Previously published at highschimney.com

Wood stoves require heat shields both under and behind them to protect your home from heat damage. While many wood stoves include heat shields in their design, some do not. Refer to your wood stove to determine if external heat shields are necessary. Installing these heat shields as instructed is important for keeping your wood stove safe and efficient. Taking the time to understand the heat shield needs of your wood stove is important for your safety, and will give you ease of mind when you need to leave your house unattended.

Wood stoves come in a variety of styles and designs. For this reason, appropriate safety measures vary. It is important to read any literature that came with your wood stove and refer to any certification information listed on the stove. This information will cover the distance necessary between the wood stove and the wall, as well as the suggested width and height of the heat shield.

Shields protect your home from heat damage and fire one of two ways. Understanding how they work is important to deciding which heat shield is right for you, and ensuring you install the shield correctly.

How Heat Shields Work

One technique heat shields use to protect your wall is by allowing space between the shield and the wall. These shields are hung with an inch gap between the shield and the wall. This allows air circulation behind the shield, which helps relieve the heat radiating from the shield. With these types of shields, it is important that nothing blocks the air flow behind the shield, as this could be a fire hazard. This type of shield strategy is most commonly seen with metal shields, but the same method can be used with concrete sheets and other shields.

The second method heat shields use is insulation. These types of shield rest directly against the walls or floor, and have heavy insulation behind the fireproof exterior. Just placing fireproof materials, such as tile or concrete, against the wall or floor does not adequately protect your home from fire. These materials might absorb some of the heat, but much more of it will radiate into your wall. This clearly is a fire hazard. Behind the fireproof material, you may need several layers of heat shield insulation to ensure proper safety. The amount of insulation you need is highly dependant on the type of woodstove you have, how close it is set to the wall or floor, and the type of insulation purchased. Please refer to your wood stove manufacturer or wood stove specialist for more information.

Finally, many insurance companies have standards about how a wood stove heat shield needs to be installed. These might be beyond the standards set by the wood stove company. As such, it is important to discuss your wood stove with your insurance company before installing anything.

Just because the basis of these shields is boring doesn't mean that heat shields must be an eyesore. There are many heat resistant decorations that can add life to a dull shield. Many people add decorative ceramic tiles or gathered stones to their shields to increase the beauty of the necessary piece. Just be sure that the products you use to affix the decorations are safe to use in instances of high heat.

Chimney liners are available in different diameters for different types of wood burning stoves and fireplaces. You can find liners available in both six inch and eight inch diameters. The lengths of liners will vary depending upon whether you are using a flexible liner or a rigid liner. Rigid liners are solid pieces which do not bend and need to be connected together. When you need a long length liner, flexible liners can be a better solution, since these are available in longer sections and reduce the risk of accidentally dropping the liner down the chimney.

Elbows Are Special Pieces Used With Some Chimney Liners

In order to connect chimney liners, like those available on our website, here at Copperfield Chimney Supply to your wood burning fireplace or stove, you may require special sections of liner pieces. These pieces are referred to as elbows and help you navigate around corners. There are slightly angled elbows available as well as 90 degree elbows for square corners which can be used along with straight sections of liners.

Fireplace blower can make a difference, however it will not be a huge difference. Blowers do not make heat, if they did, all you would need is the blower and forget about any device burning fuel. That being said, the blower can move the heat away from the appliance into the space where the heat can be felt.

That is called convection heat whereas units without blowers can only generate radiant heat. Overall we do recommend blowers for wood and gas heating appliances. One thing to keep in mind is when you install a blower on your fireplace, you will hear the sound of the blower motor plus the sound of air moving. In some cases this may be objectionable. Most blowers we offer also include a method of discontinuing the use of the blower during certain periods.

When you install a direct vent fireplace you will want to make sure that you also have the proper accessories for the fireplace. You will need some sort of gas pipe line and have two options to choose from which are flexible CSST gas line and solid gas line pipe. Both provide safe movement of natural gas from your main gas line to the fireplace. You will also need venting attachments in order to safely expel harmful byproducts given off by gas fireplaces.

Direct Vent Fireplace is One Type of Venting Found on Gas Fireplaces

When you want a fireplace in your home you can choose between different types of units, including gas, wood burning, electric and bio fuel, available on our website here at Copperfield Chimney Supply. Each type of fireplace operates differently and can have different venting requirements, like a direct vent fireplace for gas units. Make sure you review the placement and venting requirements for a fireplace unit ahead of time to ensure it will work in your home.