How to maximize thermal mass with hearth and wall protection design

[michaelthomas]

Hello,
I am going to be installing an englander 30 in my greatroom and am thinking about the hearth and wall protection systems that I will use. The other wood stove installation in my house was here when I moved in and it has a 4" brick hearth and brick behind it. It also has a brick wall to the side that seperates the "woodstove room" from the dining room. I am pretty impressed with the stored heat that the brick emits long after the fire has burned down. The side of the stove heats the brick wall clear through to the other side when I have the stove running all day. In the new installation I am thinking of incorporating thermal mass into the design but am looking for input on how to do it effectively or if it is worth the cost of the masonry to do.
If you have a freestanding non-combustable wall is the clearance the same as to a protected wall?
The stove will be installed on the passive solar design front of the house which is slab and tile. Would a slab need to be reinforced if masonry was used?
What materials absorb heat better than others?
If I had a highly heat absorbant material behind my stove would I need to bump up my R value of protection behind it?
Anybody used a water storage system to store heat and humidify the house?
What about venting below the elevated hearth to emit captured heat from air space?
Lots of questions but this has me intrigued.

 

[bebopin]

From all that I have read on materials that retain heat soapstone is the best.A freestanding wall would be heavy but would think a slab floor could hold it.As for the rest of your questions i will leave it to others.Phil

 

[jbrown56]

MT, When I bult my house 26 years ago, I knew I would be heating with wood. The stove is a corner application in the family room, sits on a tile hearth on a cement slab. The walls are cinder block, veneered with brick and extend 8' in either direction. They retain a lot of heat and it has a lot to do with the house being nice and warm.

Jim

 

[kjklosek]

MT, When I bult my house 26 years ago, I knew I would be heating with wood. The stove is a corner application in the family room, sits on a tile hearth on a cement slab. The walls are cinder block, veneered with brick and extend 8' in either direction. They retain a lot of heat and it has a lot to do with the house being nice and warm.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Are the block walls inside the house, separate from the exterior, or is the house made of block?

Or are the walls interior partition?

J.P.

 

[tuolumne]

We heated our previous home with a Hearthstone Mansfield. The chimney was brick and interior, exposed for two stories. That chimney would be warm for a long time after the fire went out.