How close is too close for seating?

[Mikelly]

As our major remodel progresses we've decided and re-decided all aspects of our wood stove acquisition and installation. We're probably over thinking but the current plan has our recliners and the couch only six or seven feet from the stove. It now occurs to me that we may be too close for comfort so to speak.

The medium sized stove will put out 50,000 -60,000 btu's. It's a large open area; the room is 28' wide and 45' long but again we would be sitting only be six or seven feet from the stove.

How close do Ya'll sit from yours when it's going full blast?

Thanks.

 

[firefighterjake]

Depends on how cold I am . . .

As little as six or seven feet in my sofa . . . 18 feet or so if I am too warm.

Then again there have been times when I have parked myself on the floor directly in front of the stove to get warm . . .

 

[paulnlee]

Yeah, some AM's I'll lay next to my dogs and they're a foot away.

 

[begreen]

Depends on the stove design and whether this is measured in front or side. With a cast iron clad stove you can sit a few feet away from the side and not get scorched.

 

[Highbeam]

I would be awfully skeptical about a medium stove putting out 60k btu. Let's just say it will be hot.

If you let the room get cold then that closest couch will be the most comfortable seating position. If you let the room get too hot then people will move away to other seating positions. At some distance, the feeling of radiant heat will be negligible so you want some seating positions way out there too.

 

[jetsam]

I have a chair right next to the stove, which I use both for loading and frequent sitting. It is off to the side but close enough that my leg almost touches the stove.

I think I have more hours on that chair than the rest of 'em put together ..

It is a very rare occasion when my stove is going full blast, though- maybe once a year.

If you think you'll be running full throttle all the time, you should get a larger stove.

 

[Ludlow]

I think from the front its a default value of 4 feet. Sides can vary greatly per individual unit.

 

[Sawset]

We have a set of chairs about 6-7ft away from the stove.
We use them a lot when the stove is going. We regulate the house temp to make that happen (69-73). The temp is measured about 12ft away. A radius out about 25ft is comfortable also. Beyond that are bedrooms and hallways, so we're not as concerned with them being a little cooler.
The other thing is, every situation has an air flow to and from the stove. Here, there are a number of different places we can put ourselves depending on temperature in the place, so as to take advantage of cooler or warmer air pathways. If it gets a little warm, move to a spot that is acting as cool air return. It would be a little hard to visualize those paths without seeing them. Once you're established, get some incense sticks to help visualize the air patterns in the house.

 

[paulnlee]

Wife sits in a recliner 4' directly in front. I sit off to the left maybe 15'. I sit around in my BVD's no matter the weather. If my area is below 76 I'm chilly. Of course where she is it's 83. She says put some cloths on, I don't want to, you take some off and on and on it goes from Oct til Jun 1

 

[xman23]

We have a love seat about 2.5 feet left of the stove. It's great for laying on, hanging my feet as close to the stove as I can get. Make sure you have your favorite recliner real close to the stove.

 

[begreen]

We have an overstuffed chair exactly 36" away from the side of the T6. It's a non-issue and very comfy spot for reading when it's cold out.

 

[Mikelly]

OK, I feel better about our proposed seating. I probably think too much but once it's in I can't really move it. Thanks for your responses.

I want to have the stove in place by next fall. I'm hoping to get a good deal this summer on either the Jotul F400 or the Hearthstone Shelburne.

Again, thanks for taking the time.

 

[Woody Stover]

We have a soapstone stove. My wife's chair is 6' off the door side, and the door only has single-thickness soapstone so that side is hotter. I'm on the other side of the coffee table between us, I'm more off the front door-side corner. It's also a cat stove, so in cat-only burn the sides don't get as hot as when I run flame in the box, or when I'm burning down coals.
A cast-iron or steel stove without cladding might get a little roasty at our distances.

 

[begreen]

OK, I feel better about our proposed seating. I probably think too much but once it's in I can't really move it. Thanks for your responses.

I want to have the stove in place by next fall. I'm hoping to get a good deal this summer on either the Jotul F400 or the Hearthstone Shelburne.

Again, thanks for taking the time.

Both of those stoves are highly radiant so allow a bit more room on the sides than for say a Jotul F45, Quad Explorer II or PE Alderlea T5. That said, 7 ft should be ok with your choices.

 

[Highbeam]

My very young daughters sat so close to my hearthstone heritage that one of them actually leaned up against it and got a burn. It’s a “soft heat”!

 

[Woody Stover]

My very young daughters sat so close to my hearthstone heritage that one of them actually leaned up against it and got a burn. It’s a “soft heat”!

300-400 is enough to burn ya, as they found out the hard way.