My New H&G Northstar

[scroungerjeff]

Well not exactly new, as I had it installed back in November. I am just now getting around to posting a picture of the unit with the hearth and mantle. The hearth is 150 year old sidewalk slate that I cut and set on a poured concrete base. The tiles are just home depot slate 6"X6" tiles that I installed with thinset and grey grout. The mantle is a hunk of floor joist from an old Victorian era hotel in town that had renovations done years ago and my buddy the carpenter saved several boards. It is basically a 3"X10" rough sawn yellow pine joist that still has the old cut nails sticking out of them and the stain from the lath boards still visible. My wife wanted me to just bolt it securely to the wall and not refinish it. I am glad I followed her lead since I like the rustic look. I did all the work except the fireplace install and new chimney. I went with a zero-clearance unit since I was replacing an old heatolator zc.

 

[kingquad]

Nice install. How much space are you heating with this? How do you like it? I've been giving these ZC units some thought lately as an option in my new house

 

[DAKSY]

Looks good, & I don't wanna raise anybody's hackles, but to be on the safe side, ESPECIALLY
with an old piece of pine as a mantle, I would re-check the install for clearance to combustibles (CTC)
The install manual requirement is 60" to the underside of the mantle - from the bottom of the unit.
The top of the door is 36" from that location. You've got 6" tiles & the are less than 3 of them above the highest point on the door arch. My math says you're about 8" short of that 60" requirement. CHECK YOUR WORK.

 

[scroungerjeff]

Nice install. How much space are you heating with this? How do you like it? I've been giving these ZC units some thought lately as an option in my new house

I am heating about 2,200 sq ft of space. It hasn't been fully tested on the coldest nights as we really did not have any arctic outbreaks this past winter. So far it keeps the house at around 70 without having to run the blower at full blast. I do run my central air on "fan only" during cold spells to help distribute the heat and filter some air. I did burn some locust and oak on the colder and windier nights and still had nice coals in the morning. I am very pleased with the results so far. Everyone says what an attractive unit it is and how much heat it puts out. I would have gone with a true wood stove, but did not have the space nor resources to do that. To me this is almost as good. I may have to find a way to run the blower via a generator if a storm knocks out power like in a blizzard 2 winters ago. I doubt it would heat the house without that blower. If i could do it over, I'd still go with the same unit.

 

[scroungerjeff]

Looks good, & I don't wanna raise anybody's hackles, but to be on the safe side, ESPECIALLY
with an old piece of pine as a mantle, I would re-check the install for clearance to combustibles (CTC)
The install manual requirement is 60" to the underside of the mantle - from the bottom of the unit.
The top of the door is 36" from that location. You've got 6" tiles & the are less than 3 of them above the highest point on the door arch. My math says you're about 8" short of that 60" requirement. CHECK YOUR WORK.

Yes you are correct, Daksy, and thanks. I did cheat it down. I actually put another course of tiles up there and as the thinset was beginning to dry I thought "that looks terrible". I really thought that those specs were way overblown and I peeled the top course off. I have since checked the temperature of the mantle as the unit was in full burn and did notice it can get warm (130F), not hot when the fan blower is off ar at a very low setting. When the fan is even at medium setting, the mantle stays cool even with a very hot fire. I am not saying I recommend doing what I did, but I feel okay with it, but will continue to monitor it. I can always add a course or up the R value of the mantle if I see any issues.

 

[weatherguy]

Looks good Jeff, nice work, maybe you could put a heat shield if you ran into a problem.

 

[mecreature]

Nice install.

I have a 7100 and it can get smoking hot even at 60 inches.... JMO

the blower will move the heat away from the front.
I don't turn on the blowers until the unit is up to temps though.

You should respect the specs on the hearth in front also.

 

[scroungerjeff]

Nice install.

I have a 7100 and it can get smoking hot even at 60 inches.... JMO

the blower will move the heat away from the front.
I don't turn on the blowers until the unit is up to temps though.
You should respect the specs on the hearth in front also.

Mecreature-
My hearth comes out 20" with of 2" slate on top of 6" of poured concrete, I feel confident about that. I will certainly be on top of the mantle issue. I may make some changes this summer to address the heat under the mantle, although I have not encountered smoking hot conditions. I can flip the blower on after about 20 minutes of start-up and after that the wood mantle stays cool.

 

[scroungerjeff]

Looks good Jeff, nice work, maybe you could put a heat shield if you ran into a problem.

Thanks, I may do that. My wife and I like the rustic look and boy that unit keeps us warm. Before the fireplace, we kept the house at 64 due to propane costs, now it's summer year-round!