Help - looks like mantel needs modified for Declaration

[tamure]

Installer came out and measured my fireplace yesterday for the Lopi Declaration that I already ordered. (I already ordered because I got a quote from another place on the same stove, and they measured and said it'd fit.)

It looks like it needs 39" of clearance from the bottom of the insert up to anything combustible. My mantel is quite a bit higher than that, but there is wood facing at 36". It looks like the Declaration does not have a mantel heat shield option. Doh!

For anyone who has a Declaration: is "the bottom of the insert" the same as the surface of the hearth?

Cutting the wood facing back to 39" will be fine, but 40" would be pushing it. In the attached pic, you can see how the wood facing on top is pretty wide. You can also see how there's that convection heat thing in the middle (what is the proper name for that?). So there's that big hole, which is supposed to help hot air circulate out. So I reckon I should not cover that up. But to cut the mantel back 3", the wood might end up partially covering the lower 1-2" of that hole. Is that a problem do you think?

 

[Fsappo]

There is a product available called a mantle heat shield. Any hearth retailer should have access to it thru one of their vendors. I've used them on mantles before, but not for the bottom trim. It would seem to me a decent installer would be able to modify it so it can work for you. It would also seem to me that they would have talked to you about this option when they were at your home, so either they don't know it exists or there is some reason my idea is poop

 

[tamure]

The guy did say he would look into it, but said that the Declaration doesn't have the heat shield as a factory option, while most of the other models do. I'm not sure if they could modify one. Hopefully I'll hear back from them today.

 

[DAKSY]

Generally, the mantel clearances are determined by how far each feature
- breast plate, shelf, legs - extend into the room from the facing (i.e. Brick)...
Mantel shields may give you adequate clearance - if they are correctly installed
with the supplied airflow spacers...
One other idea is to remove the mantel from the wall to see how the upper heatilator
vent is fed by the air passages in the masonry.
It may be possible to raise the entire mantel by placing Plinth blocks under the legs &
then brake-bending some 24 gage sheet metal to reconnect the upper vent...
Or you could raise the mantel & reposition the upper vent so it attaches properly
by cutting the breast plate & using a filler to make up the difference above the vent...

 

[Fsappo]

Generally, the mantel clearances are determined by how far each feature
- breast plate, shelf, legs - extend into the room from the facing (i.e. Brick)...
Mantel shields may give you adequate clearance - if they are correctly installed
with the supplied airflow spacers...
One other idea is to remove the mantel from the wall to see how the upper heatilator
vent is fed by the air passages in the masonry.
It may be possible to raise the entire mantel by placing Plinth blocks under the legs &
then brake-bending some 24 gage sheet metal to reconnect the upper vent...
Or you could raise the mantel & reposition the upper vent so it attaches properly
by cutting the breast plate & using a filler to make up the difference above the vent...

ohhh, raising the mantle with the plinth blocks is a good one. I wish I said it first.

 

[tamure]

Hmmm... raising the entire mantel is an interesting idea, which would probably be easier than disassembling it, cutting it down, reassembling, and repainting. On the other hand, this stove is going to look funny already because it is smallish, and that's a big fireplace. Raising the mantel will make it look even smaller.

There are two ~6" diameter tubes that come up about 3-4" behind the central vent. I can see how some sheetmetal could work.

The mantel sticks out 2.5" from the brick.

What part is the breast plate?

 

[DAKSY]

What part is the breast plate?

The horizontal portion between the legs, above the fireplace opening & below the shelf...