Christmas Tree and Stove

[Flatbedford]

When we upgraded to the Fireview we put it in a different place than the old stove was. It works better for the room were it is and the clearances are acceptable. We just realized that the new place is much closer to where we usually put our Christmas tree. How close to the Fireview can we put a freshly cut tree? It will not be on the door side. Do the wall clearances apply to Christmas trees too? What do you all think? Maybe I should call Woodstock?

 

[Corey]

I would think what ever the manufacturer specifies for clearance to combusitibles would apply to a christmas tree, too. Though the flip side - the farther from the heat the tree is, the longer it will last / stay moist. Most all commercial trees get a dose of green dye so the tree will stay green even though the needles are falling off. Though if you cut your own, it may turn brown faster, too.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Steve, our Christmas tree sits about 10-12 feet from the stove. We usually put it up Dec. 5-10 and take it down in early January. We've had no problems.

btw, we also use sugar water for watering the tree and it seems to make the tree last longer.

 

[snowtime]

Lets be careful here. When Christmas trees dry out they are supper dangerous. That tree will become supper combustible after a short drying time. If it ignites it will explode in an instant ball of burning flames. I would say that it needs twice the clearances of anything else and if it were me a tree would not be anywhere near a heat source. Up here there are no firemen coming to save the day so we do not fool around with any potential fire issues.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I hope we can get Firefighter Jake to post on this topic. Seems to me he did last year and I believe in all tests done, they really are not that much of a fire hazard. We certainly are not worried. Maybe I'll see if I can find his post.

 

[begreen]

A tree near the stove is not a good idea, especially if it is a highly radiant stove. 10+ feet should be fine, especially with a convective stove. But even if it's just in the same area as the wood stove, the tree will dry out faster, especially for folks that like to keep the room in the 80s when wood burning.

To reduce issues, be sure the tree is fresh cut, always has plenty of water and stick to cool lighting instead of the old style incandescent bulbs.

 

[argus66]

get a fake one thats what i did, it sucks but at least i sleep good at nite.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

A tree near the stove is not a good idea, especially if it is a highly radiant stove. 10+ feet should be fine, especially with a convective stove. But even if it's just in the same area as the wood stove, the tree will dry out faster, especially for folks that like to keep the room in the 80s when wood burning.

To reduce issues, be sure the tree is fresh cut, always has plenty of water and stick to cool lighting instead of the old style incandescent bulbs.

Again, if Jake comes on this will help because he is a professional fire fighter. I know he has done some research on this topic. This is what he wrote to me: "Yes BS . . . non-issue in my opinion . . . providing you keep the tree well watered."

And for what its worth, we keep our home very warm; hot to most people. We cut our own tree on our place and keep it up close to a month. We do check the water daily and also add sugar to the water. We also use the old style bulbs. One thing we really do though is to take pains to make sure the tree is solid and not worry about it tipping over! That would not be too great a thing to have.

 

[hossthehermit]

I hope we can get Firefighter Jake to post on this topic. Seems to me he did last year and I believe in all tests done, they really are not that much of a fire hazard. We certainly are not worried. Maybe I'll see if I can find his post.

Jake's pretty easy to find on the pellet forum. I just happened to be over here tonight, saw your post, thought I'd mention it. If I see him before you do, I'll tell him yer lookin' for him.

 

[Flatbedford]

My wife bought this awesome watering tube last year. It is like an automotive dipstick with a funnel on top. We can easily add water without getting on our hands and knees. We also don't have to worry about overfilling and the water spilling all over the floor. Our tree is now well watered and stays fresh and moist for a while.
I guess I should have searched before I posted.
Found it https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/21313/

firefighterjake

Posted: 12 August 2008 07:56 AM [ Report ] [ Ignore ] [ # 14 ]
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Unity/Bangor, Maine
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Ah, Christmas trees . . . my favorite topic . . . but not for the reason you may think.

Like every other firefighter out there I had heard about the dangers of Christmas trees burning up and early on in my career as a Fire Prevention Officer I was asked by a local TV station to speak about these “living” Roman candles that we bring into our homes each year. This particular reporter wanted to do a live on-air fire with the Christmas tree fully involved. I agreed. Now I did know enough to realize that the real danger is with a dry Christmas tree so I told the reporter to get a tree and leave it out of water for a week or two. On the day of the on-air shooting/fire I learned just a few hours before that the reporter had a tree, but had not left it unwatered. To make a long story short on live TV I attempted to light a tree on fire with a hand-held propane plumber’s torch . . . and the well watered tree would fizzle a bit, light up for a second or two, but as soon as I pulled the flame away the fire would splutter out . . . so much for the dramatic, six foot of flames that we had all seen in other videos! smile wink I ended up quickly changing things up a bit by explaining how a well watered Christmas tree is very difficult to catch on fire. I cannot tell you how badly I was ribbed by fellow firefighters for this gaffe . . . and even today folks still remember this incident.

Fast forward to 2006. I had just wrote my usual holiday safety article and had specifically mentioned how well watered Christmas trees are pretty difficult to catch on fire . . . and added that in fact when these trees do catch on fire it is almost always malfunctioning lights. Well, turns out the President of the National Christmas Tree Association saw this article and as a result I was invited to work with the group to produce a PSA on Christmas tree safety.

