carpet under hearth pad?

[snosurfa7]

Do I need to remove the carpet from underneath the hearth pad?

I just had my Jotul 3CB installed by a professional company, was reading through the manual after they left and noticed this fact in the Jotul manual. The heath pad has the appropriate R rating, not quite sure what difference it makes if I kept the carpet underneath the pad.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

What r-value did you need?

 

[snosurfa7]

I think it was 1.1

 

[snosurfa7]

Never mind, just searched this topic saw a variance of opinion. I guess I need to call the stove guy tomorrow and verify that the R rating on the pad is greater than 1.1 - which it probably is which means it will probably be alright. It's a light stove too so compressing the carpet isn't as much of a concern for me.

It's just kinda weird - I read their install instructions - from Jotul - and it said nothing about removing carpet under hearth pad. But the owner's manual does state this is necessay. Oh well guess I'll find out tomorrow thanks

 

[savageactor7]

We bought a commercial hearth pad and didn't have to remove the carpet to pass inspection. I did eventually scrunch the pad forward some more...we wanted more pad in the front of the stove. The back of the stove is cool to the touch anyway.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've seen several who just install over top of the carpet and have had no problem.

 

[Corey]

Yes- I would think as long as you had the required R value, you could install it over most anything - assuming it doesn't cause problems with excess movement, settling or other stability issues.

 

[stejus]

Yes- I would think as long as you had the required R value, you could install it over most anything - assuming it doesn't cause problems with excess movement, settling or other stability issues.

You bring up a good point about settling. If the carpet has a thick pile, I would sit the stove on the hearth for a couple of days so it can settle into the carpet. I'm not sure how much it could move, but a 1/4" could throw off some pipe connections.

 

[snosurfa7]

I talked with the stove company today. They have been in business for over 30 years and have put many many hearth pads on carpets - as have many people on this forum to from what I have seen. That said, the stove company called the hearth pad company and they did say it should not be installed over carpet technically, though most likely will make no difference - more of an issue on older and/or bigger stoves - ones without ashpans/heat shields etc...

Stove company offered to come back and fix it, probably would be awhile before they got around to it being the busy season right now so honestly I'm going to wait and see how hot it gets under there - with the bottom heat shield and ash pan and being raised up 6" I don't think heat is going to be that big of a deal. I'd say the carpet is medium pile - it might settle a little though it is very stable right now. If it is still really hot I'll just get them to come back and fix...thanks

 

[northwinds]

Our walkout installation is a hearth pad on carpet. Installers said that's what it was designed to do,
and insurance company had no problem after taking pictures. I will say that sparks can shoot out the
front and burn little holes in the carpet when the doors are open. We were going to replace the carpet
in a couple of years anyway, but it's amazing how far sparks can fly with certain types of wood.

 

[Slow1]

Something to consider -

If you go to replace the carpet someday down the line, it may be a pain to deal with the pad on top of the stove. If you have the installers take care of it now then it is their problem.

Flip side of this argument is that it probably looks pretty good the way it is, if they go to cut the carpet to put the hearthpad down on the floor, how will the new edges of the carpet be finished against the pad? Always be careful what you ask for as you might get it...