- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
Thanks for your expertise at hearthnet. This is my first winter heating with a free-standing woodstove. Despite drastically underestimating how much wood I'd need and learning just how fast western red cedar can burn- I can indeed get a good fire going.The back wall is standard drywall & about 2 feet from the stove. When the stove is very hot- the back wall also gets almost too warm to hold my hand against it. I'd like to put some sort of screen up to protect the back wall but what do I use? Is a free standing metal screen sufficient? Any other recommendations are appreciated.
Answer:
First- I should say that "almost too warn to touch" is not in the danger area. For reference- your skin would burn if you touched anything over 115 degrees. Wood surfaces are allowed to get as hot as 150 degrees or more..and would not ignite until 400-500 degrees for prolonged periods of time. Either way- the best wall protection is a piece of sheet metal- mounted on spacers 1" away from the wall. The air space behind serves to greatly reduce the heat on the wall. For a nicer look- you can use wonderboard or durarock- cement boards available at home centers..and cover them with ceramic tile. You must also space this board from the wall.<p>
See the informational articles on HearthNet relating to wall and floor clearances.
Thanks for your expertise at hearthnet. This is my first winter heating with a free-standing woodstove. Despite drastically underestimating how much wood I'd need and learning just how fast western red cedar can burn- I can indeed get a good fire going.The back wall is standard drywall & about 2 feet from the stove. When the stove is very hot- the back wall also gets almost too warm to hold my hand against it. I'd like to put some sort of screen up to protect the back wall but what do I use? Is a free standing metal screen sufficient? Any other recommendations are appreciated.
Answer:
First- I should say that "almost too warn to touch" is not in the danger area. For reference- your skin would burn if you touched anything over 115 degrees. Wood surfaces are allowed to get as hot as 150 degrees or more..and would not ignite until 400-500 degrees for prolonged periods of time. Either way- the best wall protection is a piece of sheet metal- mounted on spacers 1" away from the wall. The air space behind serves to greatly reduce the heat on the wall. For a nicer look- you can use wonderboard or durarock- cement boards available at home centers..and cover them with ceramic tile. You must also space this board from the wall.<p>
See the informational articles on HearthNet relating to wall and floor clearances.