Fast forward to 2007. I was at a world-wide safety conference and exposition put on by the National Fire Protection Association in Boston when my co-worker (a Fire Inspector) casually mentioned that the firefighter being shown on a large plasma screen TV at one of the expo booths looked a lot like me—turned out it was me . . . larger than life.

So . . . some facts . . . Christmas trees only account for something like 1/10th of 1% of all fires—you are much, much more likely to have a fire while cooking, with your heating equipment or with an electrical problem. A well-watered Christmas tree is really, really difficult to set on fire. I really have no issues with Christmas trees.

That said . . . if I had a fresh cut tree in my house (and I often do—except the past few years I have been lazy and simply decorated an outside fir tree growing in my front yard) I would place it a fair distance from my woodstove as it can dry it out and if for some reason it tips over and lands directly on to the stove it could be an issue. I would also make sure I keep the tree well watered. Finally, I would make sure to take the time to check out the condition of the Christmas lights before stringing them around the tree.

Finally, for a great and pretty funny video check out the NCTA website’s Jay Leno clip.

(broken link removed to http://www.christmastree.org/safety.cfm)

 

[firefighterjake]

I don't worry about fresh cut Christmas trees . . . the caveat being you need to keep them well watered and not dry out. I wouldn't worry about the tree spontaneously bursting into flames, but I would say placing the tree 10 feet away from the stove to prevent excessive drying and keeping it watered every day would be a good idea.

Quite honestly I've seen the videos of trees bursting into flames and bought into the whole idea of dangerous Christmas trees until I started doing some research and realized that while Christmas trees may have been a valid concern several years back when it was normal for trees to be lit with the huge-get-warm-by-standing-around-the-tree in the 1970s, todays lights have a very low heat concern.

A few other items:

Here in Maine I don't believe Christmas tree growers treat their trees with any special coloring.

Sugar, bleach, baking soda . . . the National Christmas Tree Association says none of these additives are necessary. Just plain water is good.


But don't believe me . . . here's a great site for everything you ever wanted to know about Christmas trees.

(broken link removed to http://www.christmastree.org/home.cfm)

 

[firefighterjake]

Here's a link to a video I made with the NCTA a few years back on the topic of Christmas tree safety.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcuA1v-k208

 

[firefighterjake]

A few years back a local TV station called me up to do a story on Christmas tree safety . . . however they didn't sevetop watering the tree until 3 or 4 days before the scheduled live on-air broadcast . . . the day we did the story I attempted to set the tree on fire and to my chagrin (this was when I was convinced Christmas trees were a hazard I could not set the tree on fire even though I was using a small propane torch . . . again proving to me then and now that a well watered Christmas tree is not a hazard.

 

[firefighterjake]

I hope we can get Firefighter Jake to post on this topic. Seems to me he did last year and I believe in all tests done, they really are not that much of a fire hazard. We certainly are not worried. Maybe I'll see if I can find his post.

Jake's pretty easy to find on the pellet forum. I just happened to be over here tonight, saw your post, thought I'd mention it. If I see him before you do, I'll tell him yer lookin' for him.

Well actually it's pretty rare for me to hang out at the pellet forum . . . but yeah . . . here I am . . . actually in EdtheDawg's neighborhood as I'm down in beautiful Stafford Springs, CT for an early Thanksgiving at my brother in law's . . . which also explains why I may have some posts with typos as I'm typing on his girlfriend's laptop and my fat fingers are not used to the keyboard.

 

[firefighterjake]

A tree near the stove is not a good idea, especially if it is a highly radiant stove. 10+ feet should be fine, especially with a convective stove. But even if it's just in the same area as the wood stove, the tree will dry out faster, especially for folks that like to keep the room in the 80s when wood burning.

To reduce issues, be sure the tree is fresh cut, always has plenty of water and stick to cool lighting instead of the old style incandescent bulbs.

Again, if Jake comes on this will help because he is a professional fire fighter. I know he has done some research on this topic. This is what he wrote to me: "Yes BS . . . non-issue in my opinion . . . providing you keep the tree well watered."

And for what its worth, we keep our home very warm; hot to most people. We cut our own tree on our place and keep it up close to a month. We do check the water daily and also add sugar to the water. We also use the old style bulbs. One thing we really do though is to take pains to make sure the tree is solid and not worry about it tipping over! That would not be too great a thing to have.

Well not to quibble, but the NCTA says sugar is not necessary . . . however my opinion is if you think it may make a difference go ahead and do it. Sugar is cheap.

Also, when you say "old bulbs" I suspect you're talking about the old light bulb style lights (i.e. twinkle lights) vs. the old 1970s vintage lightbulbs which really threw a lot of heat.

 

[devinsdad]

I wouldn't worry either . My kitchen walls are cedar (like one big kindling box ) and ends 21 inches from the sides of my stove with a 14" CTC . The previous owners had this setup which I was leary about though.

 

[begreen]

Also, when you say "old bulbs" I suspect you're talking about the old light bulb style lights (i.e. twinkle lights) vs. the old 1970s vintage lightbulbs which really threw a lot of heat.

By old bulbs, I mean the 7watt C7(?) incandescent bulbs. If one gets a tree off the lot, it can be weeks since it was cut. If that tree hangs around for 6-8 weeks until after New Years, it will be tinder dry. That's when I would be concerned if all the above caveats were not followed.

Small, warm white LED bulbs should never be an issue. They run cool to the touch and use a lot less power. I see they are now available in the C7 form for retrofits.