Jotul Oslo Clearances. Interior walls too hot

[NewWoodStoveGuy]

Hi. Im new to wood burning and I just purchased the Jotul F 500 Oslo for our home. So far the stove look and burns great, but we have a concern.
This past weekend I finished ‘breaking it in’ and really fire it up Sunday for the first time. There was a 2-3” bed of coals in the stove at the end of the night which we left until the morning.

My conern is, even though the clearance requirements to combustible wall material (in our case wood framed wall with sheet rock and batt insualtion) is met the sheet rock walls were getting very warm. Even hot to the touch in some spots. Too hot to keep your hand on the sheet rock for more than a second or two. I checked the clearances in the manual (for a corner installation) and it seems ok.

The stove is caddy cornered. The jotul manual states clearances for a corner installation is only 9”, which make sense from the heat shield but not from the actual cast iron. But the other clearances for the side (alcove) installation is 14”. I dont under stand what the difference is, if the wall is parallel or on angle the closest measurement to the combustible wall doesnt change. The wall is there or not… Ultimately, I’m concerned that the clearance should be the 14” rather than the 9”. I called the dealer and they assure me the clearances are correct, but we are definetly uncomfortable with it.

Further, the stove has a rear heat shield installed. I was told a double wall pipe was installed up to the underside of the sheetrock ceiling, then it transitions to metalbestos pipe in through the attic and up to the sloped roof and out. The floor is porcelain tile over cement board on wood subfloor on wood joists.
Any advice is be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Bill

 

[oldAGE]

Well, paper faced and backed drywall is made of gypsum. The paper will have a flash point of 451 degrees F and the gypsum is, for the most part, fire resistant. Now, the rule of thumb to not get scalded by heated water is that it should not be above 104 degrees (hot tubs, very hot showers, etc...) and your water heater should never deliver more than 120 degree water. Why? Because you will be scalded by said water if it is around 145 degrees (a few seconds) or instantaneously at 160+.

So, surfice it to say that your hand on your wall at the hotest point is there for two or three seconds, then it is somewhere around 150ish degrees and possibly less than 160 - 170. As long as you can touch it, it is very safe in my book.

Next, my ceramic tile on cement board on wood framing is still a perfectly good hearth over the past 8 years.

The Oslo has the left side loading door and the clearance for the hearth on that side I think needs to be 18" if it is used. In your corner installation, "legally," the door is clipped closed with a kit so you can't open it. The general rule there is that a hot ember, not heat from the cast iron, is the concern. You will notice different clearances in your manual for the left and right sides.

FWIW, I too would think the way you do and I added a couple of inches to the clearances of my corner installed VC but I am perfectly comfortable with technology and years of proven experience that companies like Jotul have. Start gently and learn to love your beautiful stove, the heat it produces, and the art of burning wood in your stove. Be comfortable that your installation is sound. One way to make sure they used doublewalled stove pipe is that it should be around 7" in diameter. If 6", then they didn't install for a close clearance installation.

Best of luck with your new stove. It sounds wonderful.

AGE

 

[NewWoodStoveGuy]

Age. Thanks a lot for the insight and the peace of mind. I am going to take it a little slower though.

The clearances for the side door are definetly inadequate, which suprises me because I had it professionally installed. I am going to have to call the dealer on this to make it right because it should be legal.

Thanks again.

 

[begreen]

If corner installed the Jotul manual states that the side door is to be locked shut and not used. That's why I don't have an F500. : (

 

[quinn]

It is my understanding that if there is a door that could be used (even if it is not used) the clearances must be met for that door as if it were used on a regular basis. I do live in Canada and it is possible that our regulations are different than in the US although I would be surprised at this. When installing my 600 I wanted to reduce the mantle size at the front of the stove as I only use the front doors to clean the glass. The installer helping me was adamant that I could not do this simply because the door is there even though it is not used for loading. I wonder about how your insurance company would view this. Also, it seems to me to have a letter from your installer stating that your stove has been installed to code.

 

[jbrown56]

Hi, I have my stove in a corner install and I use my side door exclusively. The two sidewalls are block with brick veneer and extend 8' in each direction from the corner. With the side door wide open, there is four inches between the door and wall giving me about 13" of clearance. The stove itself is 12" off each back corner. Would this install still put me in violation of the code?

Jim

 

[oldAGE]

It is very simple. Open your owners manual and it clearly states the installation limits. for Jbrown56, it seems that he is using a Protected Surface installation and with the appropriate stovepipe, he has great variances in corner installations. I believe 9" from the back corner to the closest wall is the minimal limit so at 12", you are well within spec. Albeit, the "fine print" does state that Alcove and Corner installations should have the left door clipped closed. Quite honestly, I think if you contacted your dealer and Jotul tech support, there is a great difference between alcove and corner installations.

I make the last statement because I believe (coming from memory) that the left door in a straight on install requires 18" of hearth underneath. I would guess (from an educated guess) is the concern of clearance from the opening, and not the door. So, if in a corner installation, if the clearance from the lower left corner of the left door opening (the one closest to the back of the stove) is 18" on a perpendicular line to the closest wall, then you could use the left loading door on unprotected surfaces. I don't know what the distance is for protected surfaces as I don't think they (Jotul) make a distinction for Left Door usage in Corner installs with protected surfaces. Again, I make no claim that this is legit but I would venture to guess that this would be OK. I will stand corrected if someone can tell me I am absolutely wrong.

As for me, I am planning a Plan B if I have to replace my VC Encore and the F500 is my stove of choice and would be trying to place my corner installation so that I could use the door. I have not asked my potential dealer the question above as I am not ready to give up on my VC issues just yet.