Is my mantle getting too hot?

[hareball]

When I'm running my Fisher hard and have splits all around it the hottest I've seen on the IR is 110 °F. The bricks from top of stove up about 6' average 120 °F .

 

[ash bucket]

So I lied in my first post saying the bottom of my mantle is at least 24" from the top of my stove. After measuring, it's 20" to the bottom of the mantle. The heat shield from northern tool will not work on my mantle because it's only 10" deep. My mantle is 13.5" from the brick so I'd have a gap in the back if I got that one. I'm gonna try and make one today at work out of sheet metal. One question...if I run the heat shield through the paint line here at work (ED coat black) it won't give off any harmful stuff if it gets hot will it? The "paint" is baked on in the oven at the end of the paint line anyway. Just wanna make sure it's safe. Hate to create another problem in trying to cure one. Anyway, here's some pictures:

 

[heffergm]

Yikes... Darth Vader would have had that stove if he'd lived long enough to retire to an evil farm somewhere.

 

[Bootlegger]

So I lied in my first post saying the bottom of my mantle is at least 24" from the top of my stove. After measuring, it's 20" to the bottom of the mantle. The heat shield from northern tool will not work on my mantle because it's only 10" deep. My mantle is 13.5" from the brick so I'd have a gap in the back if I got that one. I'm gonna try and make one today at work out of sheet metal. One question...if I run the heat shield through the paint line here at work (ED coat black) it won't give off any harmful stuff if it gets hot will it? The "paint" is baked on in the oven at the end of the paint line anyway. Just wanna make sure it's safe. Hate to create another problem in trying to cure one. Anyway, here's some pictures:

You definitely need the heat shield with that wood. As far as the coating goes, you need to check and see what the temperature the product is tested too. I know if you buy black spray paint at the store it will not work on stove parts, you have to buy the (more expensive) high heat paint. Check with the product manufacturer. The gaps on mine are about one inch plastic spacers. Here's a pic of the gap:

 

[Bootlegger]

Your mantle shield looks really good! This is the first photo I've seen of it. I did see the charred mantle in an earlier thread.

Thanks, it looks good enough I'll leave it up year round. It does catch dust and flaky mortar from the brick wall (another project for another day).

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I used stock 14 in wide aluminum flashing purchased at Home Depot. It is thin and comes coiled up in standard lengths. Mine was a 10 ft roll. Nothing special about that paint. 'Regular' enamel paint will hold up fine. You only need stove paint on an actual stove. That heat shield will get nowhere near as hot as the stove.

My mantle has only a little more than half the spacing you are working with. My heat shield totally solved the problem for me. Yours is an easier case. Just cover the entire bottom, back to the bricks, and avoid any way for heated air to sneak up behind the shield. Bend the shield up in front of the mantle with a bit of a front lip, and your problem will be solved.

There's a photo of mine here. Not real pretty, but very functional.

 

[woodhound]

We just threw a fisher like that in the scrap pile couple weeks ago, thing was in mint shape too. We had a guy that bought a freedom bay insert and when I went to install it I saw something I will never see for a long time. He burned his masonry fireplace so hot he boiled the sap out of mantel and it was 30" above the opening.

 

[tickbitty]

You can buy the screws with ceramic spacers ready to go. These are the same kind that come with the pre-made mantel shield.
(broken link removed to http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5CO-54230)

 

[webbie]

Yeah, I would definitely protect that mantel.......I don't think you will have a problem with any of the paints and coatings at work......the shield is unlikely to hit over 140 or so.

Another option which many use is to install the heat shield so it slips behind the top shield on the insert and then angles outwards and upwards. It would only have to go far enough to cut off the line of sight from the end of the mantle to the stove top....sometimes it even works with a little less since the heat is "thrown" forward.

The Rule of Thumb is pretty good in this case - that if it gets too hot to touch after the stove is in high mode for hours - it is probably too hot.

There are also other concerns with radiant heat inserts...although you don't appear to have that problem. Heat can soak through the masonry right up to mantels or even wood framing in the wall. We recently had such a fire near here caused by an insert. In your case, this is mitigated by the fact that the insert is double wall under the fireplace lintel and also the wall appears to be solid masonry. You would be surprised how many fireplaces have wood in the walls a foot or two above the opening!

 

[ash bucket]

Well look what I installed this weekend. I made this heat shield out of 14 ga. sheet metal. It has about 1-1/4" gap from the mantle. I sprayed it with high temp paint just beacuse. I think it looks ok. Probably will just leave it up all year round. What do ya'll think?

 

[gzecc]

I think it looks good. Can you move it a few inches to the left?

 

[ash bucket]

It's actually centered up on the mantle which is centered to the brick. The stove is what is off-center of the brick and it really annoys me. I was just waiting for someone to notice. Oh well, the stove puts off heat and that's the main thing.

 

[savageactor7]

Well that was pretty fast ash bucket...good job.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Good job. Nice, solid steel spacers you found. You're golden now. ;-)

Downright attractive.

 

[ash bucket]

Yes it is poor camera angle. I apologize. I used 6 couplings that measured right at 1-1/4". One on each corner and two in the middle to ensure an even gap. The front lip is clear of the wood. Here's another: