aluminum liner ok for gas?

[BobbyT]

I trust the opinions/feed back from here... I have a (can't recall exact btu furnace now, but small, maybe 40k) nat'l gas furnace and 40-gal gas water tank vented in an unlined, brick chimney, original from the 50's. New furnace is still only the ~80% eff., but has the inducer fan/draft, and after installation contract, now I'm told I will have condensation issues with cold, unlined chimney - need to have it lined with flex liner (appx 20-25' total).
SS are hurting $$$$$$, aluminum ones much, MUCH more rea$onable, and come with a decent 20-25 yr warranty. Supposedly. Would you allow/do an aluminum? Never consider it? I'm trying t do some research before I sign, and it appears one could buy the alum 'kit' for about $100-120... now, installing it, that's another animal! Can I get a rough est if this was the only work to be done, meaning, if I was not to call back the furnace installer, would another HVAC guy be intersted in this, of is it not a big enough job, or wouold they just make the price up to make it worth their while since they didn't get the furance install too?
Thanks.

[wayner211]

Any good company will help you.

[t527ed]

have not had any problems with aluminum liners. if heating guys don't want to do job call chimney cleaning co.

[docholiday]

Its a shame the original installer didnt do it in the first place, but, I suspect looking for a bargain is why you're in the fix youre in. no offense intended.

Call any reputable HVAC company to have it done as wayner211 mentioned.

[johnsp]

Many heating guys don't touch chimney, dont want the liability. A sweep will want to make money on the material also. Call around and get the best price.

[billva]

why would they bring that up after the fact? it should have been included in the installation.

looks like the salesman didn't look around too well. i wonder what else he missed?

[oil lp man]

Aluminum is for gas appliances. Stainless steel liner is required for oil appliances.
It takes 2 people to install it.

[contactor]

Make sure the chimney liner is approved for use in a masonry chimney, for gas appliances. Just an aluminum flexible pipe wont cut it. I agree it should have been done when the furnace was installed.

[hearthman]

Yes, listed aluminum liners are approved for Category I gas appliances--no oil. However, they are a poor bargain. If you live in the deep South, it might hold up. However, up North, they might last 2-3 yrs. The problem is, most HVAC companys don't inspect their work every yr. once they're done. Sweeps do. That's why 90% of the sweeps only sell stainless steel. It's like throwing money away.

Pay a sweep to install a listed liner such as 316Ti or AL29-4C alloy.

Yes, you must reline the chimney both for code compliance and functionality.

[oil lp man]

Originally posted by hearthman
Yes, listed aluminum liners are approved for Category I gas appliances--no oil. However, they are a poor bargain. If you live in the deep South, it might hold up. However, up North, they might last 2-3 yrs. The problem is, most HVAC companys don't inspect their work every yr. once they're done. Sweeps do. That's why 90% of the sweeps only sell stainless steel. It's like throwing money away.

Pay a sweep to install a listed liner such as 316Ti or AL29-4C alloy.

Yes, you must reline the chimney both for code compliance and functionality.

You are probably right about the aluminum. I have always used Z-FLEX kit, which is stainless steel on certain types of propane decorative appliances. We usually have the homeowner hire a chimney guy to install a stainless steel liner for oil fired equipment that we install, before we will install it. So I wouldn't know how well aluminum holds up. But it seems to hold up pretty well in B vent.