Massachusetts Installation Code

[sb81]

Howdy,

Had some questions on the installation codes of a pellet stove in Massachusetts. The specific question I had was about the 780 CMR Table 6007.11 which seems to be saying there has to be 36 inches of clearance around the appliance! There is an exclusion it seems if you are using Type B or Type L venting material...

Well, I would be using Type L venting material, so does that mean I'm in the clear? And do the requirements in the England installation manual count as "tested, listed clearances to combustibles?"


Also, in a more general question, is there anything I have to watch out for in Mass as far as the codes are concerned, or should I be fine if I follow the Englander installation manual? - http://www.englanderstoves.com/manuals/10-CPM.pdf

Thank you!

 

[jtakeman]

Most installers and inspectors will use the manual from the stove and the specs from the specific pipe you are going to use as the bible. So once you decide on the stove and brand of pipe follow their specs with a shade more clearance as these specs will be minimum clearance allowed. Best to have a bit more clearance for safety sake! Allowing more clearance behind and at the side of the stove also makes it easier to maintain the unit.

 

[Don2222]

X2

Pellet Stoves have much less clearance than Wood Stoves so most code inspectors go by the pellet stove manual

 

[sb81]

Cool, thanks! One part in the manual itself doesn't seem to add up, so I must be reading it wrong...Top of page 8 in the section where it is describing the Ventilation system, it says...

Distance to combustible materials – three feet (3 ft.). This includes adjacent buildings,
fences, protruding parts of the structure, roof overhang, plants and shrubs, etc.

And with this stove, it requires at least 3 feet of vertical rise and says do not exceed 4 feet of horizontal run...

So, what's not adding up to me is if the back of the stove is going to be at least 1 foot away from the inside wall, plus the vent pipe has to go through the 7 inches of external wall, then go at least 3 feet out from the outside wall before it's vertical climb... That's already over a 4 foot horizontal run just to get it out in the most direct path... this is not even accounting for the 45 degree elbow I want due to the corner install.

So, I guess I must be reading something wrong, and the vent pipe does not need to be 3 feet away from my vinyl siding?

Thank you

Edit: This section is certainly reassuring -

Through the Wall
To vent the unit through the wall, connect the pipe adapter to the exhaust motor adapter. If the
exhaust adapter is at least eighteen inches (18â€) above ground level, a straight section of corn pipe
can be used to initially pass through the wall (see Illustration 1). Your dealer or our factory should be
able to provide you with a kit that will handle most of this installation, which will include a wall thimble
that will allow the proper clearances through a combustible wall. Once outside the structure, a threeinch (3â€) clearance should be maintained to the outside wall


3 inches instead of 3 feet... but I'm still not sure exactly what the first statement listed above on page 8 is talking about. Would be nice to know the specifics because I would prefer to have it come out of a section of my exterior wall where it meets another section of wall that forms a 90 degree angle. Like a regular corner of a house only inverted.

 

[DexterDay]

Cool, thanks! One part in the manual itself doesn't seem to add up, so I must be reading it wrong...Top of page 8 in the section where it is describing the Ventilation system, it says...

Distance to combustible materials – three feet (3 ft.). This includes adjacent buildings,
fences, protruding parts of the structure, roof overhang, plants and shrubs, etc.

And with this stove, it requires at least 3 feet of vertical rise and says do not exceed 4 feet of horizontal run...

So, what's not adding up to me is if the back of the stove is going to be at least 1 foot away from the inside wall, plus the vent pipe has to go through the 7 inches of external wall, then go at least 3 feet out from the outside wall before it's vertical climb... That's already over a 4 foot horizontal run just to get it out in the most direct path... this is not even accounting for the 45 degree elbow I want due to the corner install.

So, I guess I must be reading something wrong, and the vent pipe does not need to be 3 feet away from my vinyl siding?

Thank you

Edit: This section is certainly reassuring -

Through the Wall
To vent the unit through the wall, connect the pipe adapter to the exhaust motor adapter. If the
exhaust adapter is at least eighteen inches (18â€) above ground level, a straight section of corn pipe
can be used to initially pass through the wall (see Illustration 1). Your dealer or our factory should be
able to provide you with a kit that will handle most of this installation, which will include a wall thimble
that will allow the proper clearances through a combustible wall. Once outside the structure, a threeinch (3â€) clearance should be maintained to the outside wall


3 inches instead of 3 feet... but I'm still not sure exactly what the first statement listed above on page 8 is talking about. Would be nice to know the specifics because I would prefer to have it come out of a section of my exterior wall where it meets another section of wall that forms a 90 degree angle. Like a regular corner of a house only inverted.

3" (Inches) is a good standard. But there is some Venting out there (Simpson Dura-Vent Pellet Vent Pro) that only has a 1" CTC. the 3' (Feet) is distance from windows, doorways, shrubs, etc. you should have about 2 ft of Horizontal or Less. Depending on your install and if you want the pipe inside. Matters on whether or not you run the horizontal straight out of the stove and run the Vertical outside. Or Run the Vertical Inside and then shoot it outside.Sounds like you will be going with the pipe inside because of your 45* comment. Can you post any pics? Pics are worth 1,000 words. Can get much more help.

