CELEBRATE THE SEASON:
The Time of Falling Leaves
by Mary Lou Healy

Autumn: The Exultant March to Death
by Zephine Humphrey

Emilo's Creations are Gourd-eous
by Kirt Zimmer

A Harvest of Fall Recipes

POETRY:
A Vermont Walk in October
by Daniel L. Cady

When the Frost is on the Punkin
by James Witcomb Riley

GARDENING:
Legends of the Chrysanthemum
by Leonard Perry

EVERYTHING WOOD HEAT:
Drop Me a Liner
by Daryle Thomas

INTO THE OUTDOORS:
Long Trail Therapy
An Excursion into the Woods Rekindles the Spirit.

VERMONT WEATHERVANE BOOK NEWS:
Passing Strange
True Tales of New England Hauntings and Horrors

Richard Brown's New England
A new book by acclaimed photographer Richard Brown.

GET OUT AND ABOUT:
Views Through Time:
A Driving Tour of Rutland County, Vt.

Vermont Country Calendar

EXPLORE OUR OTHER SEASONS:
FALL
WINTER
SPRING
SUMMER

If you didn't pass through Rural, Vermont to get to this site you may want to make a small detour.

It's worth the trip!

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or call: 802-645-9631
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All rights reserved.

Drop Me a Liner
by Daryle Thomas

Another liner? Don't all chimneys have liners?

The truth is not all chimneys have liners, but nowadays even a lined chimney can be too large for proper performance of the newer wood stoves and will benefit from a reducing flue liner.

All wood stoves manufactured after 1988 must meet a federally-mandated clean air standard. As the standard is reached, stove efficiency rises. As efficiency rises, smoke - waste heat - reduces. (Don't worry, nine out of ten people reading this haven't got a clue about what that means either.)

Simply put, reduced heat in the chimney from a more efficient stove means reduced draft in the chimney. Reduced draft means increased tendency for smoke to spill out of the stove and into the house. The bigger the flue size, the more likely smoke reversal.

If you can remember your Uncle Mike's recipe for sausage, you may be able to justify the smoke. Otherwise, a reducing flue liner is the only way to keep smoke going up the chimney rather than down.

Flue Size
Some old world masons believe, and might go so far as to attempt to convince you, that a bigger flue provides a stronger draft. T'ain't necessarily so. In fact, it never has been true for a wood stove vent.

With the exception of a very few poorly engineered wood stoves, most smoke outlets are six inches in diameter. Venting a six-inch pipe into a larger flue allows the smoke to expand and cool down.

This phenomenon is what makes a refrigerator work. A compressor scrunches up a gas formerly known as Freon. As the gas travels through the refrigerator coils, it expands and draws the heat out of the cabinet. This is a wonderful thing in a kitchen appliance, but a real bummer in a chimney.

Keeping the flue size the same as, or in some cases smaller than, the outlet size of the stove prevents the smoke from expanding and cooling down to the point creosote forms.

The smaller size also allows for insulation to be applied around the new liner between it and the old flue.

Two Types of Flue Liners
New flue liners are available in two basic types. The cementitious liner has some strength enhancing qualities for older, often historical chimneys. This cement-based liner can be used on new, brick chimneys, but is highly effective in rescue missions on chimneys that can't be saved any other way.

Readers restoring old Vermont houses should consult with a provider of cementitious liners when dealing with chimney integrity during the restoration project. To the best of my knowledge, no cementitious liner system may be installed by anyone not holding a franchise. I know of at least two installers in the central to southern Vermont area. They are in the phone book.

The second, considerably more common, form of relining system can also be used in new construction. In my opinion, a new brick chimney should use this type of liner rather than the "normal" tile liner. The liner system I'm talking about employs various grades of stainless steel pipe to conduct exhaust gasses up and out of the chimney.

A well installed stainless liner may provide good service for over 20 years. The important factor is matching the grade of stainless steel with the intended fuel. A higher grade of stainless steel may be used on less corrosive fuels, but the higher cost may not be worth it.

Flexible Tube Design
When a cementitious liner is installed into a curved, or corbeled, chimney, spacers hold the air-filled bladder away from the sides of the chimney to allow for an even fill of lining material. To line a corbeled chimney with stainless steel, a flexible tube is indicated.

There are two styles of flexible tube construction to think about. I am not talking about metallurgical content here. I will cover the mechanical construction and let you decide if one type is better than the other.

The first type of flexible stainless steel liner is classified as spiral corrugation.

One manufacturer uses a crimped edge said to be vapor tight, yet flexible. Another manufacturer uses the same type of raw banding, but continuously welds the side seam.

The non-welded manufacturer says that welding changes the metallurgy of the stainless at the weld, which is true. They offer a "25-year warranty." The welded-seam manufacturer offers a "lifetime warranty."

Please note the quotation marks, I'll tell you about warranties in a moment.

I do not care for corrugated liner - period.

Many chimney sweep installers quote corrugated liner, because they can make more money on it. The corrugations are about 1/4-inch deep; one after another all the way to the top of the chimney.

Think of them as potholes on a country dirt road. Think of your automobile, which symbolizes smoke travelling up the liner, driving over the rutted road. Can you drive as fast over ruts as you can over the smooth interstate roads? Simply put, the smoother the inner surface of the liner, the better the performance. For straight chimneys, rigid sections of liner tend to offer the best performance. If flex liner is required, interlocked flexible liner is my preference. Does it cost more than spiral-formed liner? Of course it does.

Interlocked liner starts with a material thickness of .018 inch. Spiral wound liner is .005 to .007 inch thick. Interlocked liner is very flexible. It flops around like al dente spaghetti. The most important feature is that interlocked liner is quite smooth for a flexible liner.

The point of all this is that choosing a quote for professional installation should be based on the cost of equal components. The same is true if you are the installer. Don't base the liner on cost alone. Think about the ease of installation and the characteristics of smoke flow. Both are ultimately more important than a lower cost on a less effective product.

Warranties?
Now a word about "warranties" as applied to stainless steel liners - ignore them. Oops, that's two words.

All warranties cover defective material. It makes no difference if you are given a 10-year, 25-year, or "lifetime" warranty. If you the consumer can prove that the material is indeed defective, you will get some compensation.

If the liner was damaged by your careless use, or just plain wore out, don't wait for a check in the morning mail.

Relining any chimney to improve performance, even with a less effective liner in my possibly biased opinion, will cover the cost of the liner in full long before any liner fails. In most cases the savings will be enough to pay for the liner to be replaced, should you still be alive when it fails.

Can you put in your own liner? If you think you can, you probably can. If you don't think you can, face up to the fact that you probably can't, or shouldn't, attempt the job.

For those who think they can install a liner, I would guess that if you buy a liner from a given merchant, that merchant should be able to teach you anything you need to know about the installation.

Don't expect a great deal of information until you buy the liner. It's that quid pro quo thing. A knowledgeable pipe purveyor can save you many hundreds of dollars over professional installation. Make a commitment to buy the liner before you beg for installation information.

Once you learn the ropes, you might even consider a career change, if only part-time.