# Stainless steel stove pipe?



## BrianK (Jul 4, 2012)

Hi folks,
A friend who works in HVAC and helped me put up my outside flue suggested I replace my single wall black stove pipe that I bought at Lowes with a stainless steel stove pipe (16 or 18 gauge). He can fab it and weld it as a single piece with a clean out at the bottom. This is the type of stove pipe he uses when installing coal or wood boilers and furnaces, and he said it will last many years and be easier to keep cleaned out and eliminate almost all air that might leak into the flue from the black stove pipe junctions.

My stove pipe exits the back of my Woodstock Fireview, goes up 4 feet, has a 90 degree and goes a foot to the wall thimble.

Would there be any advantages or disadvantages to replacing the black stove pipe with stainless? Is the extra cost worth it? Will there be less heat radiated into the room with the stainless than the black pipe? (My wife likes the black pipe, and thinks the stainless will look odd, but I like the idea of the longer term durability of the stainless.)

Thanks in advance for any input!
Brian
Johnstown, PA


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## firecracker_77 (Jul 4, 2012)

i too like the look of the black pipe.  i don't know that single wall would radiate much differently if it was stainless.


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## begreen (Jul 4, 2012)

Good, heavy (24 or 22ga) black stove pipe will last for years. I pulled out 20 yr old black pipe when we did our remodel and it was in great shape. If your wife likes the look and you have the good stuff, let it be and save some change. If you have the light-duty, hardware store variety, then replace it.


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## BrianK (Jul 4, 2012)

begreen said:


> Good, heavy (24 or 22ga) black stove pipe will last for years. I pulled out 20 yr old black pipe when we did our remodel and it was in great shape. If your wife likes the look and you have the good stuff, let it be and save some change. If you have the light-duty, hardware store variety, then replace it.


 
Its the light-duty, hardware store variety, whatever Lowes had on the shelf. Cheap flimsy stuff. I feel its the weak link in an otherwise solid install so I'd like to replace it for peace of mind. That plus I learned the hearth pad I picked up is too small for my Fireview. I will definitely replace the hearth pad prior to the next burning season. And I can get high temp black stove paint that will adhere to the stainless if the Mrs. insists on the black.


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## clr8ter (Jul 4, 2012)

24 or 22 GA is heavy duty? You know 16 Ga is .060", right? That's 1/16".


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## BrianK (Jul 4, 2012)

clr8ter said:


> 24 or 22 GA is heavy duty? You know 16 Ga is .060", right? That's 1/16".


He wasn't sure if their stock was 16 or 18 gauge but he thought it was 18. I think 18 ga is .050"

That should certainly hold up. Would it affect flue temps on the flue thermometer?


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## fossil (Jul 4, 2012)

BrianK said:


> ...Would it affect flue temps on the flue thermometer?


 
If it's a magnetic thermometer, you won't know the temperature.


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## BrianK (Jul 4, 2012)

fossil said:


> If it's a magnetic thermometer, you won't know the temperature.



Yeah, that's somethIng else to consider. Are there other good/safe options for a thermometer on stainless stove pipe?


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## fossil (Jul 4, 2012)

Probe thermometer. Gotta drill a small hole through the pipe wall & figure out how to mount it. It'll display the actual flue internal temp. Typically used by folks with double-wall stove pipe, because a magnetic reads so low on that pipe that it's closer to room temp than anything meaningful about the stove.

You're not going to find a lot of references to or "options" for stainless steel stove pipe, because almost nobody uses stainless steel stovepipe.  I don't know that it's even available commercially...perhaps it is, I've just never looked into it.


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## fossil (Jul 4, 2012)

Dunno why you're stuck on the custom stainless, but it's your money, so go for it.  For my money, there's not a dang thing wrong with good quality stuff like this:

http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Chimney/Black-Stove-Pipe/Champion-Single-Wall-Black-Stove-Pipe


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## Backwoods Savage (Jul 4, 2012)

Is it broke? If not, how can you fix it?


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## BrianK (Jul 4, 2012)

fossil said:


> Dunno why you're stuck on the custom stainless, but it's your money, so go for it.  For my money, there's not a dang thing wrong with good quality stuff


I'm not stuck on it.

I'm not thrilled with my current stove pipe. A friend recommended the stainless as an alternative to routinely replacing the cheap black stove pipe, which he said would need replaced every couple seasons. He does HVAC for a living and will put together an 18 ga stainless stove pipe for me relatively cheaply that will probably never need replaced. 

So ... I came here to ask opinions because I value the knowledge base here.


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## BrianK (Jul 4, 2012)

fossil said:


> You're not going to find a lot of references to or "options" for stainless steel stove pipe, because almost nobody uses stainless steel stovepipe.  I don't know that it's even available commercially...perhaps it is, I've just never looked into it.


A quick web search seemed to indicate that some recommend stainless flue liner as a high quality alternative to good quality single wall black stove pipe. That stuff was 22 ga.


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## fossil (Jul 4, 2012)

BrianK said:


> ...I came here to ask opinions because I value the knowledge base here.


 
That's all I'm offering you...my opinion.  Just one among many here.  Rick


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