Clearance and Floor Protection Question for PE Alderlea T5

[dapperistdan]

I'm looking to install a wood stove in my 1750sqft home in southeast mass. As of now, there is no hearth so i will be building one to fit the stove, but i'm trying to keep it as small as possible. I'm getting a bit of confusion reading the Alderlea T5's installation manual. The floor protection section states that the minimum floor protection has to be 40.5" Deep x 34" Wide. If you add up the rear clearance (double wall pipe) of 5" plus the depth of the stove 28" plus the front 16" clearance requirement you get 49".

How can the floor protection be stated as 40.5" minimum if the stove dimensions and front and rear clearances add up to 49"?

I must be misinterpreting something. Any clarification would be appreciated.

 

[Grisu]

It simply means that your floor protection does not need to go all the way to the wall in the back. With 5" rear-clearance and 2" rear hearth requirement you could leave a 3" gap with a combustible material. However, that usually does not make much sense as it looks better when the hearth extends all the way to the back. As the Super only needs a non-combustible surface to sit on I would recommend to go beyond the minimum hearth requirements. I had embers pop out 2 feet and more from the stove. 16" front clearance really is the absolute minimum. You can try building one flush with the rest of the floor then it will be less of an obstacle.

 

[dapperistdan]

It simply means that your floor protection does not need to go all the way to the wall in the back. With 5" rear-clearance and 2" rear hearth requirement you could leave a 3" gap with a combustible material. However, that usually does not make much sense as it looks better when the hearth extends all the way to the back. As the Super only needs a non-combustible surface to sit on I would recommend to go beyond the minimum hearth requirements. I had embers pop out 2 feet and more from the stove. 16" front clearance really is the absolute minimum. You can try building one flush with the rest of the floor then it will be less of an obstacle.

Thanks for the explanation Grisu. I guess I was wrongly assuming the rear clearance and the rear hearth requirement needed to be the same.

Agreed that the min of 16" may be cutting it close for protection. What part of the stove is the 16" front clearance measured to? 16+28 is still 44 inches...so is that 16" measured to the face of the glass or something? It cant be measured to the outermost part of the stove can it?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I always measured it from the front of the stove proper... The box.

 

[begreen]

The front measurement is always from the stove door.

 

[dapperistdan]

The front measurement is always from the stove door.

great, thanks guys, its a big help.

 

[begreen]

You're welcome. Feel free to keep asking questions. This stove only requires an ember protection hearth so a sheet of metal would suffice. The T5 is a great stove. Take some pics when you get finished.

 

[dapperistdan]

You're welcome. Feel free to keep asking questions. This stove only requires an ember protection hearth so a sheet of metal would suffice. The T5 is a great stove. Take some pics when you get finished.

So i finally took a spin to the local stove shop and saw the T5 in person. It is massive. I dont have a large living room ( i'm guessing 12x16), but the area will get larger once i take out a wall between the living room and kitchen.

So my concern is the T5 will overwhelm the room aesthetically. The T5 sounds like it has a "gentle" heat and shouldnt burn us out of the room if we keep the fires small. Its just the sheer size/depth of the stove that has me reluctant to pull the trigger.

Compared to the other small/medium stoves i've been looking at (jotul castine/Intrepid II) this is the largest/deepest. I realize that the T5's 5" clearance makes up for its 28" depth and it wont be sitting out much further than the skinnier stoves would be with their larger clearances...

Any alternatives to the T5 to keep the stove from dominating the room and still get decent heat/burn times? I recently gave the VT Encore a second look and that seems like it could do the trick...but it might not have that "gentle" heat the T5 has

 

[begreen]

You initial reaction is normal. The stove will be a change. But after a winter you won't think twice about its size. We have the larger T6 in a 15 x 16' living room. It certainly does not overwhelm the room. In practice you will like the extra depth of the firebox. It allows for flexible loading options. The Encore is a more complex stove and more radiant, with higher clearances that move it out further into the room.

 

[dapperistdan]

You initial reaction is normal. The stove will be a change. But after a winter you won't think twice about its size. We have the larger T6 in a 15 x 16' living room. It certainly does not overwhelm the room. In practice you will like the extra depth of the firebox. It allows for flexible loading options. The Encore is a more complex stove and more radiant, with higher clearances that move it out further into the room.

