What's the difference between "stack" , "chimney" and "flue" ?

Question

Is there any website on the net,. which gives the difference between same meaning words?

Answer 1

I think a stack and chimney are the same thing with perhaps their difference being size.  A flue is the closable vent that allows smoke to exit through the stack or chimney; it keeps cold air out when a fire isn't lit.

Answer 2

When you refer to a chimney "stack", that means the whole construction. The "flue" is the inside part that carries the smoke.To put it into words, " I have to sweep the soot from the flue of that chimney stack". Hope that clears it up for you.

Answer 3

Stack as in smoke stack is use for large industrial structures.

Chimney is residential or small.

Flue is what the British call a chimney

Answer 4

A chimney IS a flue, but not all flues are chimneys. A flue is any vent to expel noxious fumes (such as a chimney) though sometimes this is simply a metal tube, for gas boilers etc.

A chimney is usually a brick-built tube or vent, in a house or factory or other such place, to expel smoke such as in a coal fire, and the word covers the whole structure.

The "stack" is the visible external part of a chimney, such as on top of the roof of a house, or it may be an industrial stack, as seen in places such as cotton mills etc.