How to insulate pipes: guarantee the durability of the

Residents of city apartments hardly ever faced this problem, because the heating and running water in the cities is centralized. But in country houses solid fuel boilers and fireplaces are not such a rarity, in this case, the chimney is simply necessary. To simplify the organization of removal of combustion products, a pipeline is often used, and here the question of how to insulate pipes is becoming relevant.

Why warm up the chimney?

Regardless of what material it is made of (brick, asbestos-cement or steel pipe), it will have to be warmed.

This is recommended for the following reasons:

• Any chimney will heat up during operation.. Due to the fact that the temperature of its walls will significantly exceed the ambient temperature, moisture will begin to condense. And it will be not just water, but an aggressive mixture with the addition of combustion products. This is not the best impact on the durability of the pipe;

• Moisture condensation may also occur from the inner surface of the pipe; a reduction in its cross section may affect the load.;
• With good thermal insulation, less soot will be deposited on the inner surface of the walls, and you will have to clean the chimney less often..

Allowed to insulate not the whole pipe.

As for how to warm the chimney iron pipe, you can follow the following recommendations:

• the outer part must be insulated in any case;
• It is also advisable to warm the area between the attic floor and the roof. Although in the attic it is warmer than outside, but in the cold winter the process of moisture condensation may begin there;
• in the house itself, it is worth carrying out insulation, for reasons of fire safety, and the risk of burns will be less.

Insulation features

In general, there are several ways to insulate the pipe:

• plaster (brick chimney);
• mineral wool slabs (brick pipe);
• using a larger diameter pipe;

• using the carcass construction around the pipe.

When there is a question about how to insulate a chimney made of steel, the last 2 methods are most often used. Moreover, the principle of such insulation is the same - a frame is mounted around the pipe (a casing is installed), and the free space is filled with insulating material.

For thermal insulation can be used such materials as:

• expanded clay;

• dry sand;
• brick battle;

Note! When using broken brick, the distance between the pipe walls should be at least 60 mm. Otherwise, large debris can jam and damage the metal.

• mineral wool;
• kaolin;
• basalt cotton wool.

If the budget allows, then you can do much easier and buy a sandwich chimney, heat insulation in this case is performed at the factory. All that remains is to simply assemble the finished structure from separate sections, and one person will be able to cope with this with their own hands.

Insulation of the chimney from asbestos cement pipes

You can select 2 popular methods of insulation. The first one involves winding the chimney with an insulator and putting the casing on top of it, while the second one is lined with special blocks and can be additionally insulated with mineral wool or plaster.

The procedure for the first method looks like this:

• the asbestos-cement pipe is wrapped with a layer of heat insulator, as for what to insulate the chimney pipe, then, as a rule, the mineral wool or basalt wool is used;
• then it is fixed at the top and bottom of the wire;

Note! For fixing the heat insulator, it is undesirable to use a cord or wire in isolation. These materials do not tolerate heat very well.

• with a tape measure, the chimney circumference is measured, taking into account the insulation, a couple of centimeters should be added to the length, so that the edges of the steel sheet can be fastened with rivets or with self-tapping screws;
• the sheet of the future casing is cut (it is undesirable that its height is less than 1.0 m), it is wound on a pipe with a diameter slightly smaller, the edges are processed by rolls;

• the finished section of the casing is worn over the insulation, the operation is repeated several times.

Note! When chimney insulation in the attic, some try to save money and do without a protective casing. Despite the fact that the attic microclimate is relatively constant, cotton wool will quickly become unusable.

The price of this method of insulation will be minimal. After all, you can do all the work yourself, even without the help of auxiliary workers.

Note! When approaching the top of the pipe you need to provide some narrowing of the casing, possible gaps can simply be sealed with sealant.

As an option, the pipe is simply surrounded by chimney bricks. Insulation while occupying the internal space. To prevent precipitation from entering, a protective cone is mounted at the top.

However, this brick can be warmed outside. For this you will need to attach a frame made of wooden slats (or metal profiles) with self-tapping screws. This method is discussed in more detail below.

How to insulate steel chimney

When it comes to insulating a chimney iron pipe, the same approach is often used as when insulating an asbestos-cement pipeline. Steel conducts heat much better, therefore basalt wool is better to use as a heat insulator.

The technology as a whole remains the same. You can highlight the fact that after wrapping the pipe with insulation, it can be plastered, and after that put on the casing.

Note! The first section, coming directly from the fireplace, is forbidden to warm. High temperatures will cause the insulator to bake and lose elasticity, resulting in possible damage to the metal.

Much less commonly used for insulation are boxes made of wood or asbestos cement slabs. In this case, in addition to the insulation, a triple layer of felt will have to be laid on the inside of the slab at the joints; it can be soaked in cement mortar beforehand.

If the insulation is made along the entire length of the chimney, then special attention should be paid to the places in which the pipe passes through the ceiling. It is desirable to make the hole larger than the diameter of the chimney, the space between the metal and the material of the ceiling can also be filled with a heat insulator.

As for the fact that to insulate the chimney outside, you can facilitate the work and use the foam glass for this. This material is still considered exotic because of its high cost and low prevalence, but its effectiveness and durability is beyond praise.

This material is made by adding a foaming agent to the glass mass. The fine-mesh structure guarantees minimal thermal conductivity.

For thermal insulation of chimneys, foam glass is produced in the form of a kind of “shell” with different internal diameters. And all the work comes down to putting this thermal insulation on the pipe. In order that the moisture does not penetrate into the cells of the material, the heat insulator is plastered over the top. (See also the article Insulation for pipes made of polyethylene foam: features.)

Brick chimney

A brick chimney or a metal pipe lined with brick is most often insulated using mineral wool.

Instructions for the execution of work is as follows:

• for insulation you need to install the batten. Its installation begins with the installation of guides around the perimeter of the pipe, they are attached to the roof with self-tapping screws;
• after that comes the turn of vertical profiles, the step between them should be slightly smaller than the width of the insulating material, thanks to which the insulation will be held in place by the friction force;

Note! You can optionally install the transverse elements of the frame. Then the heater is simply embedded in the resulting cells.

• in order that the mineral wool does not become damp over time, a vapor barrier film is attached over the insulation. Its peculiarity is that moisture passes only in one direction;
• plating of the pipe (siding or any other material) is performed, a gap for ventilation must be provided between the vapor barrier film and the siding.

Summarizing

Thermal insulation of the chimney only at first glance seems to be useless work. In fact, this will not only prolong the life of the pipe, but also less often clean it from soot. The recommendations given in the article will help with the insulation of any type of chimney.

The video in this article presents the simplest method of effective thermal insulation.