Minimum clearances around Jotul F100 Nordic QT in fireplace

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faustjc

New Member
Jul 23, 2010
5
Michigan
Hi everyone,
I really appreciate this site- there is so much information and I'm learning a lot.
I've been searching your site for minimum clearances around a cast-iron wood stove installed into a fireplace.
I would like to install a Jotul F100 Nordic QT into my fireplace. I've looked through the Jotul manual and couldn't find clearances for an install directly into the fireplace. In my fireplace the F100 would have 5 inches on either side at the front of the firebox- tapering back to about 3.5 inches on either side in back. It would have 4.5 inches of clearance on the top and about 6 inches in back. I'd like to get some official guidance from Jotul but their website doesn't seem to allow me to contact them directly. The one Jotul dealer I spoke to say there would be no problem but I want to make sure.
I apologize in advance if this information is already on your site and I missed it.
Your advice is welcome.
Thanks.
JC
 
John,

Page 8 of the Jotul F-100 Manual has the minimum height into a masonry fireplace at 22 1/2 inches. The real concern is clearance to combustibles and mantels. If you have brick all around, it should not be a problem. My Nordic has a rear and bottom heat shield that came with it. The bottom heat shield is great, as I can put my hand under the stove while running and feel little heat under the shield. I rear vent my stove and 3/4 of it is out of the firebox sitting on a new 4" concrete hearth with vermont slate tile. I extended the hearth pad to give proper clearance to the wood floor. The stove has a good size glass door, so the floor in front of the stove does get warm. Good for lazy cats and kids.

Jon
 
If it is brickwork alone, you are fine as that is not combustible. Any wooden mantle/ trim should be taken into consideration. Check out page 12 of the manual (online or in hardcopy) it gives the clearances for a fp install to combustible mantel/trim.
 
fishingpol,
I saw the height minimum on page 8 but in that paragraph they refer to figure 7 which shows the stove on the hearth and not in the firebox. I'm planning to put the stove completely into the firebox so the face of the stove is recessed about 1 inch relative to the face brick on the outside of the fireplace. Has someone done this?
Also- I'm hoping that because the stove is inside the firebox the clearance to the mantle won't apply as there won't be direct radiant heat from the top of the stove hitting the underside of the mantle. Is that correct?
All comments are welcome.
Thanks!
JC
 
I agree with summit. Non-combustible. Think of it this way. When you burn in an open fireplace, the flames and embers are in direct contact with the firebricks. With a woodstove the wood and embers are in a cast iron box with no direct flame exposed to the firebrick. Much safer and besides you have an air control to regulate the burn and not to mention all the BTU's staying in the living space and not going directly up the flue as you would with a fireplace. As long as you have room to make the connections and secure the fasteners, it should be fine.


As far as the heat shield, heat will rise off the stove, out past the lintel and directly up to your mantel. Heat shields can be bent up by a good sheet metal shop for a very reasonable price. As far as looks, well... not pretty, but safety trumps looks when it comes to this. It may not be direct radiant heat to your mantel, maybe get a heat shield at the lintel level to re-direct the flow of heat. If the mantel does not project too far out or it is high enough from the stove, you may be ok.
 
OK- I took some measurements- the Jotul manual requires a minimum of 22 inches vertical distance from the mantle- I've got 26 inches. The max mantle depth- (I'm assuming this is how far the mantle extends out from the brick face of the fireplace) The manual says 12 inches max and I've got 2.5 inches of mantle out beyond the brick face (we cut it down when we re-built the mantle so we could salvage the original trim).
JC
 
May I ask why your installing the stove inside the fireplace? The masonry will suck up most of the heat from a radiant stove.
 
Looks like you are ok on the specs in regards to the clearances above. Do you have the 16" required from the front glass to a combustible floor? The glass on the door lets quite a bit of heat out and my floor gets toasty warm out in front. If so, you should be good to go. Good luck.
 
fishingpol,
The distance from the front glass to a combustible floor will be between 24 and 27 inches depending on far into the firebox we place the stove. So I think I’m covered there.

I’m still concerned about the lack of clearance around the stove causing heat buildup. The cast iron must release the heat at a certain rate and it requires ambient air moving by the surface to allow this heat exchange to take place. There must be some minimum clearance around the wood stove to allow this heat exchange to take place. If not the temp of the stove would climb until it started weakening the metal. For an extreme example what if we put a stove in a box that was sealed up and provided enough combustion air and fuel into the stove- wouldn’t that stove ultimately heat up to the point that the metal would melt?


Todd,
I agree the masonry will suck up a lot of heat. I’m placing the Jotul in the firebox because:
1. The fireplace brick and the limestone surrounding the opening of the fireplace is beautiful and I don’t want the stove to be in the way. I’ve thought about putting in an insert but the house was built in 1937 and inserts seem too modern to me. My wife and I are restoring the house and keeping it in period style. To me the Jotul F100 Nordic will look right at home in this house.
2. There is damage to the flue tiles and it will cost us more to fix the original flue tiles and have a really inefficient fireplace then to install the Jotul with a stainless steel liner all the way up the flue. I think comparing the two- the fireplace or the Jotul in the firebox- the Jotul will provide a lot more heat even with the masonry losses.

