Installed Englander 30NC

[Highbeam]

So I have this shed, a pole barn and after much waffling decided to switch insurance companies (after 20 years without a claim) and install a woodstove. The NC30 is the best bang for the buck stove available at this time for a durable, high output, non-cat stove that is even made in america. I measured an actual firebox volume of over 3cf. This stove will be used to burn occasionally at high output and not simmered all day like a house stove. Everything about this stove is heavy duty and I am impressed.

I used all simpson duravent pipe except for the single wall at the stove. The Class A is 9 feet long and the single wall is just under 10 feet. SIngle wall is challenging to work with for me, hard to snap together, the telescoping piece was extremely tight even with wd-40 lube but I got it all in.

My AHJ requires an EPA stove and an 18" tall hearth. I decided to dry stack concrete block for the hearth after seeing large stacks of CMU block used to hold up planting tables at the local home depot. That stack of block is very solid, was cheap, and easy to stack. Of course hitting it with a truck would be a problem but I figure that the stove will just dangle from the three screws in each joint of the single wall chimney pipe right?

Ignore the acetylene, gasoline, and propane tanks in the background. They are an illusion.

This is a permitted install. Inspection will be in the next week or so after I do some more housekeeping.

How do you like my wheelbarrel stove lifting method? I didn't even take the blower and stove legs out of the stove. Two men easily lifted the stove onto the hearth.

I think that smoke detector will have to go.

 

[BrotherBart]

Love it. The bad boy looks good.

 

[begreen]

How is it heating? Why use a cathedral ceiling support box there? It looks like a regular support box would have sufficed.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

You chose right if you want to run a stove balls out for a while. The 30 is put together like a tank.

I like the hearth idea.

 

[Heatsource]

if he adds a storm collar above the box it would double as an attic radiation shield
nice solid looking install Highbeam

in our county they only require the bottom of the firebox to be 18" above slab, not a full 18" hearth- but i love a tall hearth(saves bending over so far)

 

[Highbeam]

How is it heating? Why use a cathedral ceiling support box there? It looks like a regular support box would have sufficed.

I plan a metal ceiling and blown in insulation above. Need the tall ceiling support box for an insulation shield. It is the same thing we did in the house with the BK.

I only started one fire in it to burn off the paint and it runs really well. Great draft and the non-cat fire view is even better than I remember. Big chest level window on this thing makes for nice viewing. Not really hot yet.

Weird thing is the door almost stuck shut after burn in. Seems the firberglass gasket lost some hair onto the stove body. A little sticky that first time opening.

 

[Highbeam]

if he adds a storm collar above the box it would double as an attic radiation shield
nice solid looking install Highbeam

in our county they only require the bottom of the firebox to be 18" above slab, not a full 18" hearth- but i love a tall hearth(saves bending over so far)

Thanks A1. The hearth is actually 17.5" tall, dang dimensional dimensions. I am depending on that building code quote, "18" to the first flame, spark, or glow" thing to mean that I'm okay being a touch under 18". The combustion air intake is well above 18".

I don't think I need a storm collar to use the box as a radiation shield since the level of blown in insulation will be below the top of the box. We didn't use one in the house either.

 

[johnstra]

i'm jealous... of the shed and the 30. It looks great. If all goes according to plan, I'll have a 30x40 shop/shed/barn/whatever in the next couple of years. I've been waiting a long time to move the welder and other tools to a detached shed. Snap an exterior if you have time. I'd like to see how it looks.

 

[Highbeam]

i'm jealous... of the shed and the 30. It looks great. If all goes according to plan, I'll have a 30x40 shop/shed/barn/whatever in the next couple of years. I've been waiting a long time to move the welder and other tools to a detached shed. Snap an exterior if you have time. I'd like to see how it looks.

Self built over the last couple of years. 30x60 with 14' tall walls, it just had to be bigger than the house.

I didn't even notice the welder in the background. It's cranked up pretty high, I had last welded on the brush mower.

Funny how you have to be somewhat careful of the items in the background.

 

[johnstra]

I like it. Nice work. I want a steel framed building but I don't really need it and I don't want to pay that much. That 30 will do well in that space in WA. What's your elevation? Typical NW weather or are you up where it snows more?

 

[begreen]

I plan a metal ceiling and blown in insulation above. Need the tall ceiling support box for an insulation shield. It is the same thing we did in the house with the BK.

I only started one fire in it to burn off the paint and it runs really well. Great draft and the non-cat fire view is even better than I remember. Big chest level window on this thing makes for nice viewing. Not really hot yet.

Weird thing is the door almost stuck shut after burn in. Seems the firberglass gasket lost some hair onto the stove body. A little sticky that first time opening.

I thought that might be the thinking behind it. How do you seal the top to prevent loose fibers from blowing in? Normally a round attic shield has a storm collar on top for this purpose.

The door may stick a little as the paint softens when warm. Once the stove paint bakes in that will cease. Get it up to 500F and open the doors.

 

[BrotherBart]

it just had to be bigger than the house.

You remind me of my neighbor. When he built his hobby wood shop he built it two story and half again larger than their split level house. Cedar sided and the whole nine yards. With full basement.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

You remind me of my neighbor. When he built his hobby wood shop he built it two story and half again larger than their split level house. Cedar sided and the whole nine yards. With full basement.

Ha! He's probably looking for reasons to be put in the dog house.

