Solving 'Mantle too close'

[antlerman]

After much deliberation, my wife and I have decided to install a Hearthstone Homestead wood stove in the fireplace of our "new" home. It is uniquely designed to fit into the space and vents out the back - thereby avoiding the need to remove the hearth to install a 'normal' wood stove that vents vertically when first exiting the stove.

The problem: The stove has a 36" clearance and, once placed on the hearth will be within about 16" of the wood supports holding the mantle in place. Our local installer said we'll have to remove the mantle because that stove was not tested with a shield. We were also told that the mantle would be too close to the wood stove even if we removed the hearth and put the wood stove on the floor - in which case it would then be around 28" from the mantle.

So, any idea(s) on shielding the mantle that could pass the approval of the installer and/or and inspector and, more importantly, keep the mantle a safe distance from the stove?

I asked the installer if we could affix tile or stone to the mantle and he said no, since the heat would pass through the stone and ultimately reach the mantle.

Would affixing concrete backer-board to the mantle and then affixing tile or stone solve the problem of heat transfer?

Ideas please.....

Thanks,
Antlerman

 

[begreen]

The manual allows for NFPA 211 heat shielding. Ask your installer about installing a custom heat shield on 1" standoffs to the bottom of the mantel. The shield could be painted black to make it less visible.

From the manual it looks like with the 4" legs that the mantel clearance is 27" for a 9" deep mantel. 29" for a 12" deep one.

The side brackets may not be an issue if they are 9" from the stove side, (dim D).

 

[sportbikerider78]

My wood stove purchases go like this.

Me: Honey, I'm buying a big stove.
Her: Ok. Just remember our kids have to go to college in 13 years.


I like to turn every job into an excuse to tear everything apart. The wood mantle is beautiful, but a stone one could be equally nice and you wouldn't have to worry about shielding. Looks like you have open beams and tons of wood to look at already. Stone would be a great option.

 

[Bad LP]

I would have a granite and blue stone mantle in place PDQ.

 

[antlerman]

Begreen, thanks for the idea but the wife immediately shot that down.....happy wife, happy life I guess.

So, would concrete backer board affixed, with stone on that,
be sufficient at stopping the heat?

 

[antlerman]

Sportbikerider - I too love to tear things out, but don't know how the mantle is mounted?

 

[begreen]

Begreen, thanks for the idea but the wife immediately shot that down.....happy wife, happy life I guess.

So, would concrete backer board affixed, with stone on that,
be sufficient at stopping the heat?

How could your wife shoot the idea down without knowing what it would look like? A mantle shield done this way can be pretty discrete. Short of replacing the mantel it may be the only option. Attaching backer board and stone would not reduce clearances at all.

 

[antlerman]

Begreen, that's a great question! She said it would be ugly and that was that. However, if I could provide a photo of such a contraption I might have a chance.

Anyone out there have a picture of a heat shield on a mantle?

 

[Rearscreen]

My wood mantle has a heat shield painted black with standoffs and is is totally transparent visually and has a Progress pumping out crap loads of radiant underneath. Not seeing any problem here in your situation. Except for one factor.....

 

[antlerman]

Do you have a picture of your shield? It would be GREATLY appreciated.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

 

[begreen]

I don't have a picture but it would be much less apparent than a stone layer there. Here are two options. The one I am referring to is on the right. Painted black or dark brown, it would hardly be noticeable.

 

[antlerman]

Ahhh, nice! What gage metal will I need to use?

 

[Beer Belly]

Not sure if this helps.....

 

[antlerman]

Not sure if this helps.....

Yes, this is quite helpful. However, I think I'll have to make one that looks like what you have, but also has two sides to it, since the mantle will be quite close to the unit.

Either that, or I can simply make it long enough to go underneath the mantle supports, no?

 

[antlerman]

One other thought: I don't intend to put anything behind the stove itself in hopes of getting the heat that comes off the back to help heat the house/room. My thinking is that a shield behind the unit will simply send that heat up the chimney. My honey says she doesn't mind the space behind it in view, as long as I paint it black so it's not too noticeable.

Is this a bad idea?

 

[begreen]

Ahhh, nice! What gage metal will I need to use?

22ga would work. Here is an unpainted example of what one looks like. It is on 1" ceramic spacers.

 

[begreen]

One other thought: I don't intend to put anything behind the stove itself in hopes of getting the heat that comes off the back to help heat the house/room. My thinking is that a shield behind the unit will simply send that heat up the chimney. My honey says she doesn't mind the space behind it in view, as long as I paint it black so it's not too noticeable.

Is this a bad idea?

No harm in painting the back of the fireplace black. Clean it well first and use a high temp paint. What will be much more important for keeping the heat in the house is installing a damper sealing block-off plate.

 

[Ashful]

Without something there to reflect heat back into the room, any heat that radiates off the back of the stove will just be soaked up by the masonry. If that masonry is connected to the outside, consider it a near-100% loss.

 

[begreen]

Without something there to reflect heat back into the room, any heat that radiates off the back of the stove will just be soaked up by the masonry. If that masonry is connected to the outside, consider it a near-100% loss.

A rear heat shield on the stove should reduce that quite a bit. Not sure if it is an interior or exterior wall fireplace. This looks like a heatform style fireplace so there may be an airgap between the metal and the rear masonry.

 

[antlerman]

There is no rear masonry, it is a metal box of sorts with a damper on top. There was a unit inside the box, with glass doors and a blower, that was basically useless to heat the home without running the blower - which we did not want to do. We want to be able to heat without electricity.

It is not an exterior wall, rather a closet on the left (facing) that is in the bedroom - which backs up this stone wall.

 

[antlerman]

Where can I find 1" ceramic spacers for my heat shield?

 

[Ashful]

Woodman’s or Amazon. Eg. Meeco’s Red Devil 5700 Wall Spacers, on Amazon, includes 10 sets of spacers, screws, and anchors.

 

[antlerman]

Woodman’s or Amazon. Eg. Meeco’s Red Devil 5700 Wall Spacers, on Amazon, includes 10 sets of spacers, screws, and anchors.

Ashful

Excellent! Thank you. Now I need to find someone who can either make me a shield or provide minimum 22 gauge steel so I can make one.

 

[antlerman]

22ga would work. Here is an unpainted example of what one looks like. It is on 1" ceramic spacers.
View attachment 230302

So where can I get some steel like that? I own an 8 ft. metal brake, so I could easily bend it as needed. I'm thinking aluminum used to cap fascia and trim on the exterior of a home is too thin, no?

 

[begreen]

I'd go to a sheetmetal shop and have them cut it.