Good Zero Clearance stove?

[wmbriano2grad]

Looking for a good zero clearance stove (around 50-60K BTU) to set on a hearth in front of a currently installed prefab fireplace. The best suggestions I have had so far is a hearthstone homestead. The Jotul Castine also looks good - can get the rear clearance down to about 8" with the optional rear heat shield.

Thanks

 

[wg_bent]

That's it as far as I know. The Hearthstone is a very nice option. You might want to give us (me) more info on things. I put an insert in a zero clearance fireplace and it works nicely. The trick is getting a stove that fits, ensuring tolerances to combustabiles are met, lining the chimney (which you need to do no matter what), and ensuring you don't mess up the original fireplace in any way including it's built in self cooling mechanism.

In some ways the hearth mount is simpler.

What kind of fireplace do you have?

Take a look at my "before the Osburn" thread over in the picture forum to see what I did.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

You realy should stick with a insert. Your horizontal run realy gets two long when you cant back them up. I dont believe heartstone is listed for ZC, you would have to look at the manual, jotul has a blanket listing but they seriousy discourage it.
if you cant get 1/4" of rise per foot forget it. The jotul castine looks good but is not the most draft forgiving stove, i would say thats not a good one unless you have a super tall chimmey to overcome the rear vent horizontal your going to have to do.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3355/

 

[wmbriano2grad]

My current fireplace is a heatnglo rsw-41 http://www.heatnglo.com/downloads/installManuals/26023L.pdf (only three years old). From talking with the mfr, I have found that the 8" chimney lining that is in place is rated to 2100 degrees so I won't require a liner of any kind. The only problem with an insert is finding something with enough BTUs to heat 1800sf. The Buck insert I looked at wasn't big enough. How many BTU's is yours?

 

[wmbriano2grad]

I would end up with about a 16-20" horizontal run (rear clearance of 7" req. for either stove + about 10-13" for depth of fireplace). I think I can get that 1/4" without a problem. Chimney is at least 25 - 30'

 

[begreen]

I think the enamel clad steel stoves have tight clearances too. Pacific Energy and Napoleon come to mind. Or will only rear exit flue work in this install?

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Good, you have a tall chimney.
The stove manufacture takes precedence over the fireplace manufacture. I only know of one brand listed to be installed in a zc, and the link was above. Here is a link to a thread with a stove your considering and the install your considering.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3208/
Rip out your fireplace and install a 7100fp from quadrafire. You can re use your SL300 chimney and you can skip all this trouble. It wont have any problem heating your space.

 

[hearthtools]

You realy should stick with a insert. Your horizontal run realy gets two long when you cant back them up. I dont believe heartstone is listed for ZC, you would have to look at the manual, jotul has a blanket listing but they seriousy discourage it.
if you cant get 1/4" of rise per foot forget it. The jotul castine looks good but is not the most draft forgiving stove, i would say thats not a good one unless you have a super tall chimmey to overcome the rear vent horizontal your going to have to do.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3355/

The homestead can go in a ZC because it does not go INTO IT.
as long as you reline the ZC pipe with Listed liner.


the only provisions it that is has to have a REAL HEARTH with a R factor of 2.5 because if its short legs.

A composite (homemade) floor protector with an
R-value of 2.5 or more

The hearth pad or floor protector must measure at least
34²w x 41²d square (863mm x 1041 mm). Place your
stove so that the floor protector extends 16 inches (450
mm) to the front and 8 inches (200 mm) beyond each side
of the fuel loading and ash removal openings (as
illustrated, looking down onto the top of the stove).

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Rod, your absoluty correct. Now i know of two stoves that can be installed in ZC

 

[brian_in_idaho]

You realy should stick with a insert. Your horizontal run realy gets two long when you cant back them up. I dont believe heartstone is listed for ZC, you would have to look at the manual, jotul has a blanket listing but they seriousy discourage it.
if you cant get 1/4" of rise per foot forget it. The jotul castine looks good but is not the most draft forgiving stove, i would say thats not a good one unless you have a super tall chimmey to overcome the rear vent horizontal your going to have to do.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3355/

The homestead can go in a ZC because it does not go INTO IT.
as long as you reline the ZC pipe with Listed liner.


the only provisions it that is has to have a REAL HEARTH with a R factor of 2.5 because if its short legs.

A composite (homemade) floor protector with an
R-value of 2.5 or more

The hearth pad or floor protector must measure at least
34²w x 41²d square (863mm x 1041 mm). Place your
stove so that the floor protector extends 16 inches (450
mm) to the front and 8 inches (200 mm) beyond each side
of the fuel loading and ash removal openings (as
illustrated, looking down onto the top of the stove).

The R value of 2.5 is true with the 6 inch legs on the Homestead, but if he ends up with the 4 inch ones to make elevation, required R value is 6.6. Seems counterproductive, you gain 2 inches with the shorter legs, but have to add a lot of thickness of insulation material to get the R value back

Bri

 

[wg_bent]

My current fireplace is a heatnglo rsw-41 http://www.heatnglo.com/downloads/installManuals/26023L.pdf (only three years old). From talking with the mfr, I have found that the 8" chimney lining that is in place is rated to 2100 degrees so I won't require a liner of any kind. The only problem with an insert is finding something with enough BTUs to heat 1800sf. The Buck insert I looked at wasn't big enough. How many BTU's is yours?

