I'll bet that makes a major difference in your heating. It looks great there. I was ok with the install till I heard "stove pipe silicone" There's no such thing for direct contact with single-wall wood stove pipe. It gets too hot for silicone. You need to use furnace cement if you want to seal the joints. If you start noticing bad fumes at high temps, that is where I would look first.
Thanks the stuff I have says it is for wood and pellet stoves and is good for 600* I cranked it up as hot as I could get it and I just looked at it and it looks fine.
Mike