WI Deer Slayer
New Member
Hello,
Long time lurker, first time poster. I am new to wood burning and am a little nervous after a recent discovery. We just purchased a new home and had a chimney sweep come over to sweep and inspect the chimney before we started using it for the year. After cleaning it, he discovered a small hole in the back of the smoke box and rusting, probably due to the fact that the previous owners never had a rain cap on. So after some research and his reccomendation, I decided to purchase an insert. I purchased a new Pacific Energy super 27 insert to install in my existing fireplace, and he reccommended that I put in a fully insulated liner, but he would have to remove my terra cota flue tiles to make it fit. I was fine with this and actually wanted the fully insulated zero clearance liner, but he couldnt get me into the schedule for a few weeks, so I decided to go with a different company who installed a S.S. flex liner with no insulation but left the flue tiles in. The dealer told me that being an interior chimney there was no need to have a insulate liner and it was actually a waste. They just put insulation in the top of the flue and bottom around the insert to keep the heat in. So after burning now for about five days, the mechanical room behind the fireplace which has the masonry chimney that goes up to the roof has been getting warm. So I put my hand on the back side of the chimney, which is just four inch block with the terra cota flue tile inside, it is very warm. It is an interior chimney obviously, but my question is how dangerous is this? I can hold my hand on the block but it is almost to the point where i cant for more than a minute or so. It goes up through the ceiling into the attic and then out the roof, but I am just worried where it goes through the ceiling, if it will heat the wood joists up so much it could possibly ignite them. I am kind of freaking out a little guys as this cost me almost 4,000 dollars to have installed, and I am wondering if I made a mistake by not having the first sweep install it with the fully insulated liner. The fire has been burning for almost five days now, so I realize the flue will probably not get any hotter, but it just makes me nervous having the back side of the block that warm. If anybody has any experience with this, or knows if it should be getting warm to the touch, or if 4 inch block with a terra cota flue liner is even sufficient for a masonry fireplace, I would appreciate any advice. Sorry for rambling so much and thanks in advance.
Long time lurker, first time poster. I am new to wood burning and am a little nervous after a recent discovery. We just purchased a new home and had a chimney sweep come over to sweep and inspect the chimney before we started using it for the year. After cleaning it, he discovered a small hole in the back of the smoke box and rusting, probably due to the fact that the previous owners never had a rain cap on. So after some research and his reccomendation, I decided to purchase an insert. I purchased a new Pacific Energy super 27 insert to install in my existing fireplace, and he reccommended that I put in a fully insulated liner, but he would have to remove my terra cota flue tiles to make it fit. I was fine with this and actually wanted the fully insulated zero clearance liner, but he couldnt get me into the schedule for a few weeks, so I decided to go with a different company who installed a S.S. flex liner with no insulation but left the flue tiles in. The dealer told me that being an interior chimney there was no need to have a insulate liner and it was actually a waste. They just put insulation in the top of the flue and bottom around the insert to keep the heat in. So after burning now for about five days, the mechanical room behind the fireplace which has the masonry chimney that goes up to the roof has been getting warm. So I put my hand on the back side of the chimney, which is just four inch block with the terra cota flue tile inside, it is very warm. It is an interior chimney obviously, but my question is how dangerous is this? I can hold my hand on the block but it is almost to the point where i cant for more than a minute or so. It goes up through the ceiling into the attic and then out the roof, but I am just worried where it goes through the ceiling, if it will heat the wood joists up so much it could possibly ignite them. I am kind of freaking out a little guys as this cost me almost 4,000 dollars to have installed, and I am wondering if I made a mistake by not having the first sweep install it with the fully insulated liner. The fire has been burning for almost five days now, so I realize the flue will probably not get any hotter, but it just makes me nervous having the back side of the block that warm. If anybody has any experience with this, or knows if it should be getting warm to the touch, or if 4 inch block with a terra cota flue liner is even sufficient for a masonry fireplace, I would appreciate any advice. Sorry for rambling so much and thanks in advance.
