Hi All,
New member here. Just installed an Englander 13-NCH, complete with a DIY hearth pad and chimney system. Since I used this forum and google almost entirely to self-answer my product and installation questions, I feel an obligation to pay it forward for anyone that may be in my (former) shoes. I am happy to say that the stove and chimney are performing beautifully. Too bad that winter is almost over in SE PA. Use this info at your own risk, I am not a professional! Pictures at the bottom.
Number 1 – Choosing a Stove: I initially purchased an Englander 30-NCH from Home Depot. It’s a beautiful stove and a heating beast. Also, there’s no better value, from what I’ve read. However, the stove and its required clearances were too much for my planned corner. So back it went via free freight pickup, without any questions from Home Depot. I then started researching the 13-NCH. It didn’t take long to realize this was the stove for me. It arrived from Home Depot a few days later.
Number 2 – Building a Hearth Pad: This was more work than initially thought. The 13-NCH requires a 2.0 R-value; pretty high and higher than the larger 30-NCH. After researching, the design was as follows:
1 sheet of ½ inch plywood (no R-value; its flammable, duh!)
1 sheet of durock next gen (0.39 R-value)
1 sheet of micore 300 (1.03 R-value; purchased online)
2 sheets of durock next gen (0.78 combined R-value)
Porcelain tile and grout (negligible R-value)
Total R-value = 2.20
I cut the micore and durock with a utility knife and used a circular saw to cut the plywood. Layers were sandwiched together with a combination of 1.25-inch hardi-backer screws, 1.75-inch drywall screws and construction adhesive. All told, the pad is probably 150 pounds. Good thing its not moving any time soon. Wood trim was placed around the front and side edges for aesthetics.
Number 3 – Choosing and Installing a Chimney: I wanted the stove to occupy as little space as possible, so I went with double wall Champion black pipe for the interior run, then transitioned to stainless steel double wall insulated pipe from Ventus (Champion?). This stainless pipe is high end stuff, and it sure was expensive! However, I plan to use it for decades, and it is guaranteed “forever”. The pipe segments and adapters fit very well together. The pipe is very well made. Working on the higher parts of the chimney was the most difficult part; think hefting pipes and tools up a tall ladder, dropping bolts, etc. The pipe manual called for screws to secure the chimney supports, but I used galvanized lag bolts the whole way up for good measure.
Since the pipe was run through the wall and up the side of a new addition, I had it all powder coated black. The finish adds a touch of class IMO and with the paint, it should last forever-forever. Installation wasn’t overly difficult with two people. Definitely something a detail-oriented handy person could do with a friend. Not to mention, the DIY installation saved about three grand, based upon two professional quotes.
Number 4 - Installing the Stove: As has been discussed in other threads, the stove manual is not very good when it comes to describing the required clearances. My setup includes double wall interior pipe, but no stove heat shields. That routine scenario is not covered in the manual. A few calls to Englander directed me to use clearances for single wall pipe without stove heat shields. And by heat shields they mean optional side heat shields, not the rear heat shield that is built into the stove. If they’d revise the manual, I’m sure they’d get fewer calls from confused people like me (*cough, but nice people). Anyway, the stove installation is pretty simple. Just put it in place and connect the chimney.
Number 5 – Using the Stove: I’m still learning the stove’s temperament, but overall, it’s pretty easy to operate. I’ve learned that small adjustments to the damper have a big effect on the burn, especially in the early and later stages of a burn cycle. The paint curing was pretty strong for the first two burns, and then the next few times it hit a new high temperature thereafter. Now that the stove has been running for over a week, the odors are gone. Fortunately, we had a 70 degree day to open the windows and do the initial break in.
During active burns, the stove top temperature runs between 350 and 600 F, depending on how you operate it. I installed the included blower fan, but it’s quite loud, even on low and don’t plan to use it again. During construction, we put in high and low HVAC returns next to the stove, so the hot air can be moved that way, in addition to a ceiling fan on reverse.
The house is a fairly open layout 2-story home, about 2,400 square feet. We’ve had some nights in the mid-teens and the stove has the ability to do all of the downstairs heating and about 60% of the upstairs. When it gets above the low thirties and the stove is cranking, the main room can get hot, but in that case the stove is happy dialed down to 325 degrees or so. On a full load with the damper closed, the stove runs hot for about 4 hours, then slowly cools down. After an 8 or 9 hour night, the downstairs is about 66 degrees and there are usually enough coals to get a fire started again. As far as wood, we are burning seasoned hardwood.
Edit: I'll add that east-west loading of the stove is a bit of a pain when packing it full for an overnight run, but there's no way around it with a smaller stove. Overall, very happy with the stove and it's everything I expected it to be.
Thanks for this great resource and for reading! Let me know if you have any questions!
Pictures here!
