Hello All,
I have been doing a lot of research and spinning my gourd for some time now. I need some help to get a consensus on my BK project. Unfortunately, I live in a small town with little help and expertise. I am mostly curious if anyone has tried my configuration idea vs. theorizing about the idea to know what they learned from their experience. I’ll define my project below.
I have a fireplace, and I know what you’re thinking…”here we go”. The fireplace is brick and extends from the floor to the ceiling. I want to install a BKE40, but I would prefer to not make a penetration through my roof. I read the installation manual to determine my options (see attached). I have room on my current hearth for the stove to sit, and I’ll need floor protection in front of the heath to meet code. However, I am stuck on the stovepipe requirements. Per the manual, I need 36 in. of vertical pipe from the stove outlet before I can install a 90* elbow. After the elbow, the stovepipe would run about 2 ft horizontally through the face of the fireplace (I.e. brick) then connect to an insulated flex liner. The flex liner would run from horizontal to vertical to the brick chimney outlet (I.e. it would be equivalent to a horizontal run, then a 90* elbow, then a vertical run).
Interestingly enough, page 14 of the installation manual has an example calculation for this exact scenario.
My brick chimney is 15 ft tall. With the stove on the hearth, the stove outlet is 4.5 ft tall from the base of the brick chimney. This means there is 10.5 ft of height in the brick chimney from stove outlet to the brick chimney outlet. Given the values included in the manual, I have come to the below calculation:
Height of stove pipe needed above brick chimney = 15 ft (minimum chimney height at my elevation) + 4 ft (2, 90* elbows) + 4 ft (2-ft horizontal run. I.e. 2:1) - 10.5 ft (brick chimney height above stove outlet)
= 12.5 ft
If my calc is correct, the pipe outlet would be 12.5 ft tall from the top of the brick chimney or 27.5 ft tall from the ground and seemly excessively tall.
I researched to find a way to decrease the pipe height requirements and came across the ENERVEX draft inducer fan that can be installed at the stovepipe outlet . I know you guys are familiar with this item because I have seen it discussed in other threads.
The idea is to use this fan at the top of my brick chimney and eliminate the extra 12.5 ft of stove pipe required to maintain a proper draft. If this configuration works, the tradeoff is my stove will have difficulty or not draft at all without the fan. I haven’t taken a deep dive into the power requirements of the fan but they claim it “uses power equivalent to a lightbulb”.
I know what you’re going to ask me, (1) why not just use an insert and (2) why avoid the roof penetration.
(1) The house is technically 2,600 sqft, but 75% of it is vaulted ceilings. There are 30+ windows through the house with large old dual pane aluminum windows. Therefore, I estimate the space to heat is approximately a 3,000-sqft equivalent. I looked at the peak day therm usage during the winter from the furnace. I converted it to BTUs and divided it by 24 hours to get average peak day BTUs/hr of the furnace. The maximum BTUs/hr of the BKE40 surpassed the average peak day furnace BTUs/hr by at least 10,000 BTUs/hr. This is how I am justifying the BKE40. I assume I will run it at about 75% all day. I have found plenty of inserts that provide ample BTUs to heat the house, but as you all know, you don’t get a BKE40 to go 0-60 mph in 3 seconds. I want the BKE40 for: long slow burns to decrease the number of loads/day, a deep firebox to decrease the ash maintenance, an ash drawer for even less maintenance, no annoying blower, and an overall more efficient stove. I want this stove to replace my furnace in the winter, so I can kick out the PG&E bank robbers.
(2) Simple. Roofs are better with less holes.
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts you guys have regarding the project and my questions. Again, I would love to hear if anyone has attempted what I’m trying to do. I love burning wood and aspire to watch the ashes of my previous heating bills draft properly out of the stovepipe and sink into the dirt where they belong as tree food for the next burn.
Cheers,
- Woody
I have been doing a lot of research and spinning my gourd for some time now. I need some help to get a consensus on my BK project. Unfortunately, I live in a small town with little help and expertise. I am mostly curious if anyone has tried my configuration idea vs. theorizing about the idea to know what they learned from their experience. I’ll define my project below.
I have a fireplace, and I know what you’re thinking…”here we go”. The fireplace is brick and extends from the floor to the ceiling. I want to install a BKE40, but I would prefer to not make a penetration through my roof. I read the installation manual to determine my options (see attached). I have room on my current hearth for the stove to sit, and I’ll need floor protection in front of the heath to meet code. However, I am stuck on the stovepipe requirements. Per the manual, I need 36 in. of vertical pipe from the stove outlet before I can install a 90* elbow. After the elbow, the stovepipe would run about 2 ft horizontally through the face of the fireplace (I.e. brick) then connect to an insulated flex liner. The flex liner would run from horizontal to vertical to the brick chimney outlet (I.e. it would be equivalent to a horizontal run, then a 90* elbow, then a vertical run).
Interestingly enough, page 14 of the installation manual has an example calculation for this exact scenario.
My brick chimney is 15 ft tall. With the stove on the hearth, the stove outlet is 4.5 ft tall from the base of the brick chimney. This means there is 10.5 ft of height in the brick chimney from stove outlet to the brick chimney outlet. Given the values included in the manual, I have come to the below calculation:
Height of stove pipe needed above brick chimney = 15 ft (minimum chimney height at my elevation) + 4 ft (2, 90* elbows) + 4 ft (2-ft horizontal run. I.e. 2:1) - 10.5 ft (brick chimney height above stove outlet)
= 12.5 ft
If my calc is correct, the pipe outlet would be 12.5 ft tall from the top of the brick chimney or 27.5 ft tall from the ground and seemly excessively tall.
I researched to find a way to decrease the pipe height requirements and came across the ENERVEX draft inducer fan that can be installed at the stovepipe outlet . I know you guys are familiar with this item because I have seen it discussed in other threads.
The idea is to use this fan at the top of my brick chimney and eliminate the extra 12.5 ft of stove pipe required to maintain a proper draft. If this configuration works, the tradeoff is my stove will have difficulty or not draft at all without the fan. I haven’t taken a deep dive into the power requirements of the fan but they claim it “uses power equivalent to a lightbulb”.
I know what you’re going to ask me, (1) why not just use an insert and (2) why avoid the roof penetration.
(1) The house is technically 2,600 sqft, but 75% of it is vaulted ceilings. There are 30+ windows through the house with large old dual pane aluminum windows. Therefore, I estimate the space to heat is approximately a 3,000-sqft equivalent. I looked at the peak day therm usage during the winter from the furnace. I converted it to BTUs and divided it by 24 hours to get average peak day BTUs/hr of the furnace. The maximum BTUs/hr of the BKE40 surpassed the average peak day furnace BTUs/hr by at least 10,000 BTUs/hr. This is how I am justifying the BKE40. I assume I will run it at about 75% all day. I have found plenty of inserts that provide ample BTUs to heat the house, but as you all know, you don’t get a BKE40 to go 0-60 mph in 3 seconds. I want the BKE40 for: long slow burns to decrease the number of loads/day, a deep firebox to decrease the ash maintenance, an ash drawer for even less maintenance, no annoying blower, and an overall more efficient stove. I want this stove to replace my furnace in the winter, so I can kick out the PG&E bank robbers.
(2) Simple. Roofs are better with less holes.
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts you guys have regarding the project and my questions. Again, I would love to hear if anyone has attempted what I’m trying to do. I love burning wood and aspire to watch the ashes of my previous heating bills draft properly out of the stovepipe and sink into the dirt where they belong as tree food for the next burn.
Cheers,
- Woody
