Outlet behind wood stove

[JWE]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and new to wood stoves. I am installing my first wood stove, a Drolet Escape 1800. I'm excited, but also apprehensive because there is a lot to consider. I have been considering how to heat my home with wood for the past few months, and am finally ready to start making it happen. I want to do an corner install for the stove. Drolet says with a corner install the back corner of the stove has to be 7' from the wall. My plan is to remove the drywall on each corner, install cement board, then stone surface. Then, I'll place the stove 7' from the back corners of the stove to the surface of the stone.

My question is, there is an electrical outlet on one of the corner walls. Is there a problem with removing the plug in portion, capping the wires, and leaving the box with the capped wires inside? I want to eventually remove the wire, but may not get to it for awhile. I think since I'll be the recommended distance from combustible surfaces it won't be a problem, but I wanted a second opinion. I've posted a picture for reference. Thank you.

 

[Eman85]

removing the outlet, capping wires and placing a cover on the box will be no prolem, I left my outlet comes in handy for vacuming. Are you covering the heat duct?

 

[JWE]

Thanks for the reply. For the duct, I'm going to duct it from the floor to underneath the hearth, and vent out the side of the hearth.

 

[moresnow]

Nothing says you have to install at the bare minimum listed clearance. Consider scooting the stove further from the walls and save the outlet to run your stove fan. I also lean towards placing the new chimney and initial stove further out giving you future options on different stoves. Perhaps larger etc. Food for thought.

 

[Eman85]

Instead of cutting your drywall out you can space out the cement board leaving an air space behind it. This way your drywall is intact and you can stone over it.

 

[begreen]

Leave the outlet. You may want to add a blower to the stove at some point or plug in a digital thermometer.

 

[begreen]

Instead of cutting your drywall out you can space out the cement board leaving an air space behind it. This way your drywall is intact and you can stone over it.

There's no need for the air space with the clearances being honored. The cement board can go right over the drywall, but then the outlet box will need an extension to accommodate the thickness of the cement board and tile.

@JWE - As long as double-wall stovepipe is used, the 7" clearance is ok. Your plan is ok, but I would keep the electrical outlet. Keep asking questions. Good planning and measuring are key to a proper installation.

 

[JWE]

Thanks all!

 

[whatyousmokin]

I would leave the outlet, especially if you plan to add a fan. We left our drywall, extended the outlet wires,built a return wall, installed OSB, Durock and then installed manufactured stone that included an accessory piece for the outlet. (We did a return wall to add depth and dimension). Our stove is Hearthstone Heritage with 8" spec corner to wall with a rear heat shield. Behind the stove at outlet level it remains comfortably warm when stove is burning

 

[Woodcutter Tom]

Remember to consider the location of your ceiling joists. You need to run the stove pipe/chimney between them if going straight up. Or use 45s and/or 90s to work around joists. Or move joists.
Willing the outlet be above or below the level of your hearth when it is installed? I had to leave a small cut out of my hearth since an outlet was just below the top.
It takes planning to get it all right. Even then I screw up something.

 

[Newbie78]

That receptacle is in a perfect position for a blower. It won't get hot whatsoever down low like that behind the stove. Keep it.

 

[electrathon]

I would leave the outlet, especially if you plan to add a fan. We left our drywall, extended the outlet wires,built a return wall, installed OSB, Durock and then installed manufactured stone that included an accessory piece for the outlet. (We did a return wall to add depth and dimension). Our stove is Hearthstone Heritage with 8" spec corner to wall with a rear heat shield. Behind the stove at outlet level it remains comfortably warm when stove is burning

Hate to say this but what you did is an electrical code violation. All connections must be accessible. If the wires were still covered with the outer Romex insulation AND they were long enough to reach the new box it would be allowed. By lengthening the wires and the building a new wall, you made the original wire connections inaccessible. Connections can and do fail. There is a very valid reason that connections must be someplace that you can remove a cover and repair them.

 

[whatyousmokin]

Hate to say this but what you did is an electrical code violation. All connections must be accessible. If the wires were still covered with the outer Romex insulation AND they were long enough to reach the new box it would be allowed. By lengthening the wires and the building a new wall, you made the original wire connections inaccessible. Connections can and do fail. There is a very valid reason that connections must be someplace that you can remove a cover and repair them.

I'll have to check with our contractor as to the exact details how he did the wiring. He's a stickler for details on doing things right. He's a licensed contractor with over 45 years of experience in the building/remodeling business. He comes from a family of licensed builders and electricians.
ETA: Asked husband about the outlet. He said all connections are still accessible; he was present when contractor did this work.

 

[kennyp2339]

When installing a stove next to combustibles I personally prefer the extra insurance of a wall shield w/ 1" air gap, I once installed a stove in a corner at my place, honoring w/ a +2" extra space, no wall sheild and there were times the wall felt to warm for my liking (like hot to the touch with my hand) ever since then I've talked people out of corner installs (takes a lot of space) and talked people into add the wall shield (vented) house fires are just not worth it.

