Hearth Rugs

[blakesavage20]

I am about to buy a hearth rug to protect by carpet from sparks. I have read that fiberglass rugs are the best, is this true? I had my eye ona wool rug, does this material work effectively? Can any body tell me what the best material is and why, or would wool work just fine?

Thanks for your help

 

[Shari]

Most of today's stoves require 16-18" clearance from combustibles at the face of the stove. Do you have this clearance on your stove?

Shari

 

[blakesavage20]

My hearth is elevated so I need only a 6 inch clearance according to the manual on my wood burning insert and I meet it just barely. Because the insert will only be such short distance from my carpet I was looking for a hearth rug to make sure none of the sparks damage my carpet when loading the insert and starting the fire. I am just not sure which type of hearth rug is best, or if it was really important which kind to get. I was hoping to pick up a wool rug, as I have found one I liked.

 

[gyrfalcon]

My hearth is elevated so I need only a 6 inch clearance according to the manual on my wood burning insert and I meet it just barely. Because the insert will only be such short distance from my carpet I was looking for a hearth rug to make sure none of the sparks damage my carpet when loading the insert and starting the fire. I am just not sure which type of hearth rug is best, or if it was really important which kind to get. I was hoping to pick up a wool rug, as I have found one I liked.

My understanding is that for something like 20 years, new rugs sold in this country have had to be flame-retardant. Unless you expect a flaming log would roll out of the open door of your stove onto the rug and sit there unattended for many minutes, I believe you're never going to have an actual fire on the rug. Just for keeping any sparks from damage your carpet, pretty much anything will do the trick. A wool hearth rug is perfectly fine, and there are many attractive and affordable ones out there.

For whatever it's worth, I have a front-loading stove with the minimum clearance to my floor, and I've never once had even a spark make it out beyond the hearth and onto my hearth rug.

 

[rhetoric]

For the record, my stove meets stove to carpet specs by a country mile and there are ember burns all over the place. Mostly from raking the coals, cleaning out the ash, etc. So get a good something in front of your stove. I'm in the market for a replacement to our old nasty one.

 

[blakesavage20]

Thanks all for your help and experience.

 

[begreen]

Your concern is valid. With some wood, sparks can and do pop out of the stove. Sometimes 4-6 ft.!

Have you considered either extending the hearth pad at floor level with tile, brick or stone? Or they make non-combustible hearthpad extension that can be removed after the burning season is over.