Jotul F 500 Alcove Install - Sanity Check

[Matt S]

Hi everybody, I just want to throw out my stove design plan and see if I have my ducks in a row. Currently I have a prefab fireplace and plan on ripping that out. In its place I would like to put an alcove with heat shields on the walls and ceiling. The stove in question, the Jotul F 500, has really low protected ceiling clearances according to the manual and I think will work nicely in this space. So here are the pictures of my situation:

(broken image removed)
Above is my "before"

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Above is my "after" design.

I want to lower the hearth and add the heat shields in the alcove. The floor would have brick tile on a concrete slab foundation. The alcove is 48" tall, 46" wide, and 24" deep. The clearance from the stop top to the ceiling is about 19". The heat shields are 1" off the wall and have 1" air gap on top and bottom. The ceiling has 2" air gap all around with 1" gap between stove pipe and shield.

Alcove clearances in manual:
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Does this look all okay and legal?

 

[begreen]

The Oslo is primarily a side loader. Perhaps a front loading stove would work better in this location?

 

[coldkiwi]

Looks alright but I am kinda partial to the existing fireplace...insert won't work for you?

 

[Matt S]

I wish I could find a front loader that would fit! I only have 48" alcove height to work with and the wife really doesn't want the stove way out into the room.

 

[Matt S]

Looks alright but I am kinda partial to the existing fireplace...insert won't work for you?

I can't find an insert that will fit either. The opening of my fireplace is really short: only 18".

 

[coldkiwi]

18inches high?

 

[Matt S]

18inches high?

Yep. Frustrating.

(broken image removed)

 

[coldkiwi]

A friend is in the same situation,probably same fireplace,18 inches is tough.How big is the room with the fireplace?

 

[Matt S]

About 500 sq ft room with 13' vaulted ceiling. Main floor is about 2000 sq ft.

 

[Nick Mystic]

I have a Jotul F 600 that sits out in front of my fireplace on the hearth extension. I have a mantle 22" above the stove that is 10" wide with a heat shield protecting it. When I shoot the heat shield it is often over 200 F and it is sitting out in the room, as opposed to directly on top of the stove. What is going to be above your stove alcove opening? You are going to be having a lot of heat going up there without a doubt and I wonder if a heat shield is going to be able to handle it.

 

[coldkiwi]

I bet the fireplace heats a treat! That's a good sized room, looks like a remodel on the way.

 

[Matt S]

I have a Jotul F 600 that sits out in front of my fireplace on the hearth extension. I have a mantle 22" above the stove that is 10" wide with a heat shield protecting it. When I shoot the heat shield it is often over 200 F and it is sitting out in the room, as opposed to directly on top of the stove. What is going to be above your stove alcove opening? You are going to be having a lot of heat going up there without a doubt and I wonder if a heat shield is going to be able to handle it.

The F 600 looks like it has the same alcove clearance to protected ceiling requirements as the F 500 (15"). I'm just going off the what the manual says for clearances and I'm well within those. So you think the heat would be too much? How hot is the actual mantle the shield is connected to? That would be the real temp to be concerned with.

 

[Nick Mystic]

I'm about ready for a reload and my stove is reading around 300 F. I just shot the heat shield with mi IR thermometer and it was reading 160 F right above the stove. The mantle itself was reading around 115 F over the stove. What is going to be above your stove in the alcove? Your avatar shows the stone face on your fireplace, but is that just a facade or is the entire fireplace and chimney stone? Of course if everything in your fireplace/chimney is masonry like mine there is nothing to worry about. However, if there are any combustibles up above your alcove ceiling (which is the inside of your fireplace as near as I can tell from your description) then I'd do some more thinking before I went too far with the project.

 

[Ashful]

No advice on the clearances, but I have to say I appreciate seeing a fellow geek on the forum. You actually created a 3D model of a Jotul 500! He is worthy.

The stove in a fireplace situation has advantages and disadvantages. I have two such setups, although unlike yours, my block-off plate is up at the 9' level. I find that a LOT of heat goes into the masonry (mine is solid 18" stone all 'round), which both eats up a lot of the heat when trying to warm the place up, and radiates it back after the stove has gone cold. The block-off plate with insulation right at lintel level will do a lot to keep heat kicking out into the living space, rather than going up into the chimney chase.

You will probably want some means of forced circulation, whether it be a blower hiding behind the stove, or a desk fan on the floor across the room pointing cold air at the stove.