Glad to know its a normal reaction. Again i appreciate the quick response.

Just throwing ideas out... it seems like the hearthstone heritage would be a great fit for me as well. decent burn times, only ember floor protection, 7" clearance w/ heat shield, side load with 21" pieces of wood, not as deep as T5.

Between choosing a Heritage or T5, besides looks and size they seem pretty similar...heritage may give me a few more inches and not appear as dominating... anything that id be overlooking?

Just trying to get ideas, you guys have a lot of stove experience and i'd hate to make a rash decision without seeing all the angles.

 

[begreen]

That could work. It's a good looking stove. Though based on reports here I think the T5 will provide longer burn times and it a more flexible stove with the trivet cook top. Is this a flat wall or corner installation? Another stove to consider would be the Blaze King Ashford 30. It has larger capacity,but is a cat stove that is happy running low and slow when the weather is milder.

 

[dapperistdan]

That could work. It's a good looking stove. Though based on reports here I think the T5 will provide longer burn times and it a more flexible stove with the trivet cook top. Is this a flat wall or corner installation? Another stove to consider would be the Blaze King Ashford 30. It has larger capacity,but is a cat stove that is happy running low and slow when the weather is milder.

Blaze King looks like it'd be a nice option, just as deep as the T5 though and we'd ideally like a white enamel (hearthstone has been only non white stove we've considered).

Yeah, T5 seems like it has such a big firebox...and the cooktop is a pretty nice feature.

The stove will be installed against a flat wall. I'll have to veneer the wall, and would like to avoid doing that 1" air gap behind the rockboard...so it seems the T5 and heritage are perfect to avoid that. Although being conservative and building in that gap wouldnt be the worst thing.

 

[pma1123]

You mentioned stoves in white...if you haven't seen the PE white enamel offering in person, chimney sweep online has a good close up picture to help you better decide if you like it or not. I mention this because it looks different than other mfg offerings for white enamel finish.

I laughed at your comment about how 'big' this stove looked. Just last week I was exclaiming how much smaller the T5 looked compared to the stove in my avatar I replaced it with.

 

[dapperistdan]

You mentioned stoves in white...if you haven't seen the PE white enamel offering in person, chimney sweep online has a good close up picture to help you better decide if you like it or not. I mention this because it looks different than other mfg offerings for white enamel finish.

I laughed at your comment about how 'big' this stove looked. Just last week I was exclaiming how much smaller the T5 looked compared to the stove in my avatar I replaced it with.

PMA thanks for that advise, the finish is a bit different then what i was expecting. How did you like the stoves performance while you had it?

 

[pma1123]

I have yet to light my first fire in the T5, but I have it in a living room very similar in size to yours. Based on all the great feedback for the super series firebox, I look forward to cooler weather to give it a shot. I upgraded to the T5 from a pre-EPA stove (early 80's) so an 8hr burn time is going to be great.

 

[jeff_t]

I laughed at your comment about how 'big' this stove looked. Just last week I was exclaiming how much smaller the T5 looked compared to the stove in my avatar I replaced it with.

Heh. I had similar thoughts when I opened the door on my Spectrum. Quite a difference from a BKK.

It's an impressive performer. If looking for more than evening fires, I wouldn't think about anything smaller.

 

[begreen]

The stove will be installed against a flat wall. I'll have to veneer the wall, and would like to avoid doing that 1" air gap behind the rockboard...so it seems the T5 and heritage are perfect to avoid that. Although being conservative and building in that gap wouldnt be the worst thing.

There's no need to veneer the wall unless you want to for aesthetics. A veneer will not reduce clearances. FWIW, our stove has just painted sheetrock behind it.

 

[dapperistdan]

There's no need to veneer the wall unless you want to for aesthetics. A veneer will not reduce clearances. FWIW, our stove has just painted sheetrock behind it.

Yup, Veneer just for looks, but still might build it out 1" just in case i switch stoves and want a "non combustible" wall

I guess i'm still leaning towards the T5... there doesn't seem to be any huge benefits to the hearthstone heritage besides 21" log lengths... side load doesnt seem to be a big benefit since the T5 can load North/South. But the hearthstone would stick out less than the T5 by 7 inches...

not an easy decision.