Wood Stove Pipe Installation
Though not an extremely difficult project, installing a wood stove pipe requires a certain amount of planning and research before starting to ensure that you take proper safety measures and meet local codes and ordinances. Always start a project like this by getting a copy of your local fire and building codes. Moreover, use extreme caution when using fire as a radiant source of heat.
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Research and Planning
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When planning for your stove pipe installation, first determine where you will place the stove; base the location on safety and code compliance. If you want to save some space, attach a noncombustible barrier to the wall directly behind the stove, allowing you to decrease the space between the stove and the wall and still comply with your local codes.
Purchasing the Stove Pipe
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After you've brought your stove to its final resting place, measure the space between the exit pipe and the existing chimney, or in most cases the chimney you installed in the wall or ceiling yourself to find out which size pipe to buy.
Purchase your stove pipe for installation in one or two basic ways: ordering prefabricated pipe---most come without seams and are custom built to your measurements---or purchasing pipe lengths and elbows at your local hardware store, which you will snap together on a seam and and then screw together with sheet metal screws. If you choose to go the latter route, remember that the pipes interlock and overlap at each end approximately an inch, so a 36-inch pipe will only carry a distance of about 34 inches.
Installing the Stove Pipe
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Check that you've installed your stove pipe in the correct direction and that you've rendered the seams tight before you screw them together. If you purchased the custom-fit pipe, look for a label on the pipe that chows the correct installation direction. If you purchased sections from your local hardware store, install the end with pre-drilled holes in it for attaching. As a general rule, situate the pipe with the screw holes on top and the other end, which should be crimped, on the bottom. Slide the crimped end into the end with the screw holes. The pipes' construction causes any creosote that drips downward as you use the stove will remain inside the pipe and will not drip out and make a mess. A point of note: As you put the pieces together, do not screw them together until you have the whole system installed. This will allow for some play in the pipe system in case you should need to align the final two pieces of pipe.
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