Woodstoves and Mobile Home Safety

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Since the stove models are tested individually, the manufacturer provides minimum clearance information specific to each model, based on its laboratory performance. Don't assume that a 25,000-Btu/hr stove can safely be placed closer to a wall than a 40,000-Btu/hr model, because it's not necessarily true; configuration, design, and a host of other factors can easily get in the way of common sense.

Clearance, by the way, is defined as openspace distance between the top plate of the stove or its flue connector and any combustible materials, including walls, ceilings, trim moldings, furniture, and woodstorage boxes. Recommended minimum clearances may be reduced—the manufacturer's specifications should say by how much—by utilizing suitable thermal barriers on surfaces containing any materials that will ignite and burn. (Remember, a wood-stud wall covered with plasters Sheetrock, or even brick is still considered combustible.) A functional barrier consists of 1/4" mineral board or 24-gauge sheet metal spaced 1 inch from the wall surface and an equal distance off the floor, on noncombustible spacers. Other methods of surface protection may be outlined in the stove manufacturer's installation manual, or you can get a copy of the National Fire Protection Association's publication 211, available for $8.00 from the NFPA, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269.

Floor protection must be provided as well, to guard against stray sparks and radiant heat. A UL-approved prefabricated hearth barrier—or a homemade hearth pad consisting of two 1/4" sheets of mineral board covered with 24-gauge exposed sheet metal—is recommended for a listed stove, though the use of manufacturers' lower heat shields may reduce that requirement. In any case, the hearth protection should extend at least 12 inches beyond the sides and back of the stove, and 18 inches beyond the front.

Because of the way they're constructed, mobile homes demand that you plan a woodstove installation carefully. Contact your local building inspector prior to installation to determine whether a permit is required, and notify your insurance representative that you plan on installing a wood-burning appliance. You'll have to give a good deal of thought to placement, and it's important not only to position the stove away from combustibles, but to locate it as centrally as possible to permit some degree of convection heating. Never install a wood heater in a mobile home's sleeping quarters or in a constricted area or hallway.

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