# Putting wood stove on a chimney that used to be used for Oil



## owingsia (Aug 12, 2013)

Hello all I am new here.

I have been looking through a lot of the posts here and can not find an answer to this questions although I am sure it has been asked before.

I have a home built in 1947-48ish we want to put in a wood stove to add supplemental heat and back up heat in the event of a power outage.

We currently have a pellet stove on its on vent pipe out the side of the home.

The home has a brick chimney with a relatively new clay insert/ lining. The issue is this, in the past there was an oil furnace hooked up to it. 3-4 Years prior to us buying the home the furnace was taken out and there is a 6 or 8 inch I measured it but do not remember connection collar to the chimney.

Ok the questions is this, can you hook up the wood burning stove to the chimney? My neighbor told me that he thought that was not a good idea because he heard that once a chimney has had oil burned in it you can never use it again for anything else.

I have read some posts on here about using a chimney with an oil furnace and a wood stove is a code violation etc....

Now from my understanding these posts were all about people trying to use the same chimney for both devices at the same time.

I am simply asking can you convert from oil to wood using chimney that once had an oil furnace hooked to it.


----------



## jharkin (Aug 12, 2013)

It is usually a code violation to have 2 appliances venting into the same flue at the same time.

Whether its a problem to use an ex-oil flue for wood I am not sure. I would guess that once its properly cleaned its OK, but I am no expert. You could ask a sweep or the local inspector, and I am sure somebody with better info will chime in to this thread.


----------



## Locust Post (Aug 12, 2013)

It is a good idea to put a stainless liner in the chimney anyway and if you are buying a new stove they would recommend that. So if you install a nice insulated liner down that chimney you should be fine.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Aug 12, 2013)

Welcome to the forum owingsia.

You should be able to use it. I've known many who have done so but for sure it is best to put a liner into the chimney. Your stove will work much, much better if that chimney is lined and some insulation in there (to keep the chimney warm). Problem is without the lining, that chimney will be a cold thing, especially if you do not plan on burning full time.

For sure if not burning 24/7, that means you will always be fighting because of poor drafting and you will also get much more creosote (because of the cold chimney the smoke and gasses cool too fast).

Just a little hint here too. If you do plan on heating with wood, take some time to visit the Wood Shed part of hearth.com's forums. In there you will find much information about wood and burning of the wood. You will also find that most of us go by the 3 year plan. That is, get yourself 3 years ahead on wood. Otherwise, we read all this stuff about people trying to burn the wood they cut just a couple months ago or (Heaven forbid) wood they just cut. You'll also find that wood will not dry hardly at all until it has been split and stacked. You will also find that you can not depend on dead trees being dry enough to burn. You'll also find much, much more.

One more point. Again we find this over and over about folks who buy "seasoned" wood....then find out that the word "seasoned" means nothing. For sure it does not mean dry. Even though you may be told that, never expect it to be. So if you buy, you need to buy at least a year in advance; preferably more, especially if it is oak you plan on burning.

Good luck.


----------

