Mantel Shield advice?

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doktorfaustus77

New Member
Dec 28, 2005
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Hello burners,

I recently had a mantel/heat shield fabricated to reduce the top clearance on my jotul stove. I have a question I hope some people may help me with. Does the mantel shield attach to the brick hearth itself? or with 1" ceramic spacers to the mantel and trim only? Attaching the shield to the brick itself will seal off the bottom and leave three sides open, attaching the shield to the mantel will leave all sides open. Which installation is correct? If your installation required a mantel shield, how is yours set up? The dealer just basically handed me the shield and said your on your own! I am finally nearing the home stretch of this long arduous journey, can somebody help me out? I hope my explanation was not too garbled. Thanks a million.

Andrew

I also plan on painting the shield, is stove paint a good choice? The dealer thought so, but they are always shoving me out the door.
 

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Thanks for the reply Shane. I have to say neither way looks better, the thing looks awful! If I go straight into the mantel will the screws conduct a lot of heat into the mantel? With all of the sides open this provides a better cooling effect? At this point I'm not really concerned with the look. I just want the best installation.
I have attached two pics to show the difference between the two potential installations. One shows a gap behind where the mantel trim and hearth meet. This gap would be eliminated with the shield attached to the hearth. If the shield is attached to the mantel only the gap remains. The trim itself will be protected, but I am concerned heat will go behind the trim if I dont seal it off with the attached to brick installation. Am I being silly?
 

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After looking at it again.... put it on the brick. I cannot answer with absolute certainty to the amount of heat that would go in between if placed on the wood but if you can eliminate that gap and therefore eliminate the chance that would be the best course of action. Mount the shield so that it still has a 1" space between it and the mantel. To answer your question about the screws in the wood you'd want to place them on the outermost edges of the shield to reduce the heat transfer.
 
Thanks again, your answer is reassuring. I actually got in contact w dealer and his instructions were the same as yours. As far as attaching the shield to the mantel for support, where does one buy ceramic spacers? What are they? Went to local Home Depot and couldn't find any. Dealer recommends copper tubing as a sub. Shortly after buying the stove I realised why people pay others to do this! A lot of knowledge goes into this. I have been pretty meticulous and at least I know it's being done correctly. Saved a ton of money too. If all goes as planned this shield will be painted and attached by the weekend. Thanks for your aid in this matter, hope I can return the favor someday to other forum members.
 
Does anyone know if it is necessary to use some sort of primer on the sheet metal shield before painting with the stove paint? I am using Stove Bright paint. The instructions say that in most applications it is self priming however I think that most applications means re-painting a stove, not applying to new metal. Does anyone have experience in this matter? Thanks.
 
doktorfaustus77 said:
Does anyone know if it is necessary to use some sort of primer on the sheet metal shield before painting with the stove paint? I am using Stove Bright paint. The instructions say that in most applications it is self priming however I think that most applications means re-painting a stove, not applying to new metal. Does anyone have experience in this matter? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Stove Bright or even rustoleum should stand up to the approx. 200-300 degrees that these shields usually tend to stay at. BBQ or gas vent paint also good....no primer needed, usually just a couple light coats as opposed to one thick one.

Remember that heat is passed based on the SURFACE AREA FACING ANOTHER SURFACE AREA. In the real world, what this means is that only a tiny amount of heat is passing through a screw, non-combustible spacer or small mortar joint.

When placing a single wall stove into a fireplace, there are really two areas of concern...

1. The wood mantel being heated on the front and bottom by the stove top
2. The brick being heated very hot by the top of the stove and the heat soaking through from the rear.

Although #2 is unlikely in most cases to cause fires, it is still of concern, especially when a large radiant stove top is within 2 or 3 inches of the fireplace lintel. In these cases, a small shield can be installed under the lintel.
 
Thanks for the Stove paint advice. Now, this lintel bit has got me concerned. My stove is not actually in the fireplace (see pic) but the rear vented stove pipe is 4 inches beneath the lintel. Should I shield this too? I had no idea. Being that my stove is not IN the fireplace is the brick overheating still an issue?

I have a Jotul 3cb, is this considered a large radiant stove?
 

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I wouldn't worry about that. If you are then put a heat shield on it. You should be able to get ceramic spacers from your stove shop. I sell them in larger packages but if a guy like you came in that only needed a couple I'd probably mosey out to the van and get a couple for you. Copper tubing will work ok the only downside is that it's a little more surface area to transfer heat but so miniscule again I wouldn't concern myself with it.
 
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