is it normal to have heat radiate from fireplace to surrounding walls, particularly up to attic, can only feel one spot of warmth, why, is it normal, we have outisde chimney approx been used 2 weeks now, new construction, inserted wood stove in fireplace and inserted ss flex tube, what do you think, condensation fixed on one side due blocked insulation vent in attic now other side has warm spot as did before, any ideas, what are signs to be concerned with?
warm walls
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What kind of fire place do you have?
Is it a factory-built (Zero Clearance) or site-built (Masonry)?
When the liner was installed, was it wrapped with insulation?
In a ZC application, you NEED to have the liner wrapped.
You're getting heat transferred thru the chimney to the framing adjacent to it.
This is not a good thing & may lead to problems in the future.
Is it a factory-built (Zero Clearance) or site-built (Masonry)?
When the liner was installed, was it wrapped with insulation?
In a ZC application, you NEED to have the liner wrapped.
You're getting heat transferred thru the chimney to the framing adjacent to it.
This is not a good thing & may lead to problems in the future.
Welcome to the forum cravin a nice fire.
Short answer. Warm walls are normal. But if you can't hold your hand on it, then it is something to beware of.
Short answer. Warm walls are normal. But if you can't hold your hand on it, then it is something to beware of.
it is a masonry fireplace, larger firebox to sit wood stove into firebox approx 1/2 way; ss flex tube not wrapped with insulation put down thicker than normal clay liner due to size of fireplace firebox then block then brick, liner is 25' long and goes straight down through damper and straight down onto wood stove, great draw, only run mid open and heats story and half home 30x40 ten years old. the one spot in the attic is warm to touch not real warm but has warmth attic is ice cold.
Sounds like it's ok. Even class A insulated pipe will be warm to the touch running through a cold attic.
This is a site built traditional fireplace which we then used a wood stove as an insert by using the flex steel liner ran up to top of chimney as instructed, the warm spot is only in one area in the attic, that is the weird thing, it is 0-5 scale a 3 on warmth to touch, my question is why is it transferring through liner to block and then to attic spot no where else can i physicallyk feel any warmth, we have ran this wood stove non-stop since first of december when chimney and fireplace was done this past december 2010. last year with heat pump bill was 545 this year it is with higher remc rates electric bill was 311, it has been well worth it so far, just concerned about warm spot, why just there, don't want to block off and concentrate heat to one area til find out why it is doing this and no where else, does this make sense? we did not wrap the liner, wondering if it would help prevent the warm spot, if so will do this spring just to make sure.
Maybe that's a spot where the liner is touching the interior of the chimney? Can you hold your hand on the warm spot for more than a couple seconds? If yes, it's probably no big deal. Insulating the liner is not a bad idea if it bugs you.
no problem holding my hand there and i thought that was a possibility of it the liner touching the block, it does obviously bother me, it is heating the house so well, and trying to get ready for the next year for better seasoned firewood and we don't run the wood stove open and it does this well. love the fireplace and wood stove, will try and post some pics, thanks for the info, much appreciated
You mentioned it is an outside chimney, but it's exposed to the attic. How much of the chimney is actually exposed to the attic?
As mentioned before, sometimes there is wood framing that the chimney is built around (often when using truss roofs as it is not good to cut a truss). You don't want excessive heat getting into any framing. Loose fill (perlite or vermiculite) could be poured around the liner to limit the heat going into the masonry, if you have a lower blockoff plate.
The other thing that heat in the attic can do is melt snow cover from below, causing melt water to refreeze at the eaves, causing ice dams. We were having that recently and I wrapped the exposed part of the chimney with R-25 unfaced fiberglass. It seems to have helped quite a bit.
As mentioned before, sometimes there is wood framing that the chimney is built around (often when using truss roofs as it is not good to cut a truss). You don't want excessive heat getting into any framing. Loose fill (perlite or vermiculite) could be poured around the liner to limit the heat going into the masonry, if you have a lower blockoff plate.
The other thing that heat in the attic can do is melt snow cover from below, causing melt water to refreeze at the eaves, causing ice dams. We were having that recently and I wrapped the exposed part of the chimney with R-25 unfaced fiberglass. It seems to have helped quite a bit.
pgmr said:
I have an interior masonry chimney that goes through the attic. It gets warm enough up there to create the same problem you mention. In fact, I just started a thread in the Hearth Room that contains a YouTube video of my chimney. You can clearly see the melting problem in the video.
Had the ladder out the other day, chopping holes in the dam so water could drain out. Otherwise, if we get a warm, rainy spell, the water backs up under the shingles and wicks right onto the living room ceiling. Cost me two days work last time I neglected it. The sheetrock got so soft I had to cut out parts and replace them, then tape, spackle, prime, paint... Finally got smart and made a snow rake. Of course, I haven't used it today and we had almost a foot of snow here yesterday. Glad you reminded me.
BK, They make a roof de-icing cable specifically for keeping a nuisance ice dam from forming at the lower portion of the roof. I once installed one for a customer who had a roof that curved in a shallow pitch at the bottom and the melting snow on up the roof wood freeze at the bottom causing the ice dam. The de-icing cable had a thermostat and it worked like a charm. It served them well for many years and did not cost much to run. It attached to the the shingles with special clips. You could even put it on a switch and only turn it on when you wanted it. Just a thought.... you might be sick or gone when it needs to be attended to.Battenkiller said:
Battenkiller said:
Got a rain on my parade in the dining area for the past 2 days. Looks like a war zone, furniture shoved, pots, towels, rugs rolled up. Atleast this time it didn't come out of the light fixture. I thought taking off the gutter would resolve the issue. I was wrong. I think I have a roof rake in the shed, left over from the Ex .
Dining area is north of the center chimney by about 10 feet on a downward slope.
Thanks again for all the input, i plan on having an inspection in spring to make sure everything is up to par and have it cleaned, and see if it is just the liner touching in the one spot, i have a feeling that is the culprit.
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