Wife thinks she wants a fireplace mantel?

[Itsals1]

We currently have a Jotul Oslo F500 which is a great stove, we have never had any issues ever. The question I have is the wife really wants a mantel, AKA fireplace. We recently looked at Tulikivi soapstone heaters, which we both really did like. (we have soapstone countertops) The problem is the cost vs heat output, they quoted us around $15-$18 thousand!
That being said I have been looking at Woodstock Progress as it is soapstone but at roughly $3700.00 much more cost effective, but no mantel.
I also stopped and looked at a RSF Opel which was very nice has a mantel and long burn times, but has a noisy fan in order to extract the heat, along with shorter wood requirements and no ash pan.
Then along with reading various threads on here, I was thinking about BK chinok 30, which seems to have fantastic burn times, happy customers/reviews.
I totally understand the wife wanting the fireplace look, but I want a quality heater as that is more important than hanging Christmas stockings off of.
Please give me some ideas and options on the Tulikivi heater vs RSF Opel vs a stove.
One more thing, I tried to see if I could just add a stove veneer behind our stove and mantel, but thats not a option. Thanks!

 

[Simonkenton]

I have a mantel on my fireplace, it is hand-hewn of oak, measures 4 inch by 10 inch. Looks great! Do it just like this the wife will be happy.

 

[venator260]

I had the same issue with my wife wanting a mantel. We went with the zc fireplace in my signature with a Mangra Hearth mantel (had to be non combustible) and we are both pleased. All told, we had about 7,000 to 8,000 dollars into it.

 

[Itsals1]

Thanks, any opinion on changing out our Oslo and replacing it with a Tulikivi or a RSF Opel? I'm wanting a heating unit, weather it's a fireplace or a stove. My thought process is it needs to heat as well as it looks.

 

[begreen]

The RSF is a good heater and will be much easier and probably less costly to install. Also, the Tulikivi will be slower to warm up and to cool down. This is good in the winter, but a bit harder to manage in the shoulder seasons. So if you fire the masonry stove up at 6am and then the sun comes out strongly, you may be opening windows by noon. Also the Tulikivi is very heavy so check if there is the support infrastructure for such a load and if not what it would take and cost to build this.

 

[Zack R]

Build a mantel for the wood stove you already have... Might have to push the stove further out to hide the pipe behind the brick but it seems doable and will be a lot less than the prices you are being quoted.

Here's my little one and the dog enjoying a winter's day nap in front of the stove. The mantel is actually hollow and easy to remove if needed but is far enough above to meet the clearance requirements. I don't have a heat shield on there yet but will likely put one on in the future since it gets pretty warm.

 

[begreen]

Can you post a picture of the stove in question along with the wall behind it where a mantel might go?

Do you have two stoves?

 

[Itsals1]

This is our current hearth and stove.
We only have one stove, 1400 square foot ranch house with basement.

 

[begreen]

Ah, I think it was your cabin stove pic I was thinking of. Personally I think a mantel would look a bit odd behind the stove in this setup unless there was a tile wall under it connecting with the hearth. If this is the plan then attention must be paid to clearances from the stove pipe.

Curious why the bias for the hearth is to the right when the load door is on the left?
Ya know that wood in the copper boiler is too close to the stove, right? The look is nice but the clearances are not.

 

[Cast Iron]

At least I am not the only one with The Wife Syndrome !
One has to do what one has to do.....

 

[Itsals1]

Ah, I think it was your cabin stove pic I was thinking of. Personally I think a mantel would look a bit odd behind the stove in this setup unless there was a tile wall under it connecting with the hearth. If this is the plan then attention must be paid to clearances from the stove pipe.

Curious why the bias for the hearth is to the right when the load door is on the left?
Ya know that wood in the copper boiler is too close to the stove, right? The look is nice but the clearances are not.

We have the boiler to the right side of the hearth do to the Jotul only has left and front loading doors. You will also note that our kitchen and dining room arch way is within 15" of our hearth on the left side, Not storing wood in the dining room/kitchen area!
As for the copper boiler being to close to the stove, you may be correct in Washington state, but we went over these clearances before our Jotul was installed. A good friend of mine (He installs for a hearth shop for a living) overseen and helped me plan our hearth and stove and pipe placement to make sure that our clearances were beyond the manufacturers minimum requirements. Double wall pipe, Jotol heat shields and double the requirements of the hearth base, along with oversized hearth requirements to the left, right, and front areas. The day the insurance company inspectors looked at it, they mentioned that because the boiler is non combustible, I.E. Not wood it was fine.
I would be more concerned with the this if we did not go through all the experts that say it is ok.

 

[edyit]

they mentioned that because the boiler is non combustible

you are correct the boiler is non combustible and is fine where it is, until you put wood in it. then you have combustibles that are closer than clearances allowed.

 

[begreen]

Most important is the 18" required hearth width on the side and front door sides. The right side clearance is 14" to combustibles. Wood splits in this case being the combustibles. I'm going to assume that the splits in the boiler are used daily and not for show. If so, there is a lower chance of pyrolysis, but if there was a stove related insurance issue, this would be a point brought up during inspection.

But this is not why you posted the picture. What are some ideas you have for the mantel? Have you thought about a stone mantel cap on a complimenting tile back wall?

 

[jetsam]

Definition of mantel
1 a : a beam, stone, or arch serving as a lintel to support the masonry above a fireplace
b : the finish around a fireplace
2 : a shelf above a fireplace


I guess she also wants you to install a fireplace?

 

[begreen]

Another definition is a shelf from which to place knicknacks and hang stockings from.

 

[jetsam]

Another definition is a shelf from which to place knicknacks and hang stockings from.

Not according to the dictionary. But if she wants that, keep it away from the stove.

 

[Itsals1]

Most likely we we will replace the Oslo with a actual fireplace RSF Opel or Tulikivi because of looks. Any experience and recommendations between them? Thank you all for the safety lessons with the copper boiler, I will have to change our wood storage for next season if we cannot come to a decision on the fireplace/Tulikivi.

 

[byQ]

Some of those Tulikivi's are beautiful. This one would make for nice fire viewing and provide efficiency, too.

 

[begreen]

I have only seen one Tulikivi in a home and it was beautiful. For new construction where a proper supporting foundation can be installed, it can be a nice form of heat. This was in Haines, AK in a new house where the heating season is long and the solar gain for the house was poor. For a retrofit, I would go with a high quality ZC fireplace. Some other reasons already given in post #5.

 

[jetsam]

I dunno how it heats, but that thing looks awesome and has to have serious thermal mass.

 

[Zack R]

How about one of those amish electric fireplace heaters in a spare room.

 

[worktolearn13]

my alderlea t-4 has only a 3" minimum clearance necessary from the back side my mantle is just 4x6

 

[Highbeam]

How are folks attaching the mantles (shelf style) to the wall? I don’t see the typical shelf support brackets or even lag bolts.

 

[worktolearn13]

i hollowed out my beam so i could put a 2x4 on first then attached the beam after i slid it over my 2x4. kind of a pain but eventually it worked out.

 

[begreen]

There are also heavy duty hidden shelf brackets that can work for some mantels.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FL4551S/?tag=hearthamazon-20