I think a chimney liner is a good option. You should talk to someone who specializes in the area, and not someone who just cleans chimneys.

Installing the liner is usually fairly simple. I would think it would be in the $500 - $1000 range. You many have to do some brick work at the bottom of the chimney to secure the liner.

Make sure the chimney is secured to the house. I recommend you install chaulking between the chimney and the siding in order to prevent water from entering.

I would look at this situation as an opportunity to change fuels. Do you have natural gas in the area? If so, now is the time to contact the utility ands see what programs they are running to get you to convert. Exterior masonry chimneys are the worst from a performance standpoint. Given the deterioration of the current flue even lining it is throwing good money after bad. If you reline it I would use the sizing guidelines from Appendix E in the NFPA31 code book. As well, it being an exterior chimney I would suggest that the liner be insulated as well.

Thank you both for your input.

I will call in a chimney expert to see what my options. Unfortunately, I do not have natural gas available to me.

Just one more thought. I don't know the age and/or condition of your oil furnace, but I suspect that you will find the cost of lining your chimney to be much more than has been suggested here.

That said, would it be feasible to replace your existing furnace with a 95% Efficient Condensing Oil Fired Furnace and do away with the need to use the chimney?

By feasible I mean financially and location/geometry wise.

Just a thought.

I represented a manuf of condensing oil furnaces. There are very few out there and they are very service inten$ive. I agree that the cost of a decent Stainless steel liner will be substantially higher than suggested. Before lining a chimney that is pulling away from the building, meaning that it is structurally unsound, I would look at installing a Tjernlund Sideshot II. Make sure you have adequate combustion air. If you do this you can take down the chimney.

Thanks, Jackfre.

Another thought - again we know virtually nothing about the OP's house except oil heat and a shaky chimney.

Is a heat pump in the cards as a possibility?

This post was edited by saltidawg on Thu, Mar 6, 14 at 9:28

You don't want a oil furnace venting out the side of your house.

I may have low balled my estimate for a chimney liner. If you do a search you will see 25 foot stainless steel liners in the $300 - $500 range. On that you need to add costs for a cap, connection to the furnace, and labor. Dropping the liner from the top of the chimney should be relatively easy for pros who do this for a living. The key is finding someone who knows what they are doing.

I would be curious as to see what quotes you receive. You should wait until spring when the things slow down.

"You don't want a oil furnace venting out the side of your house."

mike_home,

No argument, it is obvious why not? Many of my neighbors are moving to 95% furnaces with PVC pipes coming out/in the sides of their homes.

Just curious.

I think the exhaust of a high efficiency oil burner is still going to contain some soot. Even a small amount over time is going to collect against the siding of the house. I would also think there would be odor present which has the potential of coming in through windows.

Do your neighbors have oil burners or are they heating with gas?

I can not be positive, but likely my neighbors do have gas.

Your answer makes sense, however I looked at the installation manuals for a couple of candidate 95% oil burners and they do show side venting, as well as thru the roof.

I have no first hand experience with potential for soot or oil byproducts - NOR cost.

This post was edited by saltidawg on Thu, Mar 6, 14 at 18:24

Side wall venting of an oil fired 80%, which is most common, appliance is called "power venting". There are two manuf of power venters. Field Controls and Tjernlund. In my business I represented Tjernlund for 20 years and have a lot of them installed in the Northeast, where 80% of oil heat is located.

As I noted previously, back in the 80's I represented a company who made a condensing oil fired furnace. They had other excellent products but the condensing unit put them out of business.

Power venters are excellent products BUT, they have to be installed and serviced by a real tech. The biggest problem with PV is that the servicing company will clean the furnace or boiler and not touch the PV. Everything that goes through the furnace goes through the PV. When properly serviced they are an excellent exhaust system for oil appliances

Power venters on oil boilers which also provide hot water are an occasional problem if located where the fumes from combustion are venting close to your deck or by a window which you want to open. The flue gases get blown out of the building but then waft along the wall to your BBQ and, well, if you can believe it, some people don't like the smell. If it is a winter only operation the odor issue is much reduced as the patio is not used and the windows are closed.

Of the two manuf of PV, while I am biased, I think Tjernlund makes the best. I can defend that technically, but wlll offer one point. The Field's unit blows the gases straight down against the side of the house where the Tjernlund blows them straight away from the building.

A properly set up condensing oil furnace is a very efficient appliance. That said, they are service intensive and have not been embraced by the oil companies. This is after 30 yrs on the market. If the techs don't like them, then you had better not like them either.

My biggest problem with oil heat is that there has just not been any technology advances in the business. Why after all these years is there not an effective reliable modulating burner? Oil has 140kbtu, vs 100k for NG and 92 kbtu for LP. My feeling is that the modulating technology common in gas appliances makes up the difference in heat potential in the benefits of modulation.

For the OP I just can't see trying to save a chimney that has deteriorated to the point that it is separating from the building. That is the result of decades of condensation and acidic consumption of the flue itself. There is no way that chimney passes the requirements of NFPA 211-Chimneys & flues, NFPA 54-Gas Code or NFPA 31-Oil Installation, all of which have an inspection requirement which this flue simply will not meet. Lining a structurally sound chimney makes sense. Lining a compromised chimney is throwing good money after bad, imho!

"My biggest problem with oil heat is that there has just not been any technology advances in the business."

The residential oil heat business shrinks every year. Investing in new technology has little potential to create new business. It is an industry that is slowly disappearing.

" It is an industry that is slowly disappearing."

That said, in some parts of the country it (oil heat) will be around for decades.

The decline is noted in the industry, and the reason no manuf wants to invest in it. As the vol declines I expect the price to increase and supply to become problematic.

Is a heat pump a possibility? Absolutely, and oil customers are doing this as an alternative source. I suggest mini-splits aver central systems that add coils to the existing duct work. The reason being, the typical old ductwork leaks like a sieve. Run the heat pump down to 15-20* and oil below that. You will see substantial savings