The cost of installing a wood stove in an existing home’s fireplace is $900 to $3,100, including labor and materials. The price depends on the type of stove or insert, height of the house, type of chimney liner, and whether an existing hearth is used. Freestanding Stove – Installed directly in front of an open fireplace on the existing hearth. How to Install a Free-Standing Wood Stove. Free-standing wood stoves have been in use for centuries. Before there were gas stoves and ovens, wood stoves were used to heat homes and also to cook food. Using UL-listed wood-burning equipment and chimney materials and installing the unit according to manufacturer's instructions. Proper sizing of chimney and components. Building a small hot fire for a short period rather than an 'idle' fire over a long period, when temperatures are moderate.

Installing Free Standing Wood Burning Stoves
Can You Put A Freestanding Wood Stove In A Fireplace
Installing Freestanding Wood Burning Stoves

The free-standing fireplace (photo at page top) is less than 12' from wood paneling which is in turn installed on a wood-framed wall - this is an unsafe installation that should not be used. Note that drywall mounted on wood-framed walls is considered a 'combustible wall' for clearance distance purposes. Advantages of Wood Burning Stoves For Your Home. When you compare the heating performance of your masonry fireplace to that of a modern wood freestanding stove, there’s simply no comparison.Today’s stoves come with heat-efficiency ratings of 70% and higher.

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Woodstove fire clearance distance specifications:

This article describes fire safety distances required between wood stoves and coal stoves and the nearest combustible surface.

We discuss child safety zones around wood and pellet stoves, the fire clearances for listed and un-listed wood or pellet stoves, and the construction and installation of a heat shield to reduce the required fire clearance distances around wood heating appliances.

The article includes standards for wood or pellet stove installations for various countries and it concludes with photos and descriptions of unsafe wood stove installations.

Installing Free Standing Wood Burning Stoves

We discuss fire clearance distance specifications for wood stoves or coal stoves. Wood stove & pellet stove installation codes & standards, listings, labels, certifications. Wood stove or pellet stove heat shield construction & installation specifications.

Examples of unsafe wood stove installations. Comments on NFPA 211 'Standard for Chimneys, Fireplaces, Vents, and Solid Fuel-Burning Appliances'.

We also provide an ARTICLE INDEX for this topic, or you can try the page top or bottom SEARCH BOX as a quick way to find information you need.

Fire Clearances for Flues for Woodstoves & Coal stoves

Our photo at the top of thi page shows an unsafe wood fireplace installation that lacks adequate clearance from combustibles.

Notice also that the connection between the fireplace top and the flue is upside-down and that considerable leakage has occurred out of the flue onto the fireplace top.

Some basic rule of thumb fire clearances for woodstoves are shown in the sketch at left.

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Watch out: Check with your local fire marshall about local building code requirements for fire-clearance distances before installing and using a wood stove, coal stove, or other auxiliary heat source.

Making a mistake can lead to a dangerous building fire.

Child safety: 36' safety zone around Wood Stoves & Pellet Stoves

Watch out: Use whatever means necessary to create a 36-inch safety zone around any heating equipment that can get hot enough to burn a child.

Keep small children out of this space.

Specific Fire Safety Clearance Distances for Un-Certified Wood Stoves & Pellet Stoves

In the U.S. certification is monitored by the U.S. EPA who provide a List of EPA Certified Wood Heaters given below. The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and the U.S. Wood Heat Safety Organization also provide consistent recommendations for wood stoves that are not carry a certification label. Certifying agencies and standards for other countries are given below.

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Fire safety clearance distances are measured from the closest point of the outer surface of the heating appliance to the closest point of nearby wall, floor or ceiling or to other combustible materials that might be nearby. Valorant download.

The wall finish surface, such as drywall is not considered in evaluating the heat resistance or fire safety of the heating appliance.

At left is a free-standing wood-burning fireplace installed by the author in the 1970's. Installation was incomplete - no adequate fire shielding was yet provided for this heater.

I (DF) lived with this stove as a sole heat source in a different home in the early 1970's and can tell you it is not a design I recommend. I would not install this fireplace today.

Watch out: the free-standing fireplace shown is not a safe installation. While it had a damper controlling the flue to slow burn rate the front of the stove was open except for a screen - a big heat loser for the building as combustion can only be controlled by intelligence: don't build a big fire.

And the installation as shown does not meet required clearances to combustibles.

Un-certified woodstove clearance distances:48' to combustibles at sides, rear, and corners as well as the 'fueling' or or ash removal side of the the heater. This distance might be reduced to 36' with an approved heat shield.
Un-certified woodstove clearance distance: 60' above the stove top to the ceiling or any combustible above the heater.
Un-certified woodstove clearance distances when the stove has a sheet metal jacket or casing = 36' to combustibles

General Fire Safety Clearance Distances for Listed or Certified Wood Stoves & Pellet Stoves

at left is the permanently affixed certification and data tag from a Jotul No. 118 wood stove that has been in service for more than 20 years in New York. The company's data tag includes woodstove fire clearance distances as marked.

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Also check the specific fire clearance distance recommendations provided by the manufacturer of your wood burning appliance.

Making a mistake can lead to a dangerous building fire. In some jurisdictions for certified woodstoves clearance distances permitted may be as follows:

Clearance from woodstove to unprotected surfaces or combustibles = 36' in any direction
Typical clearance between a wood or coal fired heater and the nearest combustible surface is 36' unless approved heat shields have been installed.
The free-standing fireplace (photo at page top) is less than 12' from wood paneling which is in turn installed on a wood-framed wall - this is an unsafe installation that should not be used.
Note that drywall mounted on wood-framed walls is considered a 'combustible wall' for clearance distance purposes.
Note that some jurisdictions may require a greater distance between the wood or pellet stove and the ceiling.
Clearance from the woodstove vertical flue to unprotected wall surface = 18'

Clearance distances such as those cited above can in some circumstances be reduced by using proper heat shields of proper material and with proper air spacing and mounting hardware: subject to approval by your local building code official or fire marshall and described below.

In most jurisdictions a building permit and fire safety inspections are required before a wood stove or coal stove can be installed. But we often find that a permit was not obtained and no inspections performed.

Watch out: eve