While I'm not normally very fond of spark screens, using a wood stove in a yurt means that we must use one as we have a vinyl fabric roof. We learned the hard way what can happen with a hot ember on a vinyl fabric roof two summers ago when we were burning some yard waste and the wind shifted and a burning leaf landed on the roof and burned a quarter-sized hole into the fabric before I could reach it with the water hose we had at the ready.....
Anyway, when I put in the wood stove I got a normal china hat from the local home builder supply store, and then made a spark screen with galvanized 1/4" mesh wire. It's been working just fine (no embers on the roof!), in part because we put the stove and pipe on the downwind side of the yurt. The only problem is that about once every 7-10 days I need to clean the spark screen with a telescoping paint roller handle with a wire brush taped on the end. It takes about 3 mins--simple, but effective.
We're just now replacing our older "smoke dragon" non-certified stove with a used VC Encore Cat. So, while I'm fine tuning everything and cleaning out the chimney, I was wondering about maybe going to a larger mesh size that wouldn't need to be cleaned so often--but maybe it's just not worth the risk.
What size mesh do folks here recommend for a DIY spark screen? It dawned on me that when using the cat any ember from the fire would be "filtered" by the catalyzer, but with the damper open there's still a risk of a hot ash/ember going up the flue and winding up on our roof.......
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Anyway, when I put in the wood stove I got a normal china hat from the local home builder supply store, and then made a spark screen with galvanized 1/4" mesh wire. It's been working just fine (no embers on the roof!), in part because we put the stove and pipe on the downwind side of the yurt. The only problem is that about once every 7-10 days I need to clean the spark screen with a telescoping paint roller handle with a wire brush taped on the end. It takes about 3 mins--simple, but effective.
We're just now replacing our older "smoke dragon" non-certified stove with a used VC Encore Cat. So, while I'm fine tuning everything and cleaning out the chimney, I was wondering about maybe going to a larger mesh size that wouldn't need to be cleaned so often--but maybe it's just not worth the risk.
What size mesh do folks here recommend for a DIY spark screen? It dawned on me that when using the cat any ember from the fire would be "filtered" by the catalyzer, but with the damper open there's still a risk of a hot ash/ember going up the flue and winding up on our roof.......
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!