 

[Matt S]

No advice on the clearances, but I have to say I appreciate seeing a fellow geek on the forum. You actually created a 3D model of a Jotul 500! He is worthy.

Geeks unite! Although I'm a lazy geek - I found the sketchup models on the web ((broken link removed to http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/cldetails?mid=ebf9875df2f1e543bca2fe03a1804dd2)).

You will probably want some means of forced circulation

I do plan on having a blower behind the stove to push the warm air out of the alcove.

I'm about ready for a reload and my stove is reading around 300 F. I just shot the heat shield with mi IR thermometer and it was reading 160 F right above the stove. The mantle itself was reading around 115 F over the stove. What is going to be above your stove in the alcove? Your avatar shows the stone face on your fireplace, but is that just a facade or is the entire fireplace and chimney stone? Of course if everything in your fireplace/chimney is masonry like mine there is nothing to worry about. However, if there are any combustibles up above your alcove ceiling (which is the inside of your fireplace as near as I can tell from your description) then I'd do some more thinking before I went too far with the project.

The mantle being 115 F seems safe to me - like the heat shield is doing its job. You're correct, the stone is just a 5" veneer. The chase and wall are all stick built which is why I would need all the heat shields.

 

[Nick Mystic]

Yes, in my situation the heat shield is doing its job protecting the mantle that is 22" above the stove. However, I'm not trapping heat with an alcove like you will be doing. I'm not really clear on how the heat shields work in an alcove set up. As I understand it the heat shields all have to maintain a 1" gap around their perimeters in order to allow air to circulate behind the heat shields. In an alcove where you are shielding the three sides and also the ceiling aren't you going to have an exposed gap 1" wide around the ceiling heat shield? If so, then can count on that exposed area of the ceiling getting up to 250 F at a minimum and possibly much higher. I sure wouldn't want any combustibles being exposed to those temperatures. The fan behind the stove will help move out the heat, but what happens when the power goes out. Right when you are likely to be burning the stove at its hottest to warm the house you won't have any fans to move the heat out of the alcove. Quite frankly, I'm a bit surprised that Jotul only requires 15" ceiling clearance in an alcove when there is a heat shield. I looked it up in my manual and see that you are correct, but it surprises me when I look at the temperatures coming off the top of the stove.

 

[Matt S]

(broken image removed)
Just posting an updated design picture. Any more thoughts on safety or the viability of this solution?

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I made sure mine was protected completely.. nothing combustible near the stove, but still able to have the "new stove in an old fireplace" look.. See the link in my sig..

 

[Kosmik]

Make the shelf out of stone/brick?
Could probably make it out of the capstones you're taking out.

I think vertical clearance for horizontal stove pipe is 2'....But stove will be hotter.

 

[tcassavaugh]

are you redoing the fireplace? I couldn't really tell from the second shot you posted but it looked like you were. why not take the fireplace out and just make a brick wall façade and direct connect to a T or elbow? if you are redoing it, why put it back in an alcove to trap the heat? just wondering.

 

[Matt S]

I made sure mine was protected completely.. nothing combustible near the stove, but still able to have the "new stove in an old fireplace" look.. See the link in my sig..

Nice work! I wish I my project could be that "easy" (I know it wasn't easy). My chase isn't brick and I don't want to have to re-do all the stone veneer around b

 

[Matt S]

are you redoing the fireplace? I couldn't really tell from the second shot you posted but it looked like you were. why not take the fireplace out and just make a brick wall façade and direct connect to a T or elbow? if you are redoing it, why put it back in an alcove to trap the heat? just wondering.

Unfortunately my wife does not want the stove "way out in the room"

 

[firefighterjake]

As mentioned . . . this may work if you are able to bring out the stove enough to allow side loading . . . otherwise I would solicit some other options from folks here . . . the Oslo's greatest strength is not in the ability to load in the front . . . in fact, I would wager that most folks own them do the majority of the loading from the side due to the ash spillage.

 

[jotul8e2]

There has been at least one poster on these forums who loads their Oslo from the front, but I would not get much use out of mine if that was the only option. Push the thing out onto the hearth and tell your wife you must have misunderstood.

 

[Ashful]

With nice headroom above the stove, have you considered toploaders, such as the Jotul F 50 TL? I have old Jotul Firelight top-loaders in both of my indoor fireplaces, and despite one (the one in my avatar) being pretty low, I still find it the best way to load. In fact, I probably only open the front doors for the weekly clean-out.