Would this setup be adequate/safe??

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cavemanbob

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Jun 5, 2012
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I would like to setup my Englander NC 30 in the back of this kitchen.
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I plan on removing the pantry on the right and the cabinets on the left to allow me to build a raised hearth and to set false(?) tiled walls behind and to the sides of where the stove would be. I want to cut out a section of the wall on the left (2'x1') for a fire damper to help circulate air into the adjoining room. there will also be a cutout on the bottom with fire damper to bring cooler air back in.

cutout for fire damper.jpg

Here is a pic of the adjoining room. I would also like to make a cutout with fire damper behind the fridge so the cold air from this part of the house can circulate under the raised hearth and behind the false walls. Both cutouts would have fire dampers.
cutout for fire damper2.jpg

Everything will be checked by the town's fire marshall and buildings dept and work will be done with appropriate permits, I just wanted to ask if this was do-able before i submitted my plans. the kitchen where the woodstove would go has two doorways (no doors) leading to other parts of the house.

I forgot where i got these pics (a while back) for ideas on how to make the walls behind and to the sides of the stove. the hearth i plan on building would be a foot or more tall. does this all sound ok??

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BTW, Hello and thank you to all who contribute to this forum, It has been very educational and helpful!! I've been lurking (and drooling at some of your setups and wood piles) for a while and finally I'll be installing a wood stove of my own. hope all the work saves me some $$$ this winter.
 
Is the adjoining room in a different residence? 2 kitchens back to back?

My first thought was that the stove in the kitchen will feel very close to the "activity" of a kitchen, and maybe heat you out of that room, mostly because the room looks narrow and there are active places on both sides - fridge, dishwasher, cabinets, sink, electric range, wall oven, etc. May not be an issue but I'll throw it out there. :)
 
Hello mfglickman, it is funny you mention that because we are having that same discussion (two residences) with the town at the moment. when we bought the house it was listed as a mother-daughter but the original owners put up a wall to divide the two spaces. we intend to take that wall down (it was put up without a permit) as we have no intentions of using that side of the house as an "aptartment". the town wanted us to get rid one of the following so that it wouldn't be considered two separate residences; refridgerator, stove, kitchen sink or full bath. we (my wife) like having the second full kitchen and will not be getting rid of the full bath so the town agreed to let us keep it as is as long as we sign an affidavit stating that we will not rent that area out as an apt (never was our intention).

back to topic, lol... the room is 9'x30' and after the 30' mark opens up to 13' for another 10-15 feet. there aren't any doors closing off that room and I was hoping the openings near where the stove would be could provide enough circulation to keep this room somewhat comfortable while at the same time provide heat to the other room. It would definitely be easier to setup the stove in the bigger room but the wife never even entertained that idea o_O .

BTW I'm also in NW CT, kind of, Brookfield. Love your dogs, Newfoundlands my favorite!!
 
here is a pic of the room from where the stove would be. BTW, that side of the house doesn't get too much use ATM. my wife uses the kitchen when cooking big meals for holidays and family get togethers and when she makes soap.

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this is a pic (not to scale) of the layout of the entire house
above the left side of the bottom half (above bedroom #3, bathroom and closet) there is a loft with vaulted ceilings for the loft kitchen and living room...the most central part of the house is in the kitchen we barely use, where i want to put the stove. I believe the red walls are the ones without permit.
house layout.png
 
Its going to get hot as hell in that small area in the kitchen, and the heat may or may not move around to other parts of the house. That depends on how open the area is. Id be afraid of a small space with chances of continually bumping into the hot stove surfaces. I'd be looking at a more centrally located area. Is the wall between the two kitchens a load bearing wall? If not, right in that corner between the 2 kitchens at around the corner where the deck is would might be a good central spot. And if that wall was able to be gone, if would surely open up for more circulation of the heat.
 
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i'm not sure about the kitchen location either. may work just fine though if the heat gets out into the rest of the room easily. that stove is going to be cranking heat. a 3 cubic foot firebox is pretty big.

my wife makes soap too. i have enough NaOH in my basement to last us 10 years.
 
Ideally I would love to put the stove in the Kitchen/Living Room with the vaulted ceilings and try to figure out a way to get heat to the rest of the house but even bringing up that suggestion gets my wife upset :mad:. I asked if she would rather keep paying outrageous amounts for oil, sell the stove and firewood we've already bought or put the stove in the big room....guess what she said ;hm... she doesn't get it.
 
tough situation, trying to keep everyone happy and make a difference at the same time. The vaulted ceiling will take alot of heat away from space to be heated. The idea of making changes to the in-law apt kitchen will, as Hog mentioned, tie up alot of heat with it being such a closed space. Generally we suggest centralizing the stove towards the center of the house but after looking at your plans it looks tough to get the heat everywhere. I'm at a loss
 
I can't help but think that that kitchen would get unbearably hot for working in. Those 30's are known as heat dragons (or something like that...).

