I'm putting in an older stove that's 24 inches wide and it will be 32 inches high. It doesn't have a heat shield, so it looks like my choices are, put it 36 inches from the wall or put up a 96x68 inch shield 1 inch off the wall. Could I make a shell around the top, back and sides of the stove, made of cement board, metal or micore that covers the stove 36 inches out from the wall and directs the heat out away from the wall? Thanks
Build a shield
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jimbo68127 said:
That's an interesting question, and I'm curious what the experts will say.
I'd guess that a shield is a shield, but I'm guessing.
One consideration is, if you put the shield on your stove you will tend to trap heat between your stove and the shield, turning your stove from radiant to convective (you can search on those keywords for much discussion of the implications).
In short, one upside is gentler heat from hot air rather than an IR sun on your hearth, shining away on anything it sees. A downside is that you may need some sort of blower on your stove shield to get that hot air out--unless you do so, the heat output from your stove would probably drop dramatically. If you attached it directly to your stove shield, you'd need a blower made specifically for stoves, because those are made to take the heat. Or you could run a duct fan or the like into a duct , and attach that to your stove, with the duct keeping the fan away from the stove--that would be quieter than most stove blowers.
If it turns out to be a viable option, I also suggest going with metal for the shield, so that it transmits heat to the air better.
Just some thoughts. Good luck!
Welcome Jim. Is the stove in an alcove? If not, there usually isn't a big need to direct the heat. But if you want this, you could make the shield out of a reflective metal like aluminum or stainless.
The shield doesn't need to be that large. If it extends 8" further than the stove width and height it should be fine, unless the intent is to carry it up the wall to shield the connector pipe. If that is the plan, the shield could get narrower to just shield the pipe, 8" above the flue collar. Or the single wall pipe itself could get pipe shields attached, or you could connect it with double-wall pipe to reduce clearances to 6" and improve draft.
The shield doesn't need to be that large. If it extends 8" further than the stove width and height it should be fine, unless the intent is to carry it up the wall to shield the connector pipe. If that is the plan, the shield could get narrower to just shield the pipe, 8" above the flue collar. Or the single wall pipe itself could get pipe shields attached, or you could connect it with double-wall pipe to reduce clearances to 6" and improve draft.
Thanks for the reply. No its not in an alcove, its along a wall. I don't have the room to put the stove 36 inches out from the wall, I was trying to get it around 19 inches from the wall. The stoves 24 inchs wide and I thought you had to have the wall protected 36 inches either side of and above the stove. I didn't phrase my question right last time. I'm trying to shrink the amount of wall that I have to cover behind and above the stove. Can I use a shield between my stove and the wall so that I don't have to cover as much of the wall? thanks
SteveKG
Minister of Fire
If I am picturing your situation correctly, no problem with what you propose. You can likely get pretty close to a wall with a homemade shield. If you are concerned enough about the heat, be advised you can build a "double shield" which then gives you two air spaces for insulation, the one between the two sheets of steel in the shield, and the one behind the shield between it and the wall. I have this one stove that has two shields built into the sides and back. letting me put the stove within about six inches of a wall. It's great.
If you don't want to attach the shield(s) to the stove, just bolt them to the wall. You can use any number of things for spacers between the wall and shield and between the two shields if you decide to double it. I used half inch elec. conduit, easy to cut with a hacksaw, cut down to one inch pieces. It was from scrap I had lying around. Just use a wood screw or lag bolt robust enough to handle the weight of whatever gauge steel you decide to use.
Of course, you can paint the shield, too. I happened to have some silver hi-temp metal paint around and used that. There are many colors from which to choose, though.
If you don't want to attach the shield(s) to the stove, just bolt them to the wall. You can use any number of things for spacers between the wall and shield and between the two shields if you decide to double it. I used half inch elec. conduit, easy to cut with a hacksaw, cut down to one inch pieces. It was from scrap I had lying around. Just use a wood screw or lag bolt robust enough to handle the weight of whatever gauge steel you decide to use.
Of course, you can paint the shield, too. I happened to have some silver hi-temp metal paint around and used that. There are many colors from which to choose, though.
SteveKG said:
While what you mention might work for a manufactured stove, the OP's stove is homemade - there are no manufacturer specs, there is no rated clearance to combustibles, etc.
Again, I STRONGLY recommend you check with your local zoning enforcement office and your homeowners insurance BEFORE you install this stove to get their opinion.
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