Removing wood stove, sealing off chimney?

[SparkyJJO]

So my house has this rather nice (and extremely heavy) Vermont Castings wood stove in the living room that I'm not using anymore. I did last winter to supplement the heating oil, but insurance is a killer on this thing since I'm outside the "protected zones" (aka no fire hydrants) and I'm no lumberjack, plus dragging in the wood also brings in a lot of extra dirt, bugs, etc. I'm putting a new, more efficient furnace in this year so I'm also wanting to take out the woodburner.

Issue is, I'm not sure what to do about the 8 inch stove pipe going into the wall. What is the best and proper way to seal it off and fix the wall? The previous owner found there had been a minor chimney fire that cracked the original clay liner, so her insurance paid to have it fixed with a stainless liner.

If anyone wants a several hundred pound cast iron wood stove LMK

 

[mizzou]

well....why not just leave it? Its very pricey installing a heater like that and new liner. I cant imagine a circumstance where you would want to completely remove a well built wood burner. Cant you tell your ins co you stop using it??

How lomg you plan on staying there?

 

[skyking]

I'd be tempted to do the typical steel lid, covered with something decorative.
I would be hesitant to seal it off in a permanent manner.

 

[edro]

Craigslist it and it will be gone in a few days.
I agree to just make some sort of cover plate.
Future owners might want one.
Paint the wall color if you don't want it to stand out much.

Put some sort of cap on the chimney in the roof.
Make sure your furnace/hot water heater vent doesn't vent through the chimney.
If it does, you can't completely block off the chimney top or your furnace won't work and carbon monoxide would build up.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

While it is unlikely please be sure nothing else uses the same chimney. If it does you will need to use some form of fire rated patch for the hole.

That stove will fetch a pretty penny don't just chuck it.

 

[highland145]

Had an insert in the fireplace. Hated dealing with the wood/ashes. Replaced it with vent-less gas logs. We were very happy during the power outage 2 winters ago.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I'll ask, but I think as long as the thing is hooked up they'll charge me as I might use it.

I plan on being here indefinitely. Obviously things could change, but at this point I see nothing that would make me want to move.

There are two flues in the chimney. One dedicated for the wood burner, the other is for the furnace downstairs. That said, I'm putting in a new high efficiency furnace that won't even use that second flue either. I thought about just a cap, but I don't want something that will let a lot of cold air in/warm out out of the house. Those caps don't strike me as well insulated. And with it right in the living room I don't want it to look bad.

My plan is to put in a ventless gas fireplace on the wall in place of the wood stove so in the event of an extended power outage I could still have heat.

Definitely not going to throw away the wood burner. It is too nice for that!