Regarding heat loss into the masonry. I was thinking about creating a stainless steel heat shield or guide that would start at the floor of the firebox behind the stove against the back wall of the firebox and curve over the back of the stove top to just touch the underside of the stone at the top of the fireplace opening. The curved plate would have a rise of approximately 2 inches from the back of the firebox to the front once it cleared the back of the stove. This curved plate would hopefully do two things:
1. Reflect the heat radiating from the back and top of the stove into the room.
2. Create a smooth surface that would help guide the heated air rising in the firebox out the opening of the firebox into the room.


All comments and suggestions are welcome.
Thank you all for your help.
 
At this point I could not offer any advice as my stove is not in the firebox. I have not really noticed the heat from the side of the stove. My stove sticks 9" out of the fireplace opening and sitting to the side of it did not blast me out of my chair last winter. The Nordic has a double wall side plates. There are the outside plates and interior plates. The exloded view manual shows this.

2 winters ago I had a VC Aspen all the way in the firebox rear vented. It is less BTU rating than the Nordic, I had no issues with it overheating. There was a bi-metallic damper that regulated draft temps if they got to high.

If you are looking for aesthetics, I would just not put in a full load with the Nordic, choke it down and run a lower temperature but not to the point that the glass will soot up. You want to keep it reasonably hot for a clean burn.

If you are looking to cut down your utility bills, I think most would agree here that if you move it out a few inches you will gain a lot more heat and have less of an issue with worrying about overheating.

My house is also a 1910 period restoration in progress. The Nordic was as big a stove I could safely have in the fireplace opening. Once I have the fireplace tools and other hearth items out again in the fall near the stove, we do not notice it sticking out. It is a moot point to me as there will be less heat radiating into the brick and more going out into the house.
Jon

Edit: I also have a three sided fireplace screen to keep errant toys and kids from running into the stove. That is another reason I don't notice it sticking out.
 
Hi John,

I agree with everyone above.. I have an F100 sitting in my 1940's fieldstone fireplace. There are a few inches of clearance around the sides, but probably only an inch on the top. I have never run into any issues, as everything (fieldstone) near the stove is non-combustible.

The F100 is a nice little stove.. It can be tempermental to start and it's always a joy to fill, but it does a great job for it's size.

Good luck!
 
Hi John-

If you're still tracking this I'm wondering how you made out with your stove install. We put a F 100 into a fireplace almost exactly the same size as yours last fall. For many of the same reasons it is entirely in the firebox. We're happy with it but I do find that a lot of the heat doesn't make it out of the firebox. I'm curious if you went ahead with heat shield you described, and if it worked if you can share more details or other tricks you've come up with. Thanks!
 
Granitestater-

Just a few questions on your install. I see your stove is inside the fire box. What is your install? Do you have a s/s liner from stove all the way up? Do you have a block off plate at the damper?

I just put in both a few weeks ago and it is a huge difference. Last winter I had 6' section of flex going up to the first flue tile with a block off plate at the damper. Stove ran ok, but primary air control did not work well. I was venting into an 8" x 12" clay flue 25' interior chimney. This season I have run a few small fires and the output is a lot better, and the damper control is a lot more precise. 2-3 small splits at a time and it is great. I can't wait(well, I can really) to see how it runs on a full load on a cold day. Liner was the best thing I did for safety and efficency. Seems like not a lot of people running F-100's but for the set up and size of my house it fits the bill. I'd love to have a F-3 but it would blast us out of the living room where we spend most of the time.

Jon
 
Jon-

Good to find folks with similar setups... thanks for responding to this. I do have a SS liner and the airflow control on the stove works well. No block off plate, which I'm realizing I really need, especially since we had to cut the damper out to get the liner in. I'm also thinking of heat shielding on the sides of the firebox as the brick soaks up a lot of heat. I'm don't have the tools/know what I'm doing with metal work- any advice on getting a block off plate made and installed?

We'd considered an F3 as well but like you it would probably blast us out, and there is just no way in our LR to expand the hearth to accommodate a larger stove without really messing up the aesthetics and shape of the room. 1910 house/fireplace built for coal(?) or looks... I couldn't find any inserts small enough to work with the dimensions.

-Joe
 
granitestater said:
Jon-

Good to find folks with similar setups... thanks for responding to this. I do have a SS liner and the airflow control on the stove works well. No block off plate, which I'm realizing I really need, especially since we had to cut the damper out to get the liner in. I'm also thinking of heat shielding on the sides of the firebox as the brick soaks up a lot of heat. I'm don't have the tools/know what I'm doing with metal work- any advice on getting a block off plate made and installed?

We'd considered an F3 as well but like you it would probably blast us out, and there is just no way in our LR to expand the hearth to accommodate a larger stove without really messing up the aesthetics and shape of the room. 1910 house/fireplace built for coal(?) or looks... I couldn't find any inserts small enough to work with the dimensions.

-Joe
Click to expand...

Ask and you shall receive. We be a full service website.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/making_a_block_off_plate/
 
If you are not far from the Taxachusetts border, Port Sheet Metal in Newburyport, MA on Route 1 can bend you up a damper block off plate or reflective shields. They are great and can help you decide on the metal thickness. Maybe use cardboard from a large box and cut to size on what you need fabricated and bring it to them for pricing. They do custom work. Oh yeah, they have a woodstove heating the front of the shop. Just wipe your feet before returning to the granite state. ;-)
 
Thanks for the block off plate link and the metal shop recommendation- I suppose I can make a special exception and leave some money in MA if I cant find a shop near here!
 
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