Question for you all on how long your vent pipe is lasting. I have a BK Sirocco SC 30.2 it is on the main floor of a 1 floor house that I use as the main heat source. I use an OAK on the stove. The 6" single wall vent pipe off the stove rises 36" off the stove turns 45 degrees has 30" of pipe on 45 degree angle into another 45 degree elbow and into the bottom of a 6" HT insulated chimney ( the chimney is straight up through attic and roof to the outside) 8 feet total height that terminates 2 feet above the peak of the house. I burn a well seasoned combination of hard and softwood <15 % moisture that is kept in a woodshed. The stove operates from fall to spring. I burn on average 3.5 to 4 cords of wood a season. I usually only have to light 3 fires a year and this is because I'm away from the house for longer periods of time, I will run a hot fire through the cat every other day during the warmer times. When it gets to constant cold temperatures the stove has a hot burn on reloads through the cat before dialling back the thermostat. Our winter temperatures in Nova Scotia Canada where I live can get down to -30 c or -22 f. At the end of the heating season when I clean the vent and chimney I usually have less than 1/3 of a 1 gallon can of creosote. The stove is working very well has complete combustion of the wood, wood ash goes on the garden and grass approximately 20 gallons a year. So I have to replace the black single wall vent pipe every 2 years because it starts to have pits in it. Is this normal? Should I be looking at double wall vent pipe? Lets hear how long yours is lasting.
How long is your vent pipe lasting
- Thread starter 10tapper
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Dieselhead
Minister of Fire
I’m on year 10 on my double wall. No signs of any degradation whatsoever.
Double wall is stainless inside. It'll help last longer.
Do you know that your flue temps are high enough to prevent condensation?
Do you know that your flue temps are high enough to prevent condensation?
MongoMongoson
Feeling the Heat
2 years sounds like a short life. I had one install where the single wall pipe only lasted a few years, but that was due to moisture. I did not have a chimney cap there. The pipe would see some moisture throughout the summer. That, and whatever creosote was left, was not good for the pipe. I would clean in the fall rather than spring, though.
Have you got a chimney cap? How humid is it for you during the off season?
It has been a couple of years at that location since the chimney cap was installed, and the pipe was solid when I cleaned it over the summer.
Double wall has a stainless inner liner so it will surely outlast the single wall. I thought BK specified double wall for their stoves, but I have not read the Sirroco manual.
Have you got a chimney cap? How humid is it for you during the off season?
It has been a couple of years at that location since the chimney cap was installed, and the pipe was solid when I cleaned it over the summer.
Double wall has a stainless inner liner so it will surely outlast the single wall. I thought BK specified double wall for their stoves, but I have not read the Sirroco manual.
So are you seeing rust bubbles coming up from the inside (indicating corrosive internal flue environment) or surface rust that attacks from the outside (indicating corrosive stove room environment)? Some single wall uses crap steel, maybe a better brand.
Obviously, double wall is superior and will prevent rust from the inside but you can also buy stainless single wall pipe. If I were you, in that cold environment, I would be upgrading to the more dependable, durable, and better performing double wall pipe.
To answer your question, my double wall looks perfect after decades. Zero degradation. Burning 9 months per year with mostly softwoods on low.
Obviously, double wall is superior and will prevent rust from the inside but you can also buy stainless single wall pipe. If I were you, in that cold environment, I would be upgrading to the more dependable, durable, and better performing double wall pipe.
To answer your question, my double wall looks perfect after decades. Zero degradation. Burning 9 months per year with mostly softwoods on low.
I have a stack thermometer that is 18" above the stove , on a regular burn with the bypass closed it is between 175 degrees f and 300 degrees.
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Yes I have a chimney cap, I will typically clean in the spring.
The summers can be fairly humid here, do you think that is effecting the condition of the vent pipe?
In the manual for the stove both single wall and double wall vent pipes are acceptable. I think the next time I have to replace the vent pipe I will go with double wall.
Not so much rust bubbles but small holes developing in the the vent pipe and elbows.
Nova scotia, how close are you to the ocean?
High humidity especially if near the sea speeds the rusting of metal.
Water drips down the chimney greatly speed the rusting of the pipe.
I've had that problem here when i did not have a cap, but even with the cap windblown rain can sometimes still get in.
That said 2 years is a very short time.
High humidity especially if near the sea speeds the rusting of metal.
Water drips down the chimney greatly speed the rusting of the pipe.
I've had that problem here when i did not have a cap, but even with the cap windblown rain can sometimes still get in.
That said 2 years is a very short time.
175 is too low. You need to stay above 212 all the way to the top of the chimney to avoid condensation. So 250 at least above the stove. Condensed water gets acidic because of the other combustion products.
If the 175 is at the end of a burn, that's not that bad. But you say regular burn
Yes the 175 is at the end of the burn just before a reload, after a reload it will rise up to 5-600 and then I adjust the thermostat lower and it settles in around 300 (20 to 30 minutes) .
Is that upwind regarding the prevalent wind direction?
Coastal areas generally have to deal with a lot of salt in the air, which promotes corrosion. Might be a factor.
I think he is providing surface temperatures of single wall pipe. So his actual flue gas temperatures are 350 to 600. Much better.
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