It's notoriously difficult to distribute heat throughout a house. Stoves are basically space heaters and this one with a capital H.

The largest room is the location that makes the most sense.

BTW, what is the wife's objection to the other location? Is it looks or something else?
 
would it be possible to hook up some kind of fan in front of the damper to circulate more hot air out of that room??
 
Sprinter, she thinks it would be "in the way, take up too much space and not look too good"...we'll see in a few days when she cools off.

You need to find some pictures of nice installations. Actually she sounds a lot like I did last spring. My wife wanted a stove and I was not convinced. I thought it might stick out too far and not look good. But I was wrong. It's just a part of the room now and it makes the house feel good and the fire makes for a nice ambiance. https://www.hearth.com/gall/v/WoodStoves/
would it be possible to hook up some kind of fan in front of the damper to circulate more hot air out of that room??
I just don't think it would be a satisfactory solution. I think that stove will cook you guys right out of that room.
 
I'm with Hogwildz on the one. That space is going to get overheated and it's an awkward location for a stove. It would be better placed at the opposite end against the garage wall where the TV is located. Move the TV to the deck wall to the right.
 
What are the pros and cons of piping the stove on the side of the house?

she might approve of the install if the stove pipe isn't going through the ceiling in the 'big' room.
 
I'm with Hogwildz on the one. That space is going to get overheated and it's an awkward location for a stove. It would be better placed at the opposite end against the garage wall where the TV is located. Move the TV to the deck wall to the right.


I'm with Hogz on this one, too.

These "my wife/husband/SO" threads always amaze me. No offense, just MHO.
 
The area around our fireplace gets dirty quickly from pieces of bark, leaves, dirt, maybe even a dead critter.

I cannot picture that stuff on our kitchen floor. Having to haul through a kitchen? And this is for heating vs viewing?

Be very careful with how you proceed. I have been in homes which have been remodeled by homeowners who are not thinking about the future marketability of their choices.

BTW if you have forced air you should be able to run with the fan only (without heat) to circulate air through the house.

I know this would be a big and costly remodel but maybe you could do it 2 phases.

Phase 1) Put the stove in the larger living room on the wall facing the deck.

Phase 2) Tear out that wall between the two kitchens. An open floorplan will increase the marketability of your home .
This will also increase the size of that living room.

You may want to hire a remodeler. At least to get a rough plan. His/her plan will also be easier to sell to the local zoning people.

Sorry but I think any savings you get from this plan, you will loose when it comes time to sell your home.

You appear to be a young couple. You may not live there more than say 5 years.

MnDave
 
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IMO The room you are standing in should be a dining room.

Having a dining room table in the middle of the kitchen is not a good selling point.

I would not do anything to my home if I thought it would hurt the market value. Especially in this market.

MnDave
 
Lol, sorry for the confusion guys... that isn't me in the picture it was the real estate agent showing us the house...we are a young couple, but we strongly intend to watch our kids grow in this home/town. the previous owners rented out that part of the house so every room was something it wasn't meant to be. I think we are too new in this home to think about future buyers, I know we don't know what the future holds but if we sell this home it will be because we hit the lotto and don't care what it sells for, lol.

here is a pic of the area I'm trying to convince her to let me put the stove, it would go in the corner where the armoire is.

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opposite end of room, all pics of when we were looking at the house prior to buying...

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The armoire location would work, though this is in the opposite area of the house. I still think this is going to need two stoves or a sledge hammer and complete kitchen redo.
 
here is a pic of the area I'm trying to convince her to let me put the stove, it would go in the corner where the armoire is.
Bingo!
Now ... how to sway the wife. It's Christmas... you'll think of something.

Good luck. It is a very nice home.

Is it forced air? Is there a lower level or crawl space?

MnDave
 
Something doesn't add up to me on your drawing of the floorplan. Where on the floorplan is the stairs going up? It looks like it would be right where you have printed "stove".

MnDave
 
MnDave, yeah....not to scale and not including all details. I just drew it up on paint in a few minutes, not the best architect, lol...those stairs go up to the loft and on the other side are the stairs that go down into the basement. the space under the 'big room' is a crawl space. the space under the older kictchen/berooms/living room is a full unfinished basement. there are two 4'x4' cutouts about 4' off the ground to connect the basement and crawl space
 
From my experience with a stove in a small room (in my case our bedroom), unless it's impossible to move it to a more centrally located area, you probably will be unhappy running it there. It's difficult for us to run our stove wide open because it simply overheats us. Lower temps mean more creosote.

I'm afraid. the kitchen because of the other heat generators (stove, microwave, toaster, refrigerator) will feel like a dry sauna. Typically kitchens are in need of make up air (because of venting from cooking), so your stove will be competing with that also.
 
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