tight clearance

[Bic1]

My crazy story...previous homeowner took the wood stove from basement when they moved out. I am looking at trying to find one now. My double metal flue in the basement is 6" from the drop ceiling. I was looking at Englander Stoves FP-12 or so. They want 18" clearance. ok sounds like I would have to get a new hole in foundation drilled. Ugh.

I was looking at Vermont Castings (CFM) FW240007. They require 56" from top of unit to ceiling. Their documentation didn't have the unit dimensions, so I called them. The height is 29 9/16" high. I measured my from floor to drop ceiling and this comes to 80". So, 80 - 30 gives me only 50" clearance. This one probably wouldn't work either.

What can I do? Any other stove recommendations?

 

[GVA]

What is the clearance on the other side of that drop ceiling?
If it is 12" then you may be able to remove that somewhat combustible tile and replace it with durock or micore then you would have the clearance, I would think....... ELK ...ETAL what do you think??????



Allright back to pellets for me

 

[njtomatoguy]

http://www.cfmcustomercare.com/elements/uploads/files/Manual_FW240007_EN.pdf

Heres a link to the owners manual so we're all on the same page.

IO have that stove, and I also have vaulted ceilings, so that was not an issue for me.

Other than the link, I'm not able to help much. Maybe post a few pics, then someone here wil come up with an A HA! moment.

ELK? ELK?

 

[Bic1]

What is the clearance on the other side of that drop ceiling?
If it is 12" then you may be able to remove that somewhat combustible tile and replace it with durock or micore then you would have the clearance, I would think....... ELK ...ETAL what do you think??????



Allright back to pellets for me

The other side of the drop ceiling is less than 2" clearance to the stringers (correct terminology?).

I found the hearth.com manufacturer listing and looked at Morsoe. They seem to require less clearance in their 3142 and 3112 models (looking for something modern / not too antique looking).

http://www.morsoe.com/us/Products/Stoves/3100/Model_3112/Morsø+3112.htm

Stove top to Ceiling 33"
Ceiling height from floor 60"

Seems like this would work. But I bet it's much more expensive than the FW240007.

I also noticed my flue pipe is about 2" from the basement wood window trim. Wondering now if that's going to be a problem for the inspector. ugh again. At least the center of the flue is 80" from the left wall. Right wall is well over 80" away.

 

[njtomatoguy]

Any idea what stove they had?

And just because they had a stove there doesn't mean that it was installed properly.

 

[begreen]

What is the size of the space you are trying to heat? And where are you located? This info will help us to come up with a better recommendation.

By the way, do you need to have the stove in the basement? Is that the specific area you want to heat or is the intent to heat the upstairs?

 

[Gooserider]

As mentioned, different stoves have different clearance requirements. There are also ways to greatly reduce the requirements in some circumstances by use of appropriate shielding and construction...

NFPA allows reduction of ceiling clearances if you put up a clearance reduction panel made from non-combustible material spaced 1" off the ceiling on non-combustible spacers. Since some ceiling tiles are fire retardant or non-combustible (some are supposedly made from Micore!), you may not have a problem there. If you do have an issue, as suggested, it may be possible to replace the ceiling tiles w/ some other material. This is definitely an "Elk question.

The connector pipe MIGHT also be a non-problem if you use double wall pipe instead of single wall. Most double wall is rated for 6" clearance (unless the stove manufacturer calls for more). Single wall clearances can be reduced by heat shields on both the pipe and / or the adjacent wall.

The window trim is more of an issue, not sure what to suggest w/o seeing a picture of the setup.

Gooserider

 

[Bic1]

I am in Northern New Jersey. I have about 900 square foot house. Basement is underneath full house.

Here's the area (the backer was ugly yellow brick):

Here's the flue width

Here's flue to ceiling distance:

Here's another concern flue to window / wood trim:

I had a building code guy out today (he doesn't do fire), but did point out a couple things. The chimney itself in the back is probably too close to the vinyl siding I had put up five years ago. Should be at least 1" away. Also, the eaves cannot be touching the chimney:

no caulk near chimney

just a photo of the top (which might need extending):

 

[Bic1]

I guess either way I need to figure out specifically what needs fixing, how it should be fixed and be done with it.

