Stove Clearance Work-around and Stove Size?

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brianbeech

Feeling the Heat
Jan 11, 2011
303
Southern IN
http://www.morsona.com/index.php/classic-stoves/morso-3610.html

Would like to have this stove; wife even likes it. Bigger than what we need. Big problem is the clearances required.

Basic Clearance
(using single wall pipe top vent)
Stove to side wall 18"
Stove to rear wall 17"
Stove to corner 13"

We have a pretty small house, 1650 sq ft for top floor and our area where this stove would be requires that it be as close to the wall as possible. If I stud the wall with metal studs, use a non-combustible type of wall, how close to the wall would I be able to get this?

And, does anyone think I'm OVERDOING it by going with a stove this large for our semi-small house?
 
Don't forget front clearance which should be around 18".

In my climate, my stove guy said to deduct 20% off mfg.'s BTU sq. ft. ratings. If you did that on this stove it would still be rated at 1,920 sq. ft.
 
The stove is not oversized for your house. It will burn just fine with a partial load of fuel. When the temps are in the single digits and the wind is howling, you will be glad for the extra capacity. This is a well made and a strong heater. Clearances are important, the stove radiates a fair amount of heat when really cooking. Check with your dealer, but I think you can get the rear clearance down to 12" with a proper NFPA wall shield and double-wall pipe. This would mean leaving the current wall intact, and creating a new wall shield that has a 1" ventilated space behind it.

The 12" is measured to the combustible wall, not the shield, so the shield would actually be 1" closer to the stove. The difference between this and your proposal is that the shield is ventilated, top and bottom. Your proposal would also work, though it's a lot more work. Note that the shield can be tiled cement board or just a sheet of metal. You could have a shield made out of stainless or other decorative metal, edges hemmed (folded over), mounted on non-combustible spacers and it would be done in an hour.

Note the hearth requirement is R=.8. If possible make it a little extra wide on the stove loading side. This is where most of the mess occurs.
 
I missed who was posting. Brian, are you intending to use this as the primary stove? What about the 118? Which stove will be doing most of the heating?
 
BeGreen said:
I missed who was posting. Brian, are you intending to use this as the primary stove? What about the 118? Which stove will be doing most of the heating?

This would be the primary for the upstairs and I would keep the Jotul in the basement (that we plan on finishing this year). That would give us PLENTY of heat in the basement and PLENTY of heat upstairs.

I suppose I'm going by the thought of: have too much and you'll never complain about having too little.
 
BeGreen said:
...but I think you can get the rear clearance down to 12" with a proper NFPA wall shield and double-wall pipe...

Either I'm able to get it very close, or I'll have to go with something like this: http://www.morsona.com/index.php/contemporary-morso-stove/morso-8142.html

That I can get to 6" on the rear wall and that would be much more appealing, but the heating value would drop DRAMATICALLY! That may be fine, because we're only trying to keep the living areas warm, but with the smaller stove, I would expect the bedrooms to be cold - would have to run the heat at night.

Of course, we'll be insulating the attic very soon (grossly under-insulated) and we'll be insulating the basement too. Those alone may keep our house toasty with the Jotul downstairs. Doing those two things may allow the smaller Morso stove to be purchased, I'm just looking at my options and don't want to be disappointed.
 
It's a nice contemporary, but 12" wood, ugh.

Maybe take a look at the Quadrafire Cumberland Gap, Napoleon 1400 series, PE mid-sized stoves, for medium stoves that have close rear clearances.
 
BeGreen said:
It's a nice contemporary, but 12" wood, ugh...

Better to work with 12" wood than deal with a wife that can't stand the look of a stove in the living room. We entertain a lot and if everything isn't 'just so', my life becomes a little strained. :)

I just can't get over the price of those little stoves. $3700 as opposed to the larger one at $2800. Both are expensive, but come on!!!
 
Yes, a lot of the contemporary units from Europe have high price tags. Take a look at Rais and Wittus if you want sticker shock. Does your wife specifically want a contemporary looking stove? Take a look at the Regency CS1200 Alterra. It can be as close as 7".
http://www.regency-fire.com/Products/Wood/Wood-Stoves/CS1200.aspx#
 
BeGreen said:
Yes, a lot of the contemporary units from Europe have high price tags. Take a look at Rais and Wittus if you want sticker shock. Does your wife specifically want a contemporary looking stove?

Yes, she wants a contemporary stove. I've shown her quite a few, but she has rather been glued to Morso for whatever reason. She likes the simplicity and the clean lines. Everything seems to be hidden on those Morso's and I think that, plus the black (grey) and silver, fits the bill nicely.

Just looked at the RAIS Gabo wood and I think she'd like that, but she also doesn't want to see pipe going up the wall - which means I'll be doing some construction anyway. I'm removing a wall and rebuilding a portion of another wall to get the chimney to come all the way down inside the wall. That's why I asked about how I could make the larger Morso closer to the wall.
 
I suggest thinking about the Morso 2110 series then. It is almost 4" shallower than the 3610. Based on your burning description I think it will be ok. When it gets really cold you will have the 118 burning as well. Burning 18" wood, but with a slimmer profile, the 2110 is a good heater.
 
BeGreen said:
I suggest thinking about the Morso 2110 series then. It is almost 4" shallower than the 3610. Based on your burning description I think it will be ok. When it gets really cold you will have the 118 burning as well. Burning 18" wood, but with a slimmer profile, the 2110 is a good heater.

But the 2110 says 20" away from the rear wall.
 
The 2110 has the same 12" clearance from an NFPA 211 protected surface.
 
BeGreen said:
The 2110 has the same 12" clearance from an NFPA 211 protected surface.

I hate to respond back and let my ignorance show so vividly, but where are you getting 12"? The only thing I'm looking at is the 'Technical Details' and at the bottom it has clearance guidelines. Are you speaking from another organization's guidelines or am I just simply overlooking the info? I mean, my wife tells me I have 'front-shelf-itis' - so, it's probably right there in front of me.
 
From the stove manual. You can download it from Morso's site. I highly recommend doing this before purchasing any stove.
 

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BeGreen said:
From the stove manual. You can download it from Morso's site. I highly recommend doing this before purchasing any stove.

AH! Didn't realize the double or single pipe would make that much difference! THANKS AGAIN!!!
 
That whole 'reading the manual' thing really gets you some good information. I found this jewel in reading one of the manuals for the larger Morso stove: "When the stove is positioned near non-combustible materials, a gap of 4 inches or more is recommended for cleaning purposes and to ensure that heat circulates around the stove and out into the room.".

Which tells me that I can get the back wall as close as 4" if I've framed it up with non-combustibles and have everything "fireproof". This will fit the bill nicely!!!!
 
You will still have to pay attention to the "nearest" combustible. Definitely post some sketches of what is planned. It's probably fine, but the flue pipe also has code rules and clearances that need to be honored. A top and front view sketch of what is planned will help us keep up with you and see if there are any gotchas.
 
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