I think there's a measurement your stuck on somewhere. My Osburn 1800i heats my 2200 sqft house pretty easily. It keeps the lowerlevel of my house above 70 most of the time. Only on coldest days and by morning does the temp drop into the high 60's at the opposite end of the house, and the upper level will drop into 60's also, but I consider that a complete success. With any wood stove you can over heat the room it's in and still not get heat to some sections of the house. It really depends on the house.

If you ask me I think my 1800i is enough for the job I'm asking it to do. Ask my wife and she'd say a larger stove would be great, but then again, she saw nothing wrong the the livingroom temp approaching 85 last night with the windows open.

There a lot of stoves (Inserts) that will do the job for you with a house that is 1800 sqft. Consider a Lopi Revere or Answer. The Osburn 1800i or 2200i if it will fit. Napoleon, Avalon, Vermont Castings winter warm, or Hearthstone hearthmount or inserts. There really are a lot of stoves that will heat completely or at least make a very serious dent in your heat bills with that size home.

Keep the questions coming...we're here to help.

 

[hearthtools]

You realy should stick with a insert. Your horizontal run realy gets two long when you cant back them up. I dont believe heartstone is listed for ZC, you would have to look at the manual, jotul has a blanket listing but they seriousy discourage it.
if you cant get 1/4" of rise per foot forget it. The jotul castine looks good but is not the most draft forgiving stove, i would say thats not a good one unless you have a super tall chimmey to overcome the rear vent horizontal your going to have to do.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3355/

The homestead can go in a ZC because it does not go INTO IT.
as long as you reline the ZC pipe with Listed liner.


the only provisions it that is has to have a REAL HEARTH with a R factor of 2.5 because if its short legs.

A composite (homemade) floor protector with an
R-value of 2.5 or more

The hearth pad or floor protector must measure at least
34²w x 41²d square (863mm x 1041 mm). Place your
stove so that the floor protector extends 16 inches (450
mm) to the front and 8 inches (200 mm) beyond each side
of the fuel loading and ash removal openings (as
illustrated, looking down onto the top of the stove).

The R value of 2.5 is true with the 6 inch legs on the Homestead, but if he ends up with the 4 inch ones to make elevation, required R value is 6.6. Seems counterproductive, you gain 2 inches with the shorter legs, but have to add a lot of thickness of insulation material to get the R value back

Bri

I see that now. I missed that on the manual
that is just stupid overkill !!

Noncombustible Material Thickness R-value

Gypsum or plaster board1 1/2² =0.45R

Wallboard, Wonderboard, or Durock1 1/2² =0.20R

Ceramic board (Fiberfrax or Micor)1 1/2² =1.10R

Nominal solid clay brick1 1² =0.20R

Ceramic wall or floor tile1 1/4²- 0.01R

Mineral wool insulation2 1² =3.12R

Cement mortar2 1² =0.20R

Horizontal still air2 * 1/8² =0.92R

 

[holysmokers]

I'm in the process of installing a hearthstone heritage in front of a zero clearance fireplace to replace my old avalon avb 800 hearth stove. The heritage worked for me because the low clearance rear vent is only 19 &1/2" high, perfect for low zero clearance fireplaces. I just had my oversized hearth refinished to allow for extra clearances. The size is 66" wide and 48" deep. It is constructed from 1/2" micore 300, 1/2" cement board and 1/4" porcelain tile set on 3/4" ply subfloor. The floor insulation requirement for the heritage is only R1.2. Much less than the homestead. (already been down that road) The horizontal run is between 12" and 18". I still have good draft though because my chimney is 32' high. After reading all the negative posts about zero clearance time bombs, I'm a little worried about the chimney situation. It currently has the existing 10" double wall with a 6" stainless liner with a cleanout tee at the bottom. I just had the chimney cleaned out at the end of last season. I'm considering replacing the liner with the homesaver pro flexliner, or just live with it for this winter and next spring rip out the entire fireplace and chimney and replace it with the appropriate class a chimney. The problem is, the homesaver cost is going to be high but i don't know if i'm willing to take the risk of not replacing the liner for this season. The house does have electric heat as a main source and is very expensive. The other thing worth mentioning is the wood framed chase with lp siding. Once I remove the zero clearance fp, I plan to insulate the chase as much as i can and go over everything with non-combustible cement board instead of sheetrock. I also have plans to replace the failing siding with hardiplank cement board siding, then the only combustible thing at all will be the stick framing. How's that for fire proof? Thanks to all the help I received on this site i think its going to be a reasonably safe installation. BTW the house was built in '86

 

[recppd]

My current fireplace is a heatnglo rsw-41 http://www.heatnglo.com/downloads/installManuals/26023L.pdf (only three years old). From talking with the mfr, I have found that the 8" chimney lining that is in place is rated to 2100 degrees so I won't require a liner of any kind. The only problem with an insert is finding something with enough BTUs to heat 1800sf. The Buck insert I looked at wasn't big enough. How many BTU's is yours?

You WILL need to install a liner if you want proper draft and operation from your insert/stove, given your insert/stove uses a 6" flue. My Heatilator had a double walled chimney system like yours, I think it was a 9" inside a 13", or something like that. Ended up installing a 6" stainless liner (insulated) to make the install perform up to spec, and code. It's a little bit expensive, but well worth the added benefit for both safety and performance.