# Child proofing your stove



## MacP (Dec 21, 2013)

I have a 8 month old baby and he's getting close to moving himself around. I was just curious what other people use to protect kids from getting too close a pellet stove located in a corner.


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## CladMaster (Dec 21, 2013)

MacP said:


> I have a 8 month old baby and he's getting close to moving himself around. I was just curious what other people use to protect kids from getting too close a pellet stove located in a corner.



One of these made from mild steal used to cage dogs in.






The cage can be dismantled (pins that hold each section) and put where you want to cage off an area with the ends fixed to the wall(s).


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## moey (Dec 21, 2013)

I just put a cheapo $20 fireplace screen in front of it. My stove does not get that hot though except the glass.


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## CladMaster (Dec 21, 2013)

Some fireplace screens are not big enough to go round the hearth pad and leave gaps at the side.

You need to have at least 2 feet of space between the screen and the stove so that you can move around in that space when cleaning or adding fuel.


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## Justin M (Dec 21, 2013)

I use a Kidco hearth gate.
 http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...ptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=m&ref=pd_sl_11kxka56od_b


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## CladMaster (Dec 21, 2013)

Nice !


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## Jack Morrissey (Dec 21, 2013)

moey said:


> I just put a cheapo $20 fireplace screen in front of it. My stove does not get that hot though except the glass.


 x2


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## stoveguy13 (Dec 21, 2013)

I have a kiddco gate around both stoves


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## Jack Morrissey (Dec 21, 2013)

CladMaster said:


> Some fireplace screens are not big enough to go round the hearth pad and leave gaps at the side.
> 
> You need to have at least 2 feet of space between the screen and the stove so that you can move around in that space when cleaning or adding fuel.


 You pick the screen up and move it to clean or add pellets


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## CladMaster (Dec 21, 2013)

Jack Morrissey said:


> You pick the screen up and move it to clean or add pellets



A child can pull a screen over if it's not fixed down in some way.


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## reallyte (Dec 21, 2013)

Jack Morrissey said:


> x2


X3. Worst case my stove isn't hot except glass. Either way I grew up with wood stoves with no gates and good parenting. never had issues.


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## IHATEPROPANE (Dec 21, 2013)

I got my stove just before my daughter was born.  No gate needed.  A few stern don't go near it and I think she understood the dangers.


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## dafattkidd (Dec 21, 2013)

I have a wood burning insert located in a very high traffic area so we felt we needed to have protection that is mounted to the wall.  We have the Kidco Hearthgate.  It's pretty invasive into the room, and I like it much better without it, but it gives us peace of mind.  We need to have the ability to leave our kids in our living room with a 600* stove top.  It's not for everyone, but it has worked out really well for us.


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## bdud (Dec 21, 2013)

We got the Kidco guard after our granddaughter slipped and put her hand on the glass to stop her banging her head.
We still use it all the time when she visits. We also use it sometimes to dry out clothes in front of the stove.


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## Jack Morrissey (Dec 21, 2013)

CladMaster said:


> A child can pull a screen over if it's not fixed down in some way.


 Yea, I know that.  Its there to prevent a child from directly walking into reaching distance of the stove, not going to leave a child there alone, even if we had a fence up


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## Ogilvy (Dec 21, 2013)

Never put a gate around our woodstove, now pellet. We simply told the kids they we not allowed to step on the tile under the stove, and let them know it  if the did.... to this day even as 11 and 9 year olds the still don't step on the tiles and keep their hands away from the stove.


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## dafattkidd (Dec 21, 2013)

bdud said:


> We got the Kidco guard after our granddaughter slipped and put her hand on the glass to stop her banging her head.
> We still use it all the time when she visits. We also use it sometimes to dry out clothes in front of the stove.


This has always been my concern.  Although we are constantly saying, "HOT. NO TOUCH." If the kids get curious they can reach out and touch the stove, burn their finger and never do it again.  But if they're running around like lunatics (which is a norm around here), trip and fall into a blazing hot stove, that can result in a serious injury.  I'm pretty sure the glass can be 1000*.  So the Hearthgate is a welcome compromise.  As I said, it looks better without it, but we live better with it.

*We also love to hang our wet clothes on it after coming in from the snow.  That is an added bonus.


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## TheMightyMoe (Dec 21, 2013)




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## moey (Dec 21, 2013)

CladMaster said:


> A child can pull a screen over if it's not fixed down in some way.



A child can do just about anything left unattended long enough.


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## dafattkidd (Dec 21, 2013)

TheMightyMoe said:


>


The best way to keep your kid safe is to lock 'em in one of these.  Great suggestion.


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## Dgopetactical (Dec 21, 2013)

My granddaughter is 9 months old, she never crawls around not being un- supervised. When she tried to get close to the stove in the past a few corrective words did the trick, she does not go any closer than 5' to the stove now, when she looks at it all she says is HOT HOT HOT and goes about her day. If I had to my "fire room" could be closed off with dog/kiddie gates.