 

[Eman85]

I would leave the outlet, especially if you plan to add a fan. We left our drywall, extended the outlet wires,built a return wall, installed OSB, Durock and then installed manufactured stone that included an accessory piece for the outlet. (We did a return wall to add depth and dimension). Our stove is Hearthstone Heritage with 8" spec corner to wall with a rear heat shield. Behind the stove at outlet level it remains comfortably warm when stove is burning

View attachment 303632 View attachment 303633 View attachment 303634 View attachment 303635 View attachment 303636 View attachment 303639

I've built my heart similar to this but framed with metal lumber and covered with cement board and rock and I went to the ceiling.

 

[Dan Freeman]

I have an outlet behind my cookstove in the kitchen. I asked my contractor to cap it in the wall and cover it. He said that is against code. (Don't know if it is where you are.) And if I ever had an electrical fire in that room, I might have an insurance problem. He left it and changed the receptacle and wall plate to black which blended in with our slates on the back wall. I don't even notice it now, and it is a convenient plug for the vacuum cleaner. Glad I left it.

 

[begreen]

Yes, I left ours in too and am glad I did it. Over the years I have added a digital thermometer and a battery-operated hand vac plugged in there.

 

[electrathon]

I have an outlet behind my cookstove in the kitchen. I asked my contractor to cap it in the wall and cover it. He said that is against code. (Don't know if it is where you are.) And if I ever had an electrical fire in that room, I might have an insurance problem. He left it and changed the receptacle and wall plate to black which blended in with our slates on the back wall. I don't even notice it now, and it is a convenient plug for the vacuum cleaner. Glad I left it.

In order to remove it you need to replace the wiring so it has no connectors in it between boxes. The often means cutting the drywall a number of feet in each direction. The alternative is to remove the plug and place a outlet box plate over it. That way if the connectors loose connection in the future you can remove the cover and repair it. That is why the example above isn’t legal. The connection to the old box looks to be about 8” behind the newly installed box. Impossible to get at ten years from now. I have had to find a few of these butcheries after they fail. It often requires splitting open walls till you can find the failure. I has found a few over the years that were literally charged from overheating, not inside boxes. It is surprising that the houses didn’t burn.

 

[electrathon]

I'll have to check with our contractor as to the exact details how he did the wiring. He's a stickler for details on doing things right. He's a licensed contractor with over 45 years of experience in the building/remodeling business. He comes from a family of licensed builders and electricians.
ETA: Asked husband about the outlet. He said all connections are still accessible; he was present when contractor did this work.

What I see here : You stated the wires were exteneded, if so there is no way to access the connections, that is not allowed in the code. If the wires were not extended, in the pictures it looks like there was a fair amount of slack, the outer Romex insulation is not on the wires, it must be on the wiring to the point where the Romex enters the relocated box. That definitely is not the case, unless it was properly repaired after the pictures were taken (unlikely). Another code violation. I also see another new cut in box located about a foot to the right of the original box, it can not be there and must be accessible. Not sure what is in the box, but if the electrical box was installed to install electrical wiring, it must be relocated to the surface of the wall, required by code also. These are all in the National Electric Code, or NEC. It is possible you have stricter local codes. The NEC is minimum. I do totally acknowledge, this sort of work is very commonplace, I find it all the time when doing repairs.

 

[whatyousmokin]

What I see here : You stated the wires were exteneded, if so there is no way to access the connections, that is not allowed in the code. If the wires were not extended, in the pictures it looks like there was a fair amount of slack, the outer Romex insulation is not on the wires, it must be on the wiring to the point where the Romex enters the relocated box. That definitely is not the case, unless it was properly repaired after the pictures were taken (unlikely). Another code violation. I also see another new cut in box located about a foot to the right of the original box, it can not be there and must be accessible. Not sure what is in the box, but if the electrical box was installed to install electrical wiring, it must be relocated to the surface of the wall, required by code also. These are all in the National Electric Code, or NEC. It is possible you have stricter local codes. The NEC is minimum. I do totally acknowledge, this sort of work is very commonplace, I find it all the time when doing repairs.

"Extended" was probably not the right word, maybe "relocated" would have been a better word. And my husband did assure me all the connections were still accessible and the contractor absolutely knows what he is doing.. I am not going to lose any sleep over our set-up. ... I am more concerned about random mice getting in behind our walls and chewing through wiring. My car has had its wiring harness chewed up and our tractors have had wires chewed on. We set traps inside our house but until those rodents are caught, you don't know what they're up to behind those walls....But I agree, codes are there for a reason and they should be complied with.
The box to the right of the old outlet is a cover plate for a landline phone plug that was properly disabled and no longer in use.
Found another install photo of the wiring pulled from old box before old outlet removed from the wiring. Looks like it is white Romex--14/2 wiring for 15 amp circuit