"Hey honey, your jeans, they make your butt look fat!"

Matt

 

[MDFisherman]

you're just going to dry stack the blocks? no mortar?

 

[Highbeam]

you're just going to dry stack the blocks? no mortar?

Yes. 8x8x16 blocks. I couldn't think of a good reason to mortar them together and I know that my mortar job would not result in as level of a pad. I was at the home depot in the garden section and their large product tables are built out of stacks, four high, of these same blocks. Any force that is strong enough to knock over this hearth is also strong enough to knock the stove off of it. Dry stacking block is how lots of things are built.

 

[BurnIt13]

Dry stacking block is how lots of things are built.

Looks like you have FAR more experience with this stuff than me....but what about filling the voids inside the block with concrete to make it a solid object. Would avoid having to deal with leveling it.

Either way....looks awesome and I'm jealous!

 

[Highbeam]

Looks like you have FAR more experience with this stuff than me....but what about filling the voids inside the block with concrete to make it a solid object. Would avoid having to deal with leveling it.

Either way....looks awesome and I'm jealous!

Thanks Burnit, I see no point in making the hearth a solid object. That just makes it heavier, more work, more cost, harder to disassemble, and then where would I hide my time capsule stuff? You can bet I placed some stuff in the empty cells.

Again, I can't think of any reason to glue the blocks together. What would that accomplish? Maybe I'm missing something?

 

[Todd]

Looks great, wish I had the room for a nice pole barn. It will be interesting to hear if the 30 will be enough to heat that big space.

 

[BurnIt13]

I tend to overkill things. I'd be paranoid that after a few beers on a weekend when I'm out in the garage and want to fire up the lawnmower just to hear it run....I'd bump into it or something.

Or put the ATV in forward instead of reverse....

 

[Highbeam]

Looks great, wish I had the room for a nice pole barn. It will be interesting to hear if the 30 will be enough to heat that big space.

I had it rockin and rollin last night to be sure and burn off the paint. Turns out that the door has lots of smokey paint on it too. I had a surface temp meter on the pipe 12" up and could only get to 450. Is that typical? I had full throttle for quite some time and a full firebox, glowing rear air tube. The huge door glass is amazing, it stays so crystal clear.

The smoke was pretty thick in the shop. All smoke alarms were shut off and since I purposely bought hard wired alarms with NO battery backup that was okay. The intersting thing was that the smoke lingered which tells me that perhaps heated air will linger in the shop even before I seal up the ceiling. I was able to increase the temperature by 5 degrees in two hours from 53 to 58 which I thought was pretty decent.

Funny how I can sit there in front of the stove with my face sweating but can still see my breath.

 

[Highbeam]

I tend to overkill things. I'd be paranoid that after a few beers on a weekend when I'm out in the garage and want to fire up the lawnmower just to hear it run....I'd bump into it or something.

Or put the ATV in forward instead of reverse....

Oh see, that was a thought I had until I actually set a few of these on the ground in a laced cube as they are delivered on the pallet. They don't tip over, they slide, and only with a lot of force. You can't reasonably build a hearth to withstand being run into. My truck for instance could not be stopped without a ridiculous barrier system. So at some point you have to understand that driving into a stove would be a bad idea and don't do it. The dry stacked hearth and stove weighs a good 1000 lbs. A mower won't knock it out unless you manage to obtain full speed. That reminds me of country song about a full throttle john deere being run into a building and killing the wife.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I put both of my 30s up on 2 rows of block as well. Other wise you cant see all that reburn action. How do you plan to get the heat back down from that high ceiling,cuz you just know thats where most of it is going. Ceiling fan?

 

[Highbeam]

How do you plan to get the heat back down from that high ceiling,cuz you just know thats where most of it is going. Ceiling fan?

I have a circuit up in the attic and great access for something like a ceiling fan but I'm trying without it first. I have lots of t8 fixtures up on the ceiling and don't want that strobe effect. I was thinking about starting with a box fan. Maybe a ducted/filtered blower system like an air handler? In the summer, the ceiling fan would be really nice.

 

[begreen]

Yes. 8x8x16 blocks. I couldn't think of a good reason to mortar them together and I know that my mortar job would not result in as level of a pad. I was at the home depot in the garden section and their large product tables are built out of stacks, four high, of these same blocks. Any force that is strong enough to knock over this hearth is also strong enough to knock the stove off of it. Dry stacking block is how lots of things are built.

I too would feel better with a more unified structure, but understand where you are coming from. For peace of mind I would probably at least ratchet strap band around the blocks. But that is me. (and yes, the stove is now screwed down after you reminded me that it isn't)

 

[Holiday]

I had it rockin and rollin last night to be sure and burn off the paint. Turns out that the door has lots of smokey paint on it too. I had a surface temp meter on the pipe 12" up and could only get to 450. Is that typical? I had full throttle for quite some time and a full firebox, glowing rear air tube.

I was curious if your thermometer is one meant for stovetop or singlewall pipe. I bought a magnetic one but can't remember which it was. Today I put it in the oven at 375 and it read 575 - 600. So I assume the one I have is for single pipe trying to tell me the internal temp. I've been placing it on the stove and getting 6 - 700 so was a bit concerned but now I see it's not that hot.
If yours happened to be a stovetop one then your inside pipe temps would be much higher than that 450 number. Just a thought after I tested mine.