I hope all is good, Shane. I have had some good all-day burns, and everthing seems fine temp wise. Just that one stone directly behind the flue that gets real hot- but if you can hold your hand to it for 3 seconds or longer it’s not a problem (or so I hear). Plus, Cultured stone lists an r-value of .620 for 1.75” thick piece(this is the average thickness). I think that particular stone is at least that, and with the durarock behind it, I guess I have nothing to worry about.
As for the height of the hearth- it is 12”. I constructed it this way to make the stove look more Regal (I like that word). It’s in a pretty huge room (20’ x 30’) with 12.5” ceiling. Plus, with all that stone behind it, it would just plain look puny. I also did account for ease of loading. I highly reccomend building it up for this reason alone. When you squat down it is at the perfect height.
Here are some more pictures. One with safety gate for the kiddies. The others were taken standing right next to the stove facing the opposite wall. You can see how open the room is to the rest of the house. I also installed those to fans you see up high. Those take the hot air that rises into that high ceiling, and pump it to the upstairs of the house. One thing I have to say about that stove is- it heats the whole house VERY well. I am impressed by the output. Strange thing is, can’t get the thermometer I have on the top of the stove to get much over 500 at it’s hottest. I guess I really don’t need it though. I can get that room way over 80, the rest of the downstairs to 74 and upstairs to 72. Old Man Winter doesn’t stand a chance! One thing that is complete bull about the stove is those long burn times listed- absolute lies. I load the firebox up and i’m down to coals and reloading within 4 hours.
