Heatmor enclosure

tricord1 · December 11, 2018, 08:24:36 AM

hello new to forum
blessed with a heatmor at house wife and i purchased but have seen mention for enclosure to protect wood and myself as well while tending to wood.
any idea how to figure and what to be aware of.

thank you

thecfarm · December 11, 2018, 01:09:23 PM

Welcome to the forum.
I think you mean a shed? I have seen some that have just the front sticking out. I want to put a shed on mine.

Chuck White · December 11, 2018, 06:50:44 PM

Anything I've read, said "do not put the HeatMor in a building" must be "free-standing"!

We've had a few in this area that were in buildings/sheds catch fire, most lost the HeatMor, shed, and the rest of the winters firewood!

thecfarm · December 11, 2018, 06:55:35 PM

I think and I say think,if the front was sticking out into a shed that would be OK? Or that's what I want to do. Someday. :

I am sick and tired of tarping my wood when it snows or rains. The rest of it would be out in the weather. I have my stack extended too. It's up in the air about 9 feet.

Ed · December 17, 2018, 07:56:01 PM

I've seen them placed with the front up against a pole barn, you go in the barn to load the stove. Wood is kept inside also.

The chimney got extended to clear the eave on the barn.

I'd get one of those metal garage enclosures put over it, just cut a hole for the chimney and extend it.

Ed

1countryboy · December 22, 2018, 09:24:10 PM

Check with your insurance company BEFORE you do anything!!!

When I installed my Heatmor years ago my insurance said to follow the Heatmor specs for clearance. Mine is installed to the east of a machinery shed (away from prevailing winds) and recommended clearance. They are an OUTDOOR furnace!

E Yoder · December 24, 2018, 10:52:05 AM

Quote from: 1countryboy on December 22, 2018, 09:24:10 PM
Check with your insurance company BEFORE you do anything!!!

When I installed my Heatmor years ago my insurance said to follow the Heatmor specs for clearance. Mine is installed to the east of a machinery shed (away from prevailing winds) and recommended clearance. They are an OUTDOOR furnace!

Totally agree. I've seen too many wood pile fires to put them both in the same shed. Wood in the shed, OWB outside, just my opinion.

gspren · December 25, 2018, 09:06:45 AM

I have a 12' x 12' metal roof over my OWB with the OWB toward one corner, the stove pipe extended through a hole in the roof, no attempt to seal it. My main wood shed is about 15' to the side and I use a small wagon that holds about 2 days worth to bring it over. A outdoor type switch lights a bulb up in the roof area and I also have one of the retractable type trouble lights up overhead. This has worked well for years and while it's not warm it is nice to be out of the rain while tending the stove.

Gearbox · December 25, 2018, 06:27:41 PM

My brother had a spark from his boiler set his woodshed on fire . I have a 1 cord lean to 30 ft from my boiler with steel sideing toward the stove . . transfer with a wheel barrow . when it gets low I use the bobcat to refill from the big wood shed [ 34 cord] .

tricord1 · December 26, 2018, 09:29:21 AM

happy new year i have attached a picture of my heatmor as is and was thinking of adding a pole barn type enclosure mainly a roof with front closed off from view as we drive in.
would extend flue up and leave 3 sides open
thoughts?really appreciate input.

1countryboy · December 26, 2018, 10:34:36 PM

What is the building to the side of your heatmor used for? Good wood storage area? Again, I would NOT enclose the furnace. You will not be out in weather very long firing the furnace. My insurance required I follow offsets from heatmor and they insured the furnace. Otherwise, if you do have a fire would they cover they building or the furnace. I doubt it. It is called an outdoor furnace for a reason.

gspren · December 27, 2018, 06:09:44 PM

I don't consider a METAL roof with 1 or 2 sides "enclosed" and if you have a wheelbarrow load of wood beside the stove the metal roof makes it safer as long as the stack was extended through the roof. You also often get pieces of bark, etc around the stove and the metal roof also protects that from sparks, just be careful of what's in front of the door.

thecfarm · December 27, 2018, 08:52:01 PM

Again,what I think he means is just about 6 inches of it inside of a building. I have snow coming in. I brought up a bunch of wood up to the OWB. The wood is just dumped in front of the door and covered with a plastic tarp to keep the snow off the wood. Note I said a plastic tarp. One of the worse things to cover wood with, with a smoke stack about 6 feet away. Be much better if I had a steel roof,which was all ready posted. If a spark came out of the stack,it would land on the steel roof and probably be burnt out by the time it hit the ground.Now if the same spark hits that plastic tarp??