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## Dgopetactical (Dec 21, 2013)

When I was a kid 5 or 6 my grampy had a old potbelly stove that I swear glowed cheery red and made noises, he told me the boogie man lived in it, and guess what? I never went near it!....I'm pushing 50 now and I don't think I would go near it.


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## Dgopetactical (Dec 21, 2013)

Justin M said:


> I use a Kidco hearth gate.
> http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...ptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=m&ref=pd_sl_11kxka56od_b



Even without kids in the house that is a beautiful setup!


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## Lousyweather (Dec 21, 2013)

or what about electric fencing? 

http://www.farmsupplystore.com/gallagher-kid-1-5-joule-energizer.html

just erect a little enclosure, put the kid in, and all your troubles with them getting into stuff are solved!  We put our cows in electric enclosures, and generally speaking, they only touched em once....me, more than that....but I'd wager the electric fence would keep em in line....


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## Dgopetactical (Dec 21, 2013)

I never thought of that, I have an old 110v cattle charger in the barn with 1,000 ft of wire, who needs child gates? I have an old cattle prod too, just can't find batteries for it "that might be wrong" lol.. I took a pee on a charged fence in my drunken teens, I never did it again.

As  you can tell I never wore a helmet either.


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## Lousyweather (Dec 21, 2013)

yea....you don't want the enclosure really big, maybe 3'x3'.....tends to make em not move around so much.....


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## Dgopetactical (Dec 21, 2013)

Lousyweather said:


> yea....you don't want the enclosure really big, maybe 3'x3'.....tends to make em not move around so much.....



Just took a look a my granddaughters port a crib, I think I can rig something to keep her in there till she is 5 lol


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## Lousyweather (Dec 21, 2013)

Dgopetactical said:


> Just took a look a my granddaughters port a crib, I think I can rig something to keep her in there till she is 5 lol



yea, you can buy insulators from the feed store to string the wire on.......I always heard that if you grab someones hand and then grab the wire you wont get shocked by they will- try that out for me....no grandkids here yet....besides, our grandkids wont have the stories to tell THEIR grandkids unless we give em some stuff, will they?

..."Why, when I was your age, they put me in an electric enclosure so I wouldn't get into stuff...you kids these days have it EASY, I tell ya...."


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## Snowmobileaddict (Dec 21, 2013)

Here is how I did mine.   It's a kidco and works great.


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## lbcynya (Dec 21, 2013)

We just got our stove hot as hell and brought them uncomfortably close for a short time while explaining that the stove is really hot and can hurt them. After a little squirming from the heat, problem solved.

Worked for our kids and a few others.


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## Snowmobileaddict (Dec 21, 2013)

lbcynya said:


> We just got our stove hot as hell and brought them uncomfortably close for a short time while explaining that the stove is really hot and can hurt them. After a little squirming from the heat, problem solved.
> 
> Worked for our kids and a few others.



That might work for the resident kiddos, but it was also a big concern of ours to safeguard against the little kiddos that come over to play that aren't in the know.


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## corkman (Dec 21, 2013)

hey Macp.i sent you a pm


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## zrtmatos (Dec 26, 2013)

Snowmobileaddict said:


> Here is how I did mine.   It's a kidco and works great.


So how is that Bosca working for you?


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## Enigma869 (Dec 26, 2013)

IHATEPROPANE said:


> I got my stove just before my daughter was born.  No gate needed.  A few stern don't go near it and I think she understood the dangers.


 
I can relate.  My son (now 7) was only 3 when we started with our pellet stove and my daughter just turned two.  We've never had anything around the stove, and we're very fortunate that my daughters has never gotten anywhere near it.  She'll look at it and say "fire hot", so I think she understands.


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## mikesj (Dec 26, 2013)

I've got a P61 too, and it gets hot as hell. For me there was no question about putting a gate up. I used one from Lowes- a kids playyard or something. It looked like the black kidco ones others have shown, except mine was tan. It was very sturdy when mounted to the walls. Like others have said, we also used ours as a drying rack. 


Last year was my first year without a gate. Believe me, it was nice to take it down and I was able to sell it to a coworker with a fireplace and little kids.


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## saladdin (Dec 26, 2013)

Technically my way is 100% child proof...no kids. SUCKERS!!


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## dafattkidd (Dec 27, 2013)

saladdin said:


> Technically my way is 100% child proof...no kids. SUCKERS!!


 ??? What??? Hahaha. That's hilarious.


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## tsmith (Dec 27, 2013)

When we first had our 3 children, we were burning a coal stove, those cast iron bodies get real hot. All we did was tell them to stay away and enforce it. If they did test us, they only touched it once and never again. We have never had any problems. My wife also baby sat several kids during the day and none of them ever got near it  either. Gotta enforce what you want the kids to do.


