ENSURING SAFE DISTANCES TO COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS IN YOUR TINY SPACE
When you install any stove it is important that you adhere to the stove manufacturer’s declaration regarding minimum safe distances to combustible materials as this will be fundamental to you and your family’s safety in your temporary structure. A combustible material is anything that is flammable, sometimes this is not always obvious, and remember, these distances are ‘minimums’.
Generally, the greater the heat output from the stove then the greater the safe minimum distances that are required, but not always. So if your installation space is particularly tight then you may need to choose your stove based mainly on how easily the stove will make it to comply to the minimums. This would normally mean choosing a convector stove, or using some form of heat shielding to protect the combustible areas.
When you buy a quality stove you can be sure that it has undergone the rigorous CE EN13240 (soon to be EN16510) safety tests and that you can therefore also be sure that any claimed safe distances to combustible materials in the installation instructions can be completely relied upon. Unfortunately, in our opinion, this won’t necessarily always be the case with a cheap no-name stove purchased from an auction site and further there is no rule of thumb which can be adopted to replace these critical CE tested distances.
Safe distances should also include the area behind the stovepipe and this is one reason why it is essential that twin wall insulated flue pipe is used for the whole of the connecting flue pipe component in a temporary structure The other being that it keeps the flue gases as hot as possible to ensure sufficient updraught to help safely remove them.
Where other safe distances cannot be maintained then the appropriate heat shielding as outlined in BS8303 should be installed. Heat shields can be made from non-combustible materials (preferably classified as A1) and should have a continuous 25mm air gap between their surface and the combustible surface to be protected. There should also be air gaps at the top and bottom of any heat shielding section to avoid excessive heat build up behind them. Panels should be securely held in place with non-combustible frames and fixings and should cover, at the very minimum, the safe distances to combustible materials indicated in the stove and flue manufacturer’s instructions.
Where there is no safe distance claimed by the manufacturer for clearances above the stove (and there usually isn’t) then for stoves with heat outputs below 5kW we would recommend that the rear heat shielding continues above the height of the stove for a minimum of 300mm (1’), providing the connecting flue pipe used is all twin wall. Full height floor to ceiling panels must also incorporate the air gaps at the top and bottom as mentioned above.
Charnwood and Saltfire, both offer low heat output stoves with matching steel heat shielding compartments specifically designed for tiny spaces that make installation simpler as well as make it easier to ensure compliance to safe distances.
Go Back to Guide to Stove Installation in Huts, Sheds and Cabins Menu Page
