Woodstove chimney...out the wall or out the roof?

For those that have wood stoves in your fur shed. Which route did you go and why? I’m leaning towards out the wall. This would unfortunately put two 90 degree bends in the chimney though.

Straight up is always better!!

Mine goes out the wall (former window) wish I would've gone straight up and when I redo the roof probably will.

strait up drafts so nice and keeps the flue temp up till the pipe is above the roof line.

I have 90* in 2 45* because of where the stove had to go to make wall clearance and still fit between rafters, but those are before the ceiling box so when I clean I have a strait shot to the top.

I burn decent wood and clean once a year and if I get a cup of soot out at most that is about it , I can run a camera up and see that it is clean all the way to the top.

Any chimney through a roof is a leak waiting to happen. I redone a few houses doing away with the brick chimney and routing the stainless double wall outside the over hangs. No issues thus far. Clean out is simple as you can do it from the ground instead of getting on a roof every year.

Addin one to my shed/shop as well. If its out the roof does it need to go above the peak or just two feet past where it passes through the roof?

Fact. I have a ribbed steel roof and leaking is a problem. I need to regroup.

Talk to someone in your local fire department regarding 90 degree angles on a wood stove. I vote straight up.

Note the smokepipe going thru the roof. Obviously the proper way to go!

Straight up.
If you have leaks around the penetration..........somebody did it wrong

Eyyyuuup.
Laying down shingles or panels is the easy button- a good roofer knows how to flashing things so they never leak

straight up is better.
Flashing is straight forward and better draft.

Straight up is best. Creosote will run back down to the stove. If you have a 90 turn the creosote wants to stop there and build up and will totally stop up the pipe if it don't burn out first.

While straight up Is the better choice you can still go through the wall. Just use 2 45s instead of 90s.

X2

I didn't know Leftlane was in your neck of the woods

That's my new claims assistant's rig! Miss Bendy does yoga on the roof every morning.

Straight up gets a better draft but then you have t make sure the roof doesn't leak. I went out the wall and it works fine

I've heard it should be 3' higher than the peak of the roof to draft right.

If you are talking masonry chimneys then I completely agree. But you might be surprised by the amount of leaking masonry chimneys (built and flashed by others) that I've been called to repair. It seems like the concepts of step and counter-flashing are lost on many builders.

If it's a steel pipe I won't touch it, call someone else. IMO, a steel pipe through a roof is a leak waiting to happen. There just isn't any good, reliable, long-term way to properly flash them.

I have a steel pipe through the steel roof of my camp. It doesn't leak but I go up there every other year and schmutz it with roof coating.

I had a steel pipe through the roof at home, It didn't leak for the same reason but rain water coming down the pipe (it had a cap on it) mixed with ash and creosote and ate a hole in the steel smoke shelf of my woodstove.

I built a masonry chimney and ran the stove pipe through a UL rated wall pass-thru into a masonry thimble and into the chimney. The chimney is properly step and counter-flashed and maintenance free as far as leaks are concerned.

I've never had any draft issues with my Quadra-Fire.

Without looking I think the code says two feet higher than any part of the roof or building within ten feet.

Some chimneys now days are 100 yrs old and the original flashing just ain't gonna last. Thank God for modern power tools!

2 ft above the ten foot parallel

You can recover more heat from a horizontal run of pipe than a vertical run, but it will not draft as good. It kind of becomes a balance of your damper for draft or holding heat.

If I remember correctly, NFPA 211 states you need to be three feet above the peak if you pass through the peak or two feet above anything within a ten foot plain. That's national code, local code can be more stringent.

An outside chimney is cold to start with and does not draw so well when starting a fire. Because colder than an inside one an outside chimney promotes more creosote accumulation also. Inside chimney heats ur house better too all the way up with that warm chimney.

Have had both and inside wins. Put ur top 2' higher than the house ridge line to draw better.

So does it have to go higher than the peak if u go out the side wall?

Yes. Drafting properly is very important. As most stated , 2-3 feet is code , but a little taller is better. More draft , less chance of back drafting when you get high winds.




I seen this cobbled together setup in a house I was working in. They must have had a drafting issue. Not recommended IMO.

Not necessarily. By code it should be two feet higher than any part of the roof or building within ten feet on a horizontal plane.

I have had both and prefer through the roof. I had a custom stainless flashing made at a local sheet metal shop. No leaks, no bends to slow the flow or clog, easy to clean, and I have high ceilings so cheaper less tripple wall, and it the hot pipe heats inside instead of outside.


I still own the house with through the roof but at the farm I went with option 3. Outdoor wood fired boiler. I burn a lot more wood but no mess, smoke, or fire /safety hazard in the house. Very little splitting and a lot less cutting to length with the 2 foot by 2 foot door and 36 x48 inche for box. It also heats my domestic hot water saving around $250 in electricity a year. O and unlimited hot water. Nice and toasty even if your 5th in line to get a shower. It is also large enough to heat a 30x40 shop if I get one built.

It was expensive up front but the old farm house had limited options and those had high expenses to put in a wood stove. It's old draft and after 4 years of what my propane cost would have been the outdoor wood stove will have paied for its self.

Sometimes weather conditions makes it very hard to get a draft going. I've had to open windows, doors, and even put an electric heater inside the stove to warm the pipe up to get a draft started.