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## BigJohnfromCT (Dec 27, 2013)

We have a two year and a three year old grand sons that are into everything. When they come to visit I bite the bullet and shut the stove down and fire up the propane furnace. By the time you buy "fences" to put around the stove and deploy them and take them down to store, to me, it's just easier to turn up the thermostat.


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## toddnic (Dec 27, 2013)

Justin M said:


> I use a Kidco hearth gate.
> http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=kidco hearthgate&tag=hydsma-20&index=aps&hvadid=40474825554&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4087474491074468896&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=m&ref=pd_sl_11kxka56od_b



Not a bad setup for $133.  My kids are all older but I may have to get this at some point in the future when there are grandkids.


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## MacP (Jan 2, 2014)

Thank you again for all your input. It was extremely helpful. I was going to order the kidco one, but I found this one at 50% off.  I hope it's just as good.

http://www.amazon.com/North-States-..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1W0H2Z6WYW3HVAA58VRS


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## Marsha Cook (Jan 2, 2014)

Cannot help but relate this fact. I have a blind dog who had to learn the layout of the new home after moving. He only touched the stove once. Since that one touch,he has stayed clear.


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## mikesj (Jan 2, 2014)

That looks like a way nicer version of what I had. It should serve you well. I have thick baseboards, so I had to cut out spacers for my top mounts to make it fit correctly, but it was no big deal. 

As someone who has taken a toddler to the doctor for a burn (not pellet stove related) it's not worth the risk.


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## Snowmobileaddict (Jan 3, 2014)

The kidco gate is really adaptable,  the bottom mounts slide up and down to accommodate any baseboard height.  Plus there are quick releases so it pops right off the wall without having to remove any screws.


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## Snowmobileaddict (Jan 3, 2014)

zrtmatos said:


> So how is that Bosca working for you?



My bosca has been great.  No problems, burns almost any pellet and even though they are without a distributor right now most all critical parts can be sourced through generic industrial substitutes.


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## BradH70 (Jan 3, 2014)

I have the kidco gate around the stove downstairs. This has two purposes, to protect them from the hot stove and the raised brick hearth. My kids are 1 1/2 and 4 1/2 and they get to running running around pretty crazy some times. My brother fell against a brick hearth when he was about 3 years old and hit his head and it was not good.

The Castile that I have in the upstairs bonus room is open, and just like others posters, I have enforced the "No Touch" with the 1 1/2 year old with good success. The kids don't play in this room unattended either.


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## Lake Girl (Jan 4, 2014)

My oldest daughter's first word was HOT!  We had a valley comfort wood stove - Don't think they had anything like the kidco gate 23 years ago.


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## Bioburner (Jan 4, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> My oldest daughter's first word was HOT!  We had a valley comfort wood stove - Don't think they had anything like the kidco gate 23 years ago.


They had stair guards etc. Aunt had a day care and got pretty creative with them. Reminds me of free range chickens with the low portable panels. Hmm dinner plans, chicken dumpling soup.


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## 65fl (Jan 4, 2014)

Teaching a child something is hot is good and all, but accidents happen. Kids trip all the time, they are constantly growing so everyday is like they have a new body to learn how to control. If you have a blazing hot stove and children are near it you should really consider a solution like the original poster found. My niece was 2 when she fell into a wood stove at a babysitters and put out her hands to catch herself. I wasn't there when  it happened but was at the hospital for the aftermath. 3rd degree burns on both hands is a whole lot of pain for a child to endure not to mention all the skin grafts she had to have as she grew. She is a 28 year old young women now with horribly scared hands not to mention the scars on her back where they harvested the skin for the grafts.


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## MacP (Jan 4, 2014)

65fl said:


> Teaching a child something is hot is good and all, but accidents happen. Kids trip all the time, they are constantly growing so everyday is like they have a new body to learn how to control. If you have a blazing hot stove and children are near it you should really consider a solution like the original poster found. My niece was 2 when she fell into a wood stove at a babysitters and put out her hands to catch herself. I wasn't there when  it happened but was at the hospital for the aftermath. 3rd degree burns on both hands is a whole lot of pain for a child to endure not to mention all the skin grafts she had to have as she grew. She is a 28 year old young women now with horribly scared hands not to mention the scars on her back where they harvested the skin for the grafts.



 that's awful. I'm glad I decided to go with the gate. The gate I ended up getting is backordered. Hopefully it gets here soon. He's only doing the military crawl right now.


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## Lake Girl (Jan 4, 2014)

I wasn't saying not to get a kidco or similar device but just that they weren't around or thought of at the time...  The valley comfort also had protection from direct contact with the firebox.


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## Oregon aloha (Jan 4, 2014)

When my grandson was less then a year old we told him the wood stove was HOT and he stayed away. That was a year ago. Last week he was here and I went to put wood in the fire and he said "Papa HOT". 5 grand kids have visited and stayed in our home the last 6 years and not a one has ever needed anything other then correction to stay away from the wood stove. Now, when they become teenagers, as we have raised 3 boys, and they roughhouse in the stove room you then can begin to worry.


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