Polypropylene furniture and wood stoves

[holg]

So I bought a new sofa which will live next to my Heritage wood stove. The side of the sofa that is closest to the wood stove is the closed side, not the side I feed the wood from. Hearth size and distance to combustibles are all well above minimum. I always had a winter and summer position for the old sofa, further from the stove in the winter. The old sofa was 30 years old, so I presume it was a cotton blend, but don't know for sure. The new one is polypropylene and a little longer than the old one. With the stove keeping me toasty, and using my heat gun, the nearest point of the sofa gets to the following temperatures: at 44 inches, 92 degrees; at 37 inches, 104. If I move the sofa to 29 inches from the stove, where it looks better, the temperature gets to 116 degrees. (These temperatures are the outside of the arm of the sofa, not where anyone is sitting.) Heritage manual says 17 inches from side to combustibles, but I like a bigger safety cushion than that and typically have kept it 36 inches away or greater. Has anyone had any discoloring or damage occur with a polypropylene piece of furniture to close to a wood stove? Thanks

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Polypropylene is not very flammable, but has a melting point around 320 F. Exposed to temperatures higher than 100F for longer times will cause discoloration and eventually change the structure somewhat, it will make the PP softer to the touch. My advice, keep it way from direct heat as much as possible. It will last a lot longer.

 

[jetsam]

It's funny that we should have an actual petroleum engineer on hand to answer that specific question, but it turns out that we did!

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

It's funny that we should have an actual petroleum engineer on hand to answer that specific question, but it turns out that we did!

Petroleum Chemist, not an engineer.

 

[holg]

It's funny that we should have an actual petroleum engineer on hand to answer that specific question, but it turns out that we did!

Petroleum Chemist, not an engineer.

Wow. I have always found this forum to be a place where the collective wisdom of the group has been able to provide for a sharing of knowledgeable information, but I was a little blown away to be able to receive a reply to my post from a petroleum chemist. Jan, thanks for the information, and until I come up with some other solution, I have moved my sofa further away from the stove, to it's summer position.

 

[jetsam]

Petroleum Chemist, not an engineer.

What's the difference? I could explain the difference between a chemist and an engineer, but I don't know what the distinction is once you put "petroleum" in front. Wouldn't someone who engineers petroleum products necessarily be a chemist?

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

I am an analytical chemist (lab analysis) specialized in petroleum. An engineer is involved in the production process.