During the inspection of a recent pellet stove installation done by our company, the code enforcer asked me about the following:
He noticed that the required non combustible hearth clearance in front of the pellet stove was 6" according to the manufacturer. Not being his first pellet stove inspection, he noticed that all the pellet stoves he has encountered had the same requirement. He looked to the NFPA 211 as a resource (being it deals with solid fuel appliances) to find the basis for this 6" listing. He is well aware of "why" a pellet stove would only require a short distance, shorter than a wood or coal stove. What he was wondering is what method of testing (Aside from UL listings which on pellet stoves tells you to refer to the NFPA211) that caused the industry to use the 6" as a standard. There doesnt exist to my knowledge a federal universal guideline for pellet appliances. If there is, I'd love to know about it. Any input? I told the code enforcer that I would be posting here, and I will link this thread to him via email so he can monitor the responses.
He noticed that the required non combustible hearth clearance in front of the pellet stove was 6" according to the manufacturer. Not being his first pellet stove inspection, he noticed that all the pellet stoves he has encountered had the same requirement. He looked to the NFPA 211 as a resource (being it deals with solid fuel appliances) to find the basis for this 6" listing. He is well aware of "why" a pellet stove would only require a short distance, shorter than a wood or coal stove. What he was wondering is what method of testing (Aside from UL listings which on pellet stoves tells you to refer to the NFPA211) that caused the industry to use the 6" as a standard. There doesnt exist to my knowledge a federal universal guideline for pellet appliances. If there is, I'd love to know about it. Any input? I told the code enforcer that I would be posting here, and I will link this thread to him via email so he can monitor the responses.