A pretty useful wood stove quiz...

[Eaglecraft]

See the attached link to test your knowledge of wood stoves:

(broken link removed to http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/heating-and-cooling/wood-stove-quiz.htm)

 

[bholler]

some of the questions were very good but I disagree with some also one in particular is the last one about chimney fires. they say the most obvious sign on a chimney fire is a loud roaring. this doesn't happen with allot of fires. a fire in a fire place will usually roar but more often than not in a modern woodstove it will not roar. you might get some whistling from the air intakes but for my training the best sign is dark heavy smoke rolling from the top of the chimney.

 

[Highbeam]

Yes, some questions are bogus and obviously biased.

The flush hearth pad one is particularly stupid. I only got 17 of 20.

 

[bholler]

yeahtat one was pretty bad to I got 17 also

 

[tekguy]

Ehhh... Not sure I agree with all that

 

[Lumber-Jack]

# 10 was dangerously wrong.
The question was "What is one logical way to reduce clearances for wood stove installations?".
They said the correct answer was "You can add non-combustible material like brick to a wall".
Just adding fireproof material like brick to a combustible wall does not reduce the clearances to the wall.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

# 10 was dangerously wrong.
The question was "What is one logical way to reduce clearances for wood stove installations?".
They said the correct answer was "You can add non-combustible material like brick to a wall".
Just adding fireproof material like brick to a combustible wall does not reduce the clearances to the wall.

had a problem with that as well, a "brick wall" with no convective airspace is NOT an effective method of reducing clearance. a "wall shield" with a convective 1 inch airspace is a more effective method and may allow a much closer clearance

 

[Highbeam]

had a problem with that as well, a "brick wall" with no convective airspace is NOT an effective method of reducing clearance. a "wall shield" with a convective 1 inch airspace is a more effective method and may allow a much closer clearance

Still, that only applies to unlisted stoves or to stoves that specifically allow for the heat shield reduction and that is rare. There is rarely a reduction for even properly constructed wall shields.

 

[bholler]

I think you are wrong high beam I believe tat clearance reductions with a wall shield are universal according to nfpa211

 

[Wildo]

Have your stove and installation checked if you smell smoke. That would get old quick at my house.

 

[NH_Wood]

Interesting, and I think I got most right except for the 'code' questions - I can't remember how many inches of this and that are required - I did when I set up my stove and then immediately forgot - I'll look that up if I need to know it in the future. Cheers!

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Still, that only applies to unlisted stoves or to stoves that specifically allow for the heat shield reduction and that is rare. There is rarely a reduction for even properly constructed wall shields.

not precisely correct.
unlisted stoves "by definition" do not allow for heat shield reduction either
the 211 clearance reductions CAN be used however only in their "minimum allowed' clearance the listing for example of a 1/2 inch thick millboard with 1 inch ventilated air space this allows a "2/3rds" reduction (66%) OR and OR is important a minimum clearance of 12" now the "or" matters as a 66% reduction in a stove which is allowed say 24 inches would put it at 8 inches (clearly wrong when you look at the other criteria) the "minimum" matters as its "whichever is greatest" in this case.

so if you have a stove which allows a 24 inch minimum clearance even if it does not allow a clearance reduction in the manual, can be reduced to 12" if the appropriate wall protection is applied that states the 12 inch minimum in the 211. even though its not the full 66% its still a legal reduction unless the manual specifically states that no additional clearance reduction is allowed which is rare as well. (if seen at all)

heat shield reduction is usually referring to "add on" heat shields which are attached to the stove itself (thus listed along with the stove for UL purposes according to UL 1482), not the wall. clearance testing on a woodstove does not account for "protected surfaces" only clearances which are affected by devices which are part of the stove's construction, or can be bolted on to the stove itself. no account is given to protection of the wall by "external" shielding which is not a part of the stove or attached directly to it. therefore the "wall shield' falls under the auspices of the 211 as the shield not being part of the stove itself is "unlisted"

note , some (actually many) modern stoves already are listed to a lesser clearance to unprotected surfaces than the 211 allows , in this case the stove can be placed at the listed clearance , but no added wall protection can further reduce the clearance as ts already lesser than the 211 allows ( in the case of a stove with a :listed clearance" of say 10 inches. even with wall shields the minimum is 12 inches so further reduction cannot be legally achieved ( this is why "or" is important as well)

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Here's what we have for regulations on wall mounted heat shielding in Canada. http://woodheat.org/clearances.html
The important thing to note is that the shielding needs an open air space above and below the shielding, as well as behind it, to allow plenty of air flow. So in other words, even if you build a brick wall with an 1" air space behind it between the bricks and the wall it wouldn't meet regulations here because there would be no air flow space at the bottom of the brick wall to allow the air to flow under.

Note the arrows in the diagram indicating airflow.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Here's what we have for regulations on wall mounted heat shielding in Canada. http://woodheat.org/clearances.html
The important thing to note is that the shielding needs an open air space above and below the shielding, as well as behind it, to allow plenty of air flow. So in other words, even if you build a brick wall with an 1" air space behind it between the bricks and the wall it wouldn't meet regulations here because there would be no air flow space at the bottom of the brick wall to allow the air to flow under.

Note the arrows in the diagram indicating airflow.

quite correct, the way a properly done wall protector works is similar to a chimney , remember Boyles law concerning a "rising column of air"

the stove heats the shield which heats the air behind it, this air wants to then rise as its warmer than the surrounding air. this is allowed as the top is open allowing the warm air to escape into the room. the resulting vacuum of the air leaving "draws' colder air from near the floor into the open bottom of the shield thus you remove heat by circulating air through using naturally occurring convection to move it. and the wall behind the shield remains cooler as this heat is prevented from radiating through to the wall surface.

a solid wall with no convective air space would simply allow the heat to permeate through the bricks to the wall behind it.