short legs versus tall legs

[jkvigilant]

Is there any known heat benefit in short legs versus tall or vice a versa.
I have an older VC Vigilant Dual fuel that I use to heat my house with. And I really think that I'm not getting as much heat as I should from it.
The stove is currently installed in a large old stone hearth fireplace.
To get more heat out in the room, I'm planning on moving the stove out a bit(within the acceptable distance from combustibles)
and I have the option of swapping out the short legs for the long set.

Is there any heat benefit from having a stove propped up higher off the ground?

jk

 

[titan]

You'll have a better view of the fire. :lol:

 

[hilly]

My brother recently built a house and he put a wood stove in what is technically the garage (but in reality is a movie room). The inspector had him put the stove on a hearth about 18" off the ground which didn't thrill him at first, but when he started burning it, he found that the added height (18" + legs) was really easy to load. He actually likes it better this way now.

 

[begreen]

Is there any known heat benefit in short legs versus tall or vice a versa.

No

 

[Heartwood]

Is there any known heat benefit in short legs versus tall or vice a versa.

No

Wait a second. If heat rises....?

(I intentionally avoided a pedestal for that reason. I've been around high stoves where my feet were cold and my head sweltering.)

 

[Gooserider]

No particular benefit or cost in terms of heating.

However in SOME cases, there are different requirements for hearth construction and floor protection depending on the leg length. In one case the stove with a 6" leg required an R-2.2 hearth, but with the 4" leg required an R-6.6 hearth - Given that most hearth pad construction techniques using available materials require at least 2" of added thickness to make up the R-4.4 difference, (best bet being 4 1/2" layers of Micore 300...) I'm not sure what the point would be for most setups in using short legs, but...

IOW, check your stove manual, and see if there is a difference in floor protection requirements w/ different leg lengths. It may be cheaper / easier to swap for taller legs than to build a higher R-value hearth depending on the details of your setup.

Gooserider

 

[jkvigilant]

Thank you to all for the replies.
The hearth construction is huge slab of bluestone that's about 5 inches thick with more stone and cement underneath.
I have a heat shield for the vigilant, and will most likely us that as well as the longer legs for easier load, etc.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[webbie]

As BG says, given that particular stove with 4" or 6" legs, any difference would be really minor. However, a stove with 12" + legs up on a 12"+ hearth could start to cause cool floors in some cases. Remember, though, that most stoves end up causing an air circulation, which means the air is being pulled back by the stove also (usually near the floor).

 

[seaken]

The purpose of the short legs on the Vigilant was to allow for fireplace installs where the hearth was not an issue. When the Vigilant was placed on a floor, with a hearth protection pad, the use of 6" legs is required. If your FP hearth is completely non-combustible, down to earth, then it doesn't matter which legs you use.

The heat shields will probably help move more heat into the room. One reason you don't think you're getting enough heat is that the stone fireplace is stealing many of the output BTU's. Moving the stove into the room will help, but beware of the hearth as you move it out. If you get over a combustible floor you cannot use the short legs or go without a bottom shield.

 

[jkvigilant]

Seaken,

You read my goal for for the move. The fireplace is a big old stone stack with 3 fireplaces downstairs and one up.
The vigilant should be able to heat more than just the room it's in, and it's not.
I burn coal which keeps the heat steady at about 500-550. And I have to imagine that the farther in the stove is the more the chimney acts like a massive heat sink.
I will be able to move the stove out and keep within the 18inch range regarding the floor. Unfortunately the pipe on the VC vigilant is 8" versus the newer 6" so I have to imagine more heats going out by way of the stack as well.
I might have to install a overhead shield on the just above the lintel to keep the wood paneling form heating up.

jaklim

 

[BrotherBart]

How is that stove connected to that chimney? A liner? Stove pipe?

The easiest way to get more heat out into the room is to put a sheet metal block off plate up around the lintel in that fireplace to force the heat out into the room instead of it rising and being soaked up by the stone of the chimney.

 

[jkvigilant]

The stove has a really heavy gauge TI/SS pipe running up the chimney.
There's a split damper in the fireplace - seeing as how it's about 5-6 feet wide and about 4 feet deep not including the hearth stones.
To meet the 18" forward clearance I'll be able to move it out so that better than half the stove is past the lintel.

I would still like to do whatever else I can do to max the the BTU benefit.
I will have to put a deflector above the lintel to keep the head from cooking the mantel.
Past the lintel, inside the fireplace, there's actually enough height to stand.

 

[backpack09]

Wait a second. If heat rises....?

(I intentionally avoided a pedestal for that reason. I've been around high stoves where my feet were cold and my head sweltering.)

Then you need to turn the ceiling fan on.

 

[jkvigilant]

Problem with fan. Old house - vintage 1741. Low ceilings. Wouldn't want to cut off my head to spite my heat. Or something like that.