Stack diameter decision: 6 “ or 4”?

[Corvidae]

I am reinstalling my beloved oil drip Efel harmony 5 stove and want to upgrade from a 5” single wall stove pipe to a dbl wall pipe. The stack length is about 12’ inside. The location is Interior Alaska ( yup, cold). My HVAC knowledge and details are fuzzy from disuse but I remember that there is an advantage of either going smaller or bigger in diameter as it affects the velocity .
So, shall it be 6 or 4” to purchase?
A bit of history….every Fall, with the single wall, I needed to preheat the stove and stack with an electric heater for hours before there would be enough draw to light it. A neighbor with the same type stove told me that changing to a 4” dbl wall stack made a big difference in lighting it. Also, for my situation, once lit sometime in September, it remains burning until late April with no problems.

 

[bholler]

I am reinstalling my beloved oil drip Efel harmony 5 stove and want to upgrade from a 5” single wall stove pipe to a dbl wall pipe. The stack length is about 12’ inside. The location is Interior Alaska ( yup, cold). My HVAC knowledge and details are fuzzy from disuse but I remember that there is an advantage of either going smaller or bigger in diameter as it affects the velocity .
So, shall it be 6 or 4” to purchase?
A bit of history….every Fall, with the single wall, I needed to preheat the stove and stack with an electric heater for hours before there would be enough draw to light it. A neighbor with the same type stove told me that changing to a 4” dbl wall stack made a big difference in lighting it. Also, for my situation, once lit sometime in September, it remains burning until late April with no problems.

Why not just stay with 5"?

 

[stoveliker]

He wants to improve draft is why

There are heaters that are mounted around the stove pipe. Maybe that works better than the way you do it now.

But generally the easiest way to improve draft is to add length to the chimney.

 

[bholler]

He wants to improve draft is why

There are heaters that are mounted around the stove pipe. Maybe that works better than the way you do it now.

But generally the easiest way to improve draft is to add length to the chimney.

An actual chimney instead of single wall pipe will as well.

 

[Highbeam]

An oil burner makes things a bit more unique. Hours to heat the flue to get any draw seems like something isn't quite right.