

Hello,

I just got back from talking to one of my friends who owns a fireplace/woodburing stove store and he had some comments regarding my design of my cabin. Overall it was fine except the placement of the stove. I have designed 20x32 cabin with a steep pitched roof, 16/12, and placed the stove in one corner. First he pointed out that the chimney pipe must extend atleast two feet above the peak since it will be withing 10 feet of the peek. His comments were that the stove pipe coming out is going to be an eye sore and that high winds are likely to rip it off the roof. On top of that the cost of the exterior piping would be more than the stove itself. He also said venting it throug the side wall  not going to be any cheaper and he didn't recommend that option.  So would you move the stove just slightly off center of the ridge or do you build a chase slightly off center? Where do you think wood buring stove should be placed in a small cabin design?

[spinnm]

Understand perfectly what you friend said and agree.  Little unclear on your solutions.

Does "a little off center of the ridge" mean that you'd still be putting it on the gable end?  Building a chase would protect the pipe, and perhaps tone down the look, but you still have the expense of the pipe...which has gotten so dear since we must be protected from ourselves.

Any way to move it to one of the outside side walls and still retain your design?  Would work better too in the center of the cabin instead of the end.

Now, I have seen interior piping used as an architectural statement...depending upon your style.

Do you have your own woodlot?  If not, you might explore some other fuel.  Gas and pellets don't require the same piping.

[jraabe]

Where a wood stove chimney goes through the roof it needs to be insulated and kept a Min. 1" from all wood. Most people use triple wall stainless steel chimney stock for this and the outside portion of the chimney (you don't want the outside chimney to get too cold as it will condense creosote).

Inside the house you can use single wall stove pipe and put in joints and curved bends as needed. This pipe gets hot, of course, and must be kept away from combustibles just as the stove is.

You can put the chimney at the ridge or off to the side a bit. This keeps the exposed portion needed to get over the ridge not too long.

Overview article also covers masonry chimneys (better for long term woodstove use): http://hearth.com/what/installstove.html#anchor1678812

This one loads slowly but is good: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_improvement/home_improvement/1275766.html?page=3&c=y

Yes, if you are doing a propane stove you can vent out the back and through a sidewall. This is much easier and smaller than a wood stove chimney.

[rwalter]

Shelley,

I have 35 acres that are all hardwoods so I definitely want to use a wood buring stove or fireplace.  Yes since my orginal design was
placing it in the corner it is on a gabel end. I have a great room designed in the cabin that runs 12ft wide the entire width of the cabin, (20 ft). I orginally was going to place a sliding glass door in the center of the room but now that I have to move the stove/fireplace I guess I am going to  lose the sliding glass door. The cabin still has a front and rear doors on the load bearing walls but I really wanted to install a sliding glass door for the light and viewing. I will probably just center the stove in the room on the gabel wall. I have not decided if I want to frame a chase out since the floor joists will run at a 90 degree angle to the main floor joists.

[rwalter]

John,

Thanks for the links. I will check them out. You are correct on the triple walled stainless steel piping. Once you get close to any combustable material or outside he told me you must go with the triple walled piping. The cost on that pipe runs around $180 per 4 foot section.  The single wall material is much cheaper. He said the piping costs if the stove was placed in a chase or in the center of the cabin would be around $350 or so. He recommended off setting it slightly so you would not need and angled piece of pipe near the cathedral ceiling.

[Bart_Cubbins]

Chimneys work best when they are kept warm, i.e. inside the building. They draft better, there is less creosote buildup and you get more heat inside. Having the chimney exit near the ridge also makes it less susceptible to damage from snow buildup and wind. If you want the stove in the corner, I think you could run the chimney up and then follow the slope of the ceiling until you get to the ridge, but you have watch the clearances or use double-walled pipe. With your steep roof, the chimney should still draft well at that angle.

Bart

[spinnm]

You could always buy a single-light garden door.

They come in all the standard sizes.  That would give you a door out the way you want.  You could rig up a fixed one and an operable one if you have enuf room.

 Sliders can be found in 5'0" if that would help.