Oxbow16 Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 Hi all We're looking to have a wood stove installed. It will go into the corner of a room, at 45 degrees to the walls. Both walls are external, cavity, with plastered block / brick on the inside. One installer has said so long as the two back corners are 100mm minimum from the walls, there won't be a problem with blowing the plaster. But another has said it is best to follow the stove guidelines for distances to combustibles (even though the wall isn't combustible; but to prevent blowing) - which in our case would be 400mm. Quite a difference! Would anyone mind sharing your thoughts on which sounds most realistic? Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 As long as the plaster and blockwork isn’t green then 100mm should be more than enough. I’ve used breeze and concrete blocks as heat protection from fierce gas/air flames without problem so 100mm to a stove is nothing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxbow16 Posted July 31, 2023 Author Share Posted July 31, 2023 Hi "Green" as in new? No, if that's what you mean. It's 20+ years old. In terms of using breeze and concrete blocks as heat protection... I think the concern is more with plaster blowing than major damage to the blocks... Many thanks for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 41 minutes ago, Oxbow16 said: Hi "Green" as in new? No, if that's what you mean. It's 20+ years old. In terms of using breeze and concrete blocks as heat protection... I think the concern is more with plaster blowing than major damage to the blocks... Many thanks for your help Hi, yes I was meaning new blockwork or plaster. At that age both will be dry so there is water to expand and ‘blow’ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 Whatever the manufacturer instructions / hetas guides advise 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 Have you chosen your stove yet? some like the one we bought can be fitted just 100mm from combustible materials and ours is just over 1oomm from plasterboard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamieled Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 Quite a few modern stoves are 'convection' type stoves, so, as mentioned above they can be sited closer to walls. Ours is, and irrespective of safety distances you can put your hand pretty close to the stove metal - they don't radiate much heat out the sides/back. More traditional stoves that radiate heat probably can't do this. We have ours around 150mm from fire resistant plasterboard (the pink stuff) with no obvious signs of it popping. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Ambrose Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 (edited) These are the sort of distances you're looking at, both for the 'rules' and for practical safety, but as others have said ... you need to check both the BC rules and those for the stove you're thinking of selecting. This drawing clip is for a Rais Viva 100L: p.s. plasterboard, in these calcs is not a 'combustible', wood for instance is. Edited July 31, 2023 by Alan Ambrose 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxbow16 Posted July 31, 2023 Author Share Posted July 31, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, TonyT said: Whatever the manufacturer instructions / hetas guides advise Not totally certain, but I don't think there is a hetas requirement when it comes to non-combustibles. The manufacturer only "recommends" and says ultimately it is up to the installer. Their recommendation is 150mm, but that's more to ensure adequate air flow around the stove. Seeing as it will be in a corner, even if the back corners of the stove were 100mm away, much of the rest of the stove at the sides and the back would be over 150mm away and kinda compensates perhaps? But again, that's more about air flow than potential damage to plaster. 1 hour ago, ProDave said: Have you chosen your stove yet? some like the one we bought can be fitted just 100mm from combustible materials and ours is just over 1oomm from plasterboard. Yes, well, almost. It's likely to be a Woodwarm Eco Fireview Vintage. Any further thoughts and real life experiences most welcomed Many thanks Edited July 31, 2023 by Oxbow16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 So it goes on fire , burns some of the house down, insurance investigator visits sees stove measures distance to wall and goes happy days not paying out on this one! manufacturers instructions are there for a reason.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxbow16 Posted July 31, 2023 Author Share Posted July 31, 2023 (edited) But that's with regards combustibles. Non-combustibles don't combust! We're lucky in that there's no nearby combustibles. And anyhow, it will be installed and signed off by a HETAS registered fitter. Edited July 31, 2023 by Oxbow16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 4 hours ago, Oxbow16 said: Non-combustibles don't combust! But paint can craze, plaster can crumble, plasterboard can stain. As above, see what the manufacturer says. Some have optional back plates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxbow16 Posted August 1, 2023 Author Share Posted August 1, 2023 (edited) 12 hours ago, saveasteading said: But paint can craze, plaster can crumble, plasterboard can stain. That's why I've made the thread - to try and find out what is a good distance to avoid these things. Not least of all because one installer has said 100mm is ample whilst another has said 400mm. I only made the "Non-combustibles don't combust" comment in response to the point about invalidating a potential insurance claim if the proximity to the wall caused a fire. Just thinking about other options... Aside from the heatshields you can get with some stoves, and the Vitcas type plaster you can apply to the walls instead of gypsum, is there any type of THIN fireboard which you can add to the plastered wall WITHOUT an airgap? Something I could then paint in to be the same colour as the rest of the room and therefore barely noticeable? If so, what's the thinnest available and does anyone have any info or links please? The only thing of this ilk I'm aware of requires an airgap between it and the wall, but hoping there's other options... Many thanks Edited August 1, 2023 by Oxbow16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispy_wafer Posted August 1, 2023 Share Posted August 1, 2023 When I was planning my cassette stove an installer quoted Kemwell board to surround the stove. I haven't done any further research on it so I don't know what can or cant be done with it, but may be a starter for 10... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Ambrose Posted August 1, 2023 Share Posted August 1, 2023 If I was fussed, I could see using cement board or stainless (or even standard) steel sheet, the former (plastered and?) painted the latter powder coated. FWIW I fired up the damn thing to max for a few hours after it was installed and measured the temperatures on all the nearest points - there's 'meets the regs' and there's 'should be safe' - not necessarily the same thing. That also, kept the BCO happy - don't think he had even seen an installer do that before. FYI we used a nest smoke/CO detector rather than one of the crappy battery operated things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxbow16 Posted August 6, 2023 Author Share Posted August 6, 2023 Thanks for all the additional replies, much appreciated. I think once we've decided on our stove (new thread coming up to help with that), I'll speak to the manufacturers about distances to non-combustibles, risk of plaster cracking, minimum distances for good airflow, etc. And I'll discuss it with the installer as well. I'm hoping we won't have to do anything. But if we do I guess my favoured option would be to fix some thin fire rated board to the walls around the stove, and paint them in the same colour as the walls to help disguise them. If that's not sufficient, then perhaps remove the plaster in the necessary areas, get the walls back to brick/block, and then replaster with Vitcas type stuff *OR* use the thin fire rated board, fixed directly to the brick/block. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now