New Guy Installing Harman XXV seeking advice

[TedNH]

Howdy y'all!

My name is Ted and I am from Surry NH.
I have a 2500 sq/ft open concept home that I am going to attempt to heat this winter with a Harman XXV.
I have the stove in my garage ready to go in and 5 tons of pellets on the way.

I have some need of advice.
I have hardwood floors in my home. Brazilian Cherry to be exact. I would like to fabricate my own hearth pad. I have had several people tell me different ways to go about doing this. Some tell me cement backer board, some tell me about his new orange rubber stuff that I would just put on plywood and then tile over that. Anyone have any good advice?

thanks!

 

[fletchtb]

I just tiled my dining room this summer (220 sq ft) in preparation for installing my pellet stove there. Basically, I created one giant hearthpad.

The orange plastic underlayment is very expensive. I believe it was $50 or $60 for a roll that was about 55 sq ft at Home Depot.. A 4 x 8 sheet of 1/4 inch cement board is less than $10 a sheet.

The orange plastic underlayment is great for a lot of applications, because it is very thin and offers the most flexibilty without tiles cracking, but I think it would melt if exposed to high temperature.

I would go with the cement board for your hearthpad. The height of the cement board is probably not a factor for you. The price of cement board is certainly a benefit considering the area you will be tiling. There is very little concern that the tiles will shift.

I'm pretty sure others in the forum would insist on the cement board due to that product's tolerance for high heat and exposure to open flames.

I hope that helps.

 

[TedNH]

Thanks Fletch,

I figured this was the case.
My local HD only has cement board in 3'x5' sheets and I need a 4' square piece. I will have to look around a little more.

 

[fletchtb]

you're right about the 3x5 sheets. I must have been thinking plywood. I know they do make 4x8 sheets, but I have never seen them at HD. The price of less than $10 per sheet was for a 3x5.

I used the Hardibacker board from HD. It is very easy to cut, and with two sheets you could achieve 4x4 or even go bigger. If you use multiple sheets of cementboard/harbibacker you will want to fill the seam with thinset and tape the seam with fiberglass tape similar to what you would do with drywall.

 

[TedNH]

Im going to try to local lumber yards to see if it comes in 4x8 sheets. I will be worth it to me to not have to tape and mud it.

 

[Marty]

Im going to try to local lumber yards to see if it comes in 4x8 sheets. I will be worth it to me to not have to tape and mud it.

You will have to morter it when you tile though so a little tape might not be too bad if finding the 4x8 turns into a hassel.

Good luck.

 

[brian_in_idaho]

My local HD has it in the 3 x 5 sheets back in the tile/flooring area, but in the lumber area they have it in the 4 x 8 ones, I just noticed it last weekend. Might be worth a look at yours. BTW, you might want to go on the search and destroy mission there on your own, I haven't found HD employees to know where much is. You might want help with one of those though!

Bri

 

[wg_bent]

Does the hearth pad for a pellet stove need to be just fireproof or does it need to insulate the wood floor from the heat of the pellet stove?

If an insulation layer is required, a layer of micore (I still don't know where to get that stuff!) would be needed or some other insulating board. Or the cement board could have air space under it. Interesting build concept, but that's basically how my hearth is constructed, so I know it's possible.

 

[BrotherBart]

Does the hearth pad for a pellet stove need to be just fireproof or does it need to insulate the wood floor from the heat of the pellet stove?

If an insulation layer is required, a layer of micore (I still don't know where to get that stuff!) would be needed or some other insulating board. Or the cement board could have air space under it. Interesting build concept, but that's basically how my hearth is constructed, so I know it's possible.

Micore is used in a lot of office cubicle modules so your local landfill is probably full of it. It is a good sound insulator. Fabric covered tackboards are usually made of 1/2 inch micore also.

 

[HarryBack]

might be wrong here, but with the XXV what you are attempting is to make your floor non-flammable. With the XXV, a legged unit, thermal conductivity of the floorpad isnt a huge issue. You likely wont find 4x8 sheets of cementboard....how about a piece of plywood, cut and attatch the cementboard on top of it, tile it and edge it? Its gonna be one heavy board, but once its in place, you arent gonna be moving it anyways!

 

[TedNH]

might be wrong here, but with the XXV what you are attempting is to make your floor non-flammable. With the XXV, a legged unit, thermal conductivity of the floorpad isnt a huge issue. You likely wont find 4x8 sheets of cementboard....how about a piece of plywood, cut and attatch the cementboard on top of it, tile it and edge it? Its gonna be one heavy board, but once its in place, you arent gonna be moving it anyways!

Thats probably what I will do.

Im still amazed at what little venting I need to do!

 

[moog5]

My XXV is sitting on brick. I don't recall the brick directly underneath the unit getting much warmer than anyother place in the room. I wouldn't worry about insulation to protect the wood flooring, just an a noncombustible surface per the manual. As I recall, the only surface that gets too hot to touch on the whole stove is the glass, and maybe portions of the door a few inches around the glass

With your wood floors, your greatest concern should be how you cart the beast to it's final resting place without scratching your floors.

 

[TedNH]

I spoke with the dealerthat I got the stove from.
He said just some 1/2 plywood with the slate tiles on top will be more than enough to protect the floor.

I will have 2-3 big friends help me move the stove into place.