New member here. Just installed an Englander 13-NCH, complete with a DIY hearth pad and chimney system. Since I used this forum and google almost entirely to self-answer my product and installation questions, I feel an obligation to pay it forward for anyone that may be in my (former) shoes. I am happy to say that the stove and chimney are performing beautifully. Too bad that winter is almost over in SE PA. Use this info at your own risk, I am not a professional! Pictures at the bottom.
Number 1 – Choosing a Stove: I initially purchased an Englander 30-NCH from Home Depot. It’s a beautiful stove and a heating beast. Also, there’s no better value, from what I’ve read. However, the stove and its required clearances were too much for my planned corner. So back it went via free freight pickup, without any questions from Home Depot. I then started researching the 13-NCH. It didn’t take long to realize this was the stove for me. It arrived from Home Depot a few days later.
Number 2 – Building a Hearth Pad: This was more work than initially thought. The 13-NCH requires a 2.0 R-value; pretty high and higher than the larger 30-NCH. After researching, the design was as follows:
1 sheet of ½ inch plywood (no R-value; its flammable, duh!)
1 sheet of durock next gen (0.39 R-value)
1 sheet of micore 300 (1.03 R-value; purchased online)
2 sheets of durock next gen (0.78 combined R-value)
Porcelain tile and grout (negligible R-value)
Total R-value = 2.20
I cut the micore and durock with a utility knife and used a circular saw to cut the plywood. Layers were sandwiched together with a combination of 1.25-inch hardi-backer screws, 1.75-inch drywall screws and construction adhesive. All told, the pad is probably 150 pounds. Good thing its not moving any time soon. Wood trim was placed around the front and side edges for aesthetics.
Number 3 – Choosing and Installing a Chimney: I wanted the stove to occupy as little space as possible, so I went with double wall Champion black pipe for the interior run, then transitioned to stainless steel double wall insulated pipe from Ventus (Champion?). This stainless pipe is high end stuff, and it sure was expensive! However, I plan to use it for decades, and it is guaranteed “forever”. The pipe segments and adapters fit very well together. The pipe is very well made. Working on the higher parts of the chimney was the most difficult part; think hefting pipes and tools up a tall ladder, dropping bolts, etc. The pipe manual called for screws to secure the chimney supports, but I used galvanized lag bolts the whole way up for good measure.
Since the pipe was run through the wall and up the side of a new addition, I had it all powder coated black. The finish adds a touch of class IMO and with the paint, it should last forever-forever. Installation wasn’t overly difficult with two people. Definitely something a detail-oriented handy person could do with a friend. Not to mention, the DIY installation saved about three grand, based upon two professional quotes.
Number 4 - Installing the Stove: As has been discussed in other threads, the stove manual is not very good when it comes to describing the required clearances. My setup includes double wall interior pipe, but no stove heat shields. That routine scenario is not covered in the manual. A few calls to Englander directed me to use clearances for single wall pipe without stove heat shields. And by heat shields they mean optional side heat shields, not the rear heat shield that is built into the stove. If they’d revise the manual, I’m sure they’d get fewer calls from confused people like me (*cough, but nice people). Anyway, the stove installation is pretty simple. Just put it in place and connect the chimney.
Number 5 – Using the Stove: I’m still learning the stove’s temperament, but overall, it’s pretty easy to operate. I’ve learned that small adjustments to the damper have a big effect on the burn, especially in the early and later stages of a burn cycle. The paint curing was pretty strong for the first two burns, and then the next few times it hit a new high temperature thereafter. Now that the stove has been running for over a week, the odors are gone. Fortunately, we had a 70 degree day to open the windows and do the initial break in.
During active burns, the stove top temperature runs between 350 and 600 F, depending on how you operate it. I installed the included blower fan, but it’s quite loud, even on low and don’t plan to use it again. During construction, we put in high and low HVAC returns next to the stove, so the hot air can be moved that way, in addition to a ceiling fan on reverse.
The house is a fairly open layout 2-story home, about 2,400 square feet. We’ve had some nights in the mid-teens and the stove has the ability to do all of the downstairs heating and about 60% of the upstairs. When it gets above the low thirties and the stove is cranking, the main room can get hot, but in that case the stove is happy dialed down to 325 degrees or so. On a full load with the damper closed, the stove runs hot for about 4 hours, then slowly cools down. After an 8 or 9 hour night, the downstairs is about 66 degrees and there are usually enough coals to get a fire started again. As far as wood, we are burning seasoned hardwood.
Edit: I'll add that east-west loading of the stove is a bit of a pain when packing it full for an overnight run, but there's no way around it with a smaller stove. Overall, very happy with the stove and it's everything I expected it to be.
Thanks for this great resource and for reading! Let me know if you have any questions!
Pictures here!
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