 

[backpack09]

Unfortunately, that chimney looks like it is ALL bad. Clearance to the cieling is no problem for the Class A pipe, but the stovepipe connecting to it will be too close. There should be a box around the pipe going through the pipe to allow 2" of clearance around the class A, there should also be a box around the eaves to allow for 2" of clearance. In general most (all?) class A pipe requires 2" of clearance to combustibles. Also the chimney pipe should extend 2' above the roof within 10' of the chimney, or 3' above the roof if your roof has little to no pitch.

I would recommend starting all over on that one. Some of the Class A may be reused, but it should all be moved to allow the clearances needed.

 

[Gooserider]

Looks to me like your inspector guy is on the right track...

1. What is the material of the wall the pipe is passing through to the outside? If it's concrete, that may not be a problem, if it's something combustible, then it may be a bigger issue.

2. The window trim is borderline - most Class A requires 2" of clearance to combustibles. However I'd be willing to bet you could solve that one by either removing that trim board, or possibly just notching out a radius from the part that's closest.

3. The vinyl siding is a BIG problem, no question about it being WAY to close... Going through the eave the way you are will also make it difficult to move the chimney out. However rather than moving the chimney, what I suspect might be easier is to remove the vinyl siding from under the chimney, which I suspect might give the clearance you need. Possibly if there is other siding under the vinyl that is still to close, you might need to strip down to the sheathing. I would then build an insulated chase AROUND the chimney, being sure to keep adequate clearances on all sides. This would save the headaches of trying to move the chimney out 2" plus give the added bonus of increasing the insulation of the chimney which will make it draft better.

4. Building a chase would also solve some of the problem at the eave as well. You can just cut away that over close soffit trim, and see what exists for a pass through box - you might need to retrofit something, but it seems entirely possible that the right structure exists already under the siding.

5. It is hard to tell from the picture, but I didn't see any obvious trouble with the chimney height - you will need to get up there and measure.... The rule is that the end of the chimney (not counting the cap!) must extend at least 3' above the point where you come through the roof, and be at least 2' above any point within 10 feet of the chimney. Judging by the seam in the pipe, it looks like you have the first part, I can't see enough to tell about the second. Extending is easy in any case.

Bottom line, is that it looks to me like you could solve your outside problems by putting the pipe inside a chase and removing the vinyl next to the pipe, and that your inside problems can be solved for most stoves by use of the appropriate NFPA clearance reduction techniques, and possibly the use of double wall pipe to connect to the existing Class A system.

Gooserider

 

[elkimmeg]

that chimney looks like the air cooled prefab fire place chimney not appropriate for wood stove usage.

I also would be concerned about the drape all here assume 2" clearance to the wood trim but what clearance does one need in the Ul 1700 standard that requires Ul 2100 standard?

canany asy what the clearance should be now that a wood stove is being used?

factoring a 5 pitch on that roof you chimney termination point would have to be 74" above the roof

where do you want to start here the siding issue the sofit /roof issue the height issue the 1700 degree issue

 

[Gooserider]

that chimney looks like the air cooled prefab fire place chimney not appropriate for wood stove usage.

I also would be concerned about the drape all here assume 2" clearance to the wood trim but what clearance does one need in the Ul 1700 standard that requires Ul 2100 standard?

canany asy what the clearance should be now that a wood stove is being used?

factoring a 5 pitch on that roof you chimney termination point would have to be 74" above the roof

where do you want to start here the siding issue the sofit /roof issue the height issue the 1700 degree issue

If you are correct on the type of chimney Elk, I take back my earlier comments - you are better at ID'ing that sort of thing than I am, and I was making my suggestion based on the assumption that it was the appropriate type of Class A pipe. I still think a chase is a good idea, but definitely it needs to have the correct type of pipe inside it.

Gooserider