Wood Burning Stove – Installation Considerations

Many people have found that the wood burning stove not only offers them radiant heat that envelops every corner of their home, it also keeps their heating costs down, and offers them an immediate solution when the electricity goes out. In fact, many people in town are now looking at wood stoves to curb their high heating bills. However, before you go out to buy a wood stove, you should weigh the costs of a wood stove, as well as, what you need to consider before putting that wood stove in your home.

Before I get into the details of what you need to consider when installing a wood stove, you should do a cost analysis of the benefits before purchasing a stove. Here are some immediate points to consider:

1. Access to wood-in many cases tree cutting services offer wood for sale. Thus, you will need to price the cost of the wood versus how you are currently heating your home.

2. Wood splitter- if you are planning to cut your wood yourself, you will need to invest in a wood splitter.

3. Do you want to do this hard work? Why do I ask this? I have found some people go to all the trouble and expense of buying the stove, putting it in their home, and then not using it.

If I have not scared you off yet, let’s get started.

The first notion is to question whether a wood burning stove meets EPA standards. Yes, if the wood stove was made from 1988 and onward the manufacturer must comply with the EPA standards.

According to the EPA Particulate Emissions guidelines, a certified wood stove must limit particulate emissions of 7.5 grams per hour for a non-catalytic wood stove and 4.1 grams per hour for a catalytic wood stove. Therefore, when you go shopping for a wood stove you can usually identify this EPA certification by a temporary paper label attached to the front of the wood stove and a metal label affixed to the backside of the wood stove.

What does the EPA certified wood burning stove offer? For consumers, it offers cleaner and more efficient stoves with lower amounts of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and other organic compounds going into the air. (These pollutants have been known to cause cardiovascular illness and environmental pollution).

This is a two edged sword. Can you have both, efficiency and safety? Of course. In fact, efficiency and safety should work hand-in-hand when you are installing your stove.

As you will soon discover, your wood stove is only as efficient and safe as its installation. Thus, it is important that you install your unit in your home correctly. Let us look at some of those elements.

Venting system

The venting system of your wood stove includes your stovepipe, which leads outside your home, and the chimney, which should rise above the house.

Chimney- the chimney is one of the most important parts of the installation of your unit. If you use the wrong material or try to cut corners, it can result in a fire.

Some assume that you can use stovepipe that goes through a window or a roof. That assumption is wrong and dangerous. With the possible high temperatures that can and do result when burning wood, it can cause a house fire. Here are some elements to consider when building your chimney.

1. As mentioned above, no stovepipe should go through the walls, ceilings, floor or windows.

2. Only use a UL approved chimney

3. The fewer bends the better the draft suction

4. The chimney should be at least 2 feet above anything that is within 10 feet or 3 feet above the peak.

5. Use a cap to prevent birds from entering your wood stove. (I should say, it will keep out most, but not all birds)

6. The chimney should be a Double or Triple Insulated Chimney (which most contractors call HT or High Temperature).

Stove pipe – Stove pipe is black in color and is used from the top of the wood stove until it transitions through the ceiling or wall where it will connect to your chimney pipe. There are two different types of stove pipe that can be used.

• Single -wall stove pipe is used when you have at least 18" from combustibles. However, it does radiate more heat than double wall black stovepipe and it is cheaper.

• Close-clearance stove pipe is a double walled stovepipe with a stainless-steel inner wall and a black painted outer wall. The close-clearance pipe can to be within 6" from combustibles and it does not radiate as much heat as the single wall. It is cooler to the touch.

Are your walls combustible? Let’s first define a combustible wall. A combustible wall is one in which any part of the wall is capable of burning. I am not only talking about the outer structure of the wall, but also, the underlying structure. For example, you may find tile, brick, stone, or metal covering the wall, which is not combustible. However, you also need to know what is under the wall covering as well.

If you find that, the underlying structure contains wood, drywall or insulation, or other combustible materials you may want to investigate the following possible options:

1. Heat shields-heat shields can be attached to the back, sides, and bottom of your stove.

2. Using double or triple wall flue pipe or insulated flue pipe.

Note: Use a meter thermometer to measure the temperatures stove top. In fact, we have one on the stove top and on the higher side of the stove pipe. This will help you to determine the burn temperature, as well as, help you to conserve wood and avoid excess creosote.

The wood stove sits on top of the floor pad and is usually made of brick, concrete or ceramic tile In addition, the floor pad must extend under the entire stove, continuing for 12” past the sides and 18” in front of any loading doors. Its purpose is to help to protect the surrounding area from any stray sparks or embers.

Finally, it is important that you follow both your city code and get input from your insurance company when placing your wood stove in your home. It can save you time and money. Moreover, if you are unsure how to set up your wood stove, it is wise to get the help of a professional.