Hi y’all, I had an idea last night I wanted to see if anyone has tried. I was thinking about affixing a sheet of 24 gauge metal directly to the back of a layer of 1/2 hardiebacker and then tiling over it. My thinking is that this will, in addition to the 1 1/2” of airspace, help protect the wood wall behind it from getting too hot. I had my first fire last night with the sheet of 1/2” hardiebacker just leaned up against the wall, and I kept reaching behind it to feel if the wood was getting hot, and it was a little hotter than I’d like. I realized once it is propped up off the floor the air will circulate a bit better behind it and the tile will help, but I was thinking the metal could be a “cool” solution as well.
Metal backed tiled heat shield?
- Thread starter milesmoony
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The metal won't hurt, but it should not be necessary with an NFPA 211 wall shield if the stove requirements for clearance are proper. What stove is this for and how far is the back of it from the wall?
Pretty sure the clearances are not proper, it’s for a Jotul 602 knockoff, the glo-fire 301. It’s in a tiny living space, which is why I want to do everything possible to make the most protective heat shield. I figure if I can reach behind there, if the wood wall isn’t getting hot, then it will be fine.
OK, that is an unlisted stove. It needs 36" clearance in all directions without a shield. A properly installed NFPA 211 shield will bring that down to 12". The wall shield needs to be on 1" spacers and have a 1" air gap on the bottom and top so that air can convect behind it easily. If you do that you have no worries about it getting too hot on the wall behind the shield. Our 602 was run with a shield for several year and was fine. There is no need for the sheetmetal backer. Actually you could use sheetmetal alone as long as it is properly installed.
Yeah, I’m at 7.5” from the wall which is why I want the extra protection. No room to bump it out 12”
What about adding a half inch air gap between sheet metal and cement board, use some spacers when tacking the sheet metal to the cement board? I’m not worried about it being done to code, just want it to be safe. I live in Washington and work on boats, I’ve rarely if ever seen a stove that meets proper clearance in a house or boat.
No you need 12". I have seen lots of stoves that are far form code as well. And yes many never cause a problem. But some do. Are you willing to bet on which one yours will be? I am not willing to in my house or my customers houses
WA state has some of the stricter code laws for wood stoves. I see plenty of them and most are properly installed. It's your home and you can do what you want, but we are only going to advise what is correct.
Begreen is right. You can do what you want in your house. But if there is ever a problem and you need to make an insurance claim they will care if you followed codes when you installed your stove
Right. I’m a young person and I live in a county with a lack of affordable housing. Most young people I know end up living in tiny houses, cabins, travel trailers, sailboats etc all with wood stoves. I also see a ton of stoves that are no where near code, right next to the wall with no shield, but I’m trying to do the best I can with the amount of space I have. I don’t have insurance and nothing is to code where I live. The way I’ve been looking at it is if I can stick my hand back there and it’s not getting hot then it won’t cause a fire. I posted this thread to see if anyone had experimented with making a heat shield that combined different materials, adding extra air gaps, etc. I realize codes are there for a reason and it would be great if they were always followed but in reality a lot of the time they aren’t, and it would be great if there was info out there to help people who aren’t doing it to code, but still trying to be safe.
Do you realize the liability that would be involved with someone telling people how to "safely" do things against code? Even if I thought what you were proposing was safe (which I don't) as a professional I could absolutely not tell you that.
Sorry, you can experiment on your own. It could be fine as you propose. We have to think not only about your situation but about people that will be reading this thread in the future looking for an example. The F602 is a strongly radiant stove. If one spaces out turning it down the stove can put out an exceptional amount of heat. That is why there are codes. Not for the day to day normals, but for when things go wrong.
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