Try explaining that reasoning to an insurance company. :

chet · December 27, 2018, 09:55:23 PM

This is what I did for my central boiler. These are pics of the first loads of wood going in 22 years ago. It now houses the newest boiler I installed a couple of years ago.

barbender · December 27, 2018, 11:29:20 PM

Chet, seeing pictures of yours years back inspired me to do the same thing. Except, my insurance company said "nope!". Needs to be 75' from any buildings they said👎

E Yoder · December 28, 2018, 07:15:39 AM

Quote from: gspren on December 27, 2018, 06:09:44 PM
I don't consider a METAL roof with 1 or 2 sides "enclosed" and if you have a wheelbarrow load of wood beside the stove the metal roof makes it safer as long as the stack was extended through the roof. You also often get pieces of bark, etc around the stove and the metal roof also protects that from sparks, just be careful of what's in front of the door.

The fires I've seen are mostly from sparks that came out of the firebox door when loading or emptying ashes, not from the chimney.

doctorb · December 28, 2018, 10:18:02 PM

My set up in 3 sided shed.

doctorb · December 28, 2018, 10:22:50 PM

A dark pic of the OWB under cover in the shed:

Note: Metal roof

1countryboy · January 01, 2019, 09:07:17 PM

I like the (idea) of having all my wood inside and DRY. But, how many of u that have the "outdoor furnace" INSIDE called your insurance company and got a response IN WRITING, that said your building and your OUTDOOR wood furnace are both covered? Why do you think insurance companies raise the cost of insurance for an inside stove or will not even cover it. Especially, if u own a rental home.

My insurance company specializes in agriculture and farm coverages. If your company says yes, that is fantastic.

How many of you have watched a barn with all your hay burn to the ground (arson) and the farmhouse beside it burn. (arson). Have you ever had a phone call from a hunter telling you ur combine is on fire while u are combining> My 2 fire extinguishers did nothing.

How many of you have tried to inventory a loss from a fire?

My wood is not inside and it burns just fine. It saves lots of back pain, even if it is outside.

Just my take from a lot of age and experience.

chet · January 02, 2019, 09:25:04 PM

Countryboy,
My furnace, building and contents all all covered and at replacement cost. Having been in the fire service over 32 years I am well aware of the things you have sighted. That is why my setup was reported to the insurance co. with what I was planning, complete with drawings, before I ever broke ground. And later followed up with pictures of my setup for their file. Since that time I have been called by a few different insurance companies to do site and or chimney inspections. It might have helped that I have a residential builders license. ;)

hedgerow · January 03, 2019, 10:11:04 AM

Lots of good information here. Before you do anything make sure your insurance company is on board with what is going to happen. Its not great to find out your not covered after something happen because you didn't check with them on the front end. Just had a friend this summer pull his indoor wood stove and install a new LP furnace because the cost of insurance on the house had gotten too high because of the wood stove. The FREE wood saving weren't adding up.

1countryboy · January 03, 2019, 10:04:49 PM

Good post. You covered the bases. Hope our advice will help others. Noted your location. Brother and I Were north of you along the lake many years ago. The Great lakes are a National Treasure. I happen to live at the headwaters of the Divide where my water runs south to the Ohio, and then the Mississippi Rivers. A few miles to my north all waters run into lake Erie and join the Great Lakes water headed to the East.

Just a note from a History buff and retired History teacher. 8) Still teaching and still learning.

chet · January 03, 2019, 11:17:23 PM

To expand on my earlier post, let me say don't let one insurance co. dictate your decision. They each have their own philosophy as how it pertains to burning wood. One insurance company will not insure you if you heat with wood whatsoever. They had to eat their words, when I asked them if they insured folks that heated with electricity that was generated by cogen plants. :D :D :D Some insurers will cover your ODB, but not it's inclosure. Another will cover you only if you pass an inspection. An another I know of will cover existing setups, but not new ones. The key here is to check local ordinances and multiple insurance companies and be up front with them.

ButchC · January 04, 2019, 07:59:06 AM

Internet lore aside, to my firsthand knowledge 3 OWBs been lost or damaged by fires locally. None were in a shed, nor was the wood. In each case the fire dept determined that sparks from the chimney either set the wood pile on fire directly or set the mess around the stove on fire which led to the wood pile. One case the wood was up against the furnace the other two it was a short distance away.

I think the best setup for safety and comfort is to have the wood and just the loading end of the furnace under a metal roof. Which is how mine has operated for 13 years and with the blessing of my insurer. I would add that if sloppy house keeping is a person nature and he cant keep the mess cleaned up in front of the loading door that his fire clock is ticking and he would be best served by placing the OWB about 100 yards from anything flammable including any structure AND the wood pile.

chet · January 04, 2019, 10:04:04 AM

Butch , you hit on 2 very key points. Cleanliness around wood burning equipment and carelessness (careless handling of ashes). In my thirty two plus years as a firefighter every fire I've seen, involving wood burning equipment, could be attributed to either of those two facts, or a faulty installation, faulty equipment, or bad chimney. The first 2 far and away were the most common causes.