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keljohnso
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2013 09:56am
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I want to go with a wood stove in my 12X16 building but a 3'clearance around the stove it takes up a lot of floor space.
I'm wondering if I stacked brick in the corner about 4' high, could I put the stove a little closer to the wall?
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hueyjazz
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2013 12:07pm
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Clearance depend on a lot of factors starting with the wood stove and the manufacture's recommendation. Type of pipe used to exhaust also plays a factor. Three feet sounds very generous. Most stoves are like 18" from combustibles. You need clearance on all sides of the stove including the front. I suugest you get a copy of the owner manual for your particular stove before you accept any canned answer.
For something I'm going to keep running while I sleep in a all wood structure I err on the side of caution. Just because I can doesn't mean I will go with the minumum.
I just finished redoing mine. Bought the cabin a year ago and the existing stove, pipe, wall and clearances were all questionable. Previous owner was a big fan of cheap and free. I'm a big fan of good and right.
Now at night I actually sleep with both eyes closed
There's a good side benefit of using bricks or rocks around a wood stove. Thermo mass The brick heats up and retains heat and slowly gives up the heat into the room.
Consider also the wood stove is often a center point of the room. you'll be staring at it for hours. You might as well make it look nice.
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razmichael
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2013 01:07pm
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Quoting: hueyjazz I suugest you get a copy of the owner manual for your particular stove before you accept any canned answer.
That is the best advice! Find out what the manufacturer requires. It will depend on the type of stove, built in heat shields, what the surface material is etc.
36" is not an extreme clearance to plain wood without some shielding. As wood is exposed to the heat it's combustion temperature will drop. Here is a good generic reference on safety and good details on various shielding methods. Michigan State University
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CabinBuilder
Admin
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2013 01:33pm
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This may help: Small Cabin Wood Stove Safety Clearances.
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2013 03:13pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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36" is the default clearance listed in the mechanical codes for stoves that do not have manufacturers clearances listed. Any more modern stove is going to have far lesser clearances listed by the factory. Then, as shown in the links listed above, you can reduce the clearances by various means.
I'm using a Morso 1410 stove stuffed into the corner at 45 degrees, the factory says 14" clearance to combustibles. I'm going to use the brick surround option to reduce clearances, so I have to space the brick out from the wall one inch and leave breather holes at the bottom. The building dept where I am will let me reduce clearances to combustibles by 2/3 with such a surround, so my clearance would be only 4-3/4" from stove to nearest combustible which is the studs behind the brick. So, it seems I could put the stove right up against the brick since that's how far the brick face will be from the studs. But, in the stove manual it says that you can reduce the clearances with approved methods, but in no case reduce the clearances to less than 8 inches. So I will locate the stove 3 inches from the brick. Makes sense to space it at least a bit from the brick.
Masonry ties are necessary to hold the brick out from the wall. All instructions I've seen for installing such a brick surround state that you should not put the ties directly behind the stove, since they are metal and will conduct heat from the brick to the wood they are nailed to. But, tell me what portion of such a surround is not 'behind' the stove? Particularly with a small stove instal. So anyway I'll just locate them as far from the stove as I can, I guess.
Also note that exactly how far out from the wall you place the stove will determine the hearth width you will need to provide. 16" from the front face of the stove is what's required, if you want to meet code.
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ericfromcowtown
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# Posted: 16 Nov 2013 09:05am
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I just insured our cabin for fire, and as part of the paperwork, I had to submit pictures and fill out a rather detailed form. Part of the form was a comparison between the manufacturer's required clearances and the actual clearances. My stove met or exceeded the required clearances, but presumably there may have been an issue with the insurance if it hadn't.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 16 Nov 2013 09:41am
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Nearly impossible to get fire insurance in Northern California forest areas. Aside from woodstove issues, you have to nearly clearcut all trees within 100 ft of the building, instal tempered glass in windows, all siding has to be non-combustible, etc. And the rates are so high you might as well invest the money on Wall St. and then rebuild after the house burns.
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ericfromcowtown
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# Posted: 17 Nov 2013 09:17pm
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Bldginsp,
It was expensive here in Alberta, but not nearly as difficult as it sounds in northern California. I'm relatively close to my neighbours at the lake. If it were just a matter of rebuilding after a fire, I'd risk not having insurance as well. I'm more concerned with the possibility (if unlikely) of a fire on my property ever destroying my neighbours cabins...
In any case, it was interesting to see that as part of that process the insurance company quizzed me rather intensely on my wood-burning stove.
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project_north
Member
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# Posted: 18 Nov 2013 02:48pm
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Was thinking of going with the Horse Flame Shetland:
http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Wood-Stove-and-Accessories/Cast-Iron-Stoves/Horse-Flame -Shetland-HF-905-Wood-Burning-Stove
Does anyone have experience with it?
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TheWildMan
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# Posted: 18 Nov 2013 03:37pm
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3 foot clearance is the recommended distance from an unprotected combustable wall (wood or other material that can burn). if you use some kind of a heat shield to insulate the wall you can reduce it to a foot or even less depending on the stove (read the owners manual, it usually is included).
I used a section of old metal roofing as a shield with 1 inch copper spacers made from an old pipe. the floor has a 1 inch thick cement block layer. this is enough for my boxwood stove to be a foot away from the wall. for added shielding I built a U shaped ring around the back and sides made from 8x8x6 cinder block with an inch between it and the metal shield. it helps hold and radiate heat all night but doesn't get too hot.
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