Wood Stove Installation
One of the greatest pleasures of any home, especially when temperatures drop is a wood burning stove or fireplace. Not only are they beautiful to look at as the fire burns and crackles, they could be in brick or masonry and with the addition of some accessories, they can be a centerpiece of any home.
Wood stoves have been around forever and although their designs have changed quite a bit over the years. If you imagine them looking pot-bellied or the old hillbilly Franklin stoves, you’d be in for a surprise, now many of them have quite modern designs. You’ll find some that are fabulously designed with custom doors or accessories like steamers or fans as well as coming in a variety of materials. Its easy now to even customize prefect wood burning stove for almost any home.
To get the maximum benefit from your new stove then you need to take the time and read over the following tips. Its essential that wood stoves are installed properly and safely. You the model you choose usually comes with an instruction manual to help you with the installation process.
Wood stove installation can be a complicated process and should be done with care, using a professional to install your new wood stove is highly recommended. Safety is number one and a wood stove is very safe when correctly installed. However, if you feel capable of wood stove installation yourself there are several important factors you need to take into.
Location is very important, not only for optimized heating efficiency but for safety as well. Placing a wood stove on any flooring that is flammable like wood is a no no. There are appropriate surfaces for the wood stoves however, such as ceramic tiles, marble, concrete and slate, these are more than suitable as they won’t catch fire very easily making your home safer. There are not only safety restrictions on the flooring to be considered, but also the area the base covers as well. A wood stove base should cover about 8 inches around wood stove with around 18 inches in front of doors to reduce chances of surrounding flooring catching fire.There are safety precautions that can be taken with the walls around the wood stove as well. Again having 12 inch gaps or more should left around the wood stove installation. For even more protection some non-combustible wall protection should be used as well as a rear heating shield. Protecting the walls is vital as any flammable material within close proximity of a wood stove is a danger and fire hazard.
Chimney’s and stove piping connections (part of wood stove installation) is yet another task in the wood stove installation and one that needs to be done carefully. The chimney is what directs the harmful and unwanted smoke out the house. When installing the stove pipe it should be kept at least 18 inches from anything flammable. To be on the safer side, protect the stove piping with a heat shield to reduce the chances of fires. The chimney should also be at least 3 feet above the roof’s surface, but taller is even better. There is one more thing to remember with wood stove pipes and the chimneys, there are several types with several different protection needs so understand what you are dealing with before starting the installation process.
Wood stove installation demanding, complicated and time consuming. If you’re really not sure of what you’re doing its best to call a professional.