Should look like this link. http://www.hardwarestore.com/pop-print/larger-image.aspx?prodNo=67348&multiple=1

 

[Wachusett]

sb81,

Welcome to the Forum. I had similar concerns last year when I installed my stove. My local Inspectors, Building and Fire both said to follow the manufacturers installation manual. Also Per the code the table 6007.11 has footnotes. See footnote 1, for reduced clearance requirements. This will refer to the text 6007.11 which states "Solid fuel-burning appliances shall be installed in accordance with manufacturers tested, listed clearances". I believe those clearances are listed if you do not have supporting documnetation for your stove.

 

[imacman]

Distance to combustible materials – three feet (3 ft.). This includes adjacent buildings,
fences, protruding parts of the structure, roof overhang, plants and shrubs, etc.

And with this stove, it requires at least 3 feet of vertical rise and says do not exceed 4 feet of horizontal run...

So, what's not adding up to me is if the back of the stove is going to be at least 1 foot away from the inside wall, plus the vent pipe has to go through the 7 inches of external wall, then go at least 3 feet out from the outside wall before it's vertical climb... That's already over a 4 foot horizontal run just to get it out in the most direct path... this is not even accounting for the 45 degree elbow I want due to the corner install.

So, I guess I must be reading something wrong, and the vent pipe does not need to be 3 feet away from my vinyl siding?

Thank you.......

3 inches instead of 3 feet... but I'm still not sure exactly what the first statement listed above on page 8 is talking about. Would be nice to know the specifics because I would prefer to have it come out of a section of my exterior wall where it meets another section of wall that forms a 90 degree angle. Like a regular corner of a house only inverted.

I have the same stove, the 10-cpm.

The 3' clearance is talking about the termination (cap) where the hot exhaust actually comes out....it can't be within 3' of things that will burn (bushes, neighbors house, shed, etc, etc). That does not include YOUR house, since the end will be facing away from it. Therefore, you do NOT need to have 3' between your siding and the vertical pipe (unless there is another part of a wall of your house that protrudes near the termination.....THEN the 3' distance should be followed).

Many of the exhaust system "kits" you can buy have pipe hangers for the vertical pipe, and I think they only have about 3" clearance.

As the owners manual states, follow the installation instruction that come w/ the pipe.....Englander's are just general guidelines.

 

[sb81]

Thank you for the feedback guys, Dexter, that is the setup I'm going to go with although the first pipe from the stove will be a 45 degree elbow because I'm doing a corner install.

That's for the clarification Wachusett and imacman.

 

[sb81]

Hello, additional question about the installation, I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, go ahead, but just wanted to be absolutely sure... I have a Simpson Dura-vent kit to do a through the wall installation that comes with the Wall Thimble. Now once the thimble is installed, I can use insulation in the wall, on the outside of the thimble, and it is okay if the insulation is against the outside of the thimble as long as the only thing inside the thimble is vent pipe and air, correct?

Also, are you suppose to seal the two thimble pieces together with silicone?

Thank you!

 

[DexterDay]

Hello, additional question about the installation, I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, go ahead, but just wanted to be absolutely sure... I have a Simpson Dura-vent kit to do a through the wall installation that comes with the Wall Thimble. Now once the thimble is installed, I can use insulation in the wall, on the outside of the thimble, and it is okay if the insulation is against the outside of the thimble as long as the only thing inside the thimble is vent pipe and air, correct?

Also, are you suppose to seal the two thimble pieces together with silicone?

Thank you!

Yes.. Insulation can touch.... And the only place I would silicone, is the inside and outside of the Thimble, around vent (Around the pellet vent pipe/small gap from from thimble)

 

[sb81]

Great thank you! Next question... this time with pics!

Made my own hearth 48x40 but its looking a little small since its a corner install on a rectangular hearth.

Do the attached pics scream inspection failure? At least on the right side I can add another row of bricks but how does the left side look? Its just over 4.5 inches from the corner of the stove which is within the install doc I believe.

Thank you very much!

 

[GrahamInVa]

Per the englander manual the floor protection must extend 4.5" from the corners on a corner install. 6" past the front and rear

The inspectior will most likely request your stove and pipe docs to see what the clearances are supposed to be.

 

[sb81]

Thank you, will just have to add another row of bricks. I got the venting installed and fired the stove up for the first time today.

Not much experience with pellet stoves, but how should the flame behave on an Englander 10-cpm?

I'm doing the burn in at 5-5 and the bottom settings were set at 1-1-1 from the "re-manufactured factory" basically the flame is dancing a lot, not really producing visible smoke out of the exhaust which seems good, however the flame height fluctuates from barely coming out of the burn pot to about 8-10 inches or halfway up the glass.

Seems to be putting out some good heat, but I figured the flame would be bigger?

Just curious how a healthy flame should look... I did change the first two bottom settings ranging from 1 to 5 leaving the TOA at 1 but haven't seen much difference.

I have attached a pic, it gets a little higher than this but not much. I should also say, when first firing it up, it took a while to really get going, so pellets really piled up and once they got going, the fire was blazing really well, but once it caught up, the fire died down quite a bit. So... maybe my air flow is fine and I just need to up the fuel feed. OAK is being used and is seems to be sucking well. Makes sucking noises when you restrict airflow with your hand or paper, etc.

Thank you

Edit: I take back the bottom buttons not having much impact... 5 - 2 - 1 produces much larger flames, so I guess just takes some tweaking to find the best comfort | fuel burn level.

 

[slls]

Simpson installation manual states on page 6 para 4 B, the thimble opening is to be framed per table 1.
So there is suppose to an air space between the outer thimble tube and wood frame.