# Wood burner in a mobile home?



## mattl (Aug 6, 2005)

If you were going to use one in a mobile what would you do to make sure it was safe?


----------



## Jacob Huffman (Sep 13, 2004)

I would guess nothing more than you would do to make it safe in any home...Make sure you have proper clearance behind and around the unit..make sure you have the proper pipe for the stove and be sure to have it installed correctly out the roof...


----------



## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

1. If there are codes you have to worry about in your area, check it out. For instance, it requires an inlet so the stove gets its air from outdoors rather than from inside the home. The law says the wood burner has to be fastened to the floor (which is bull unless the mobile home gets moved in the future but you could also remove the stove if the home is to be moved). Special chimney cap, etc.

2. Check with your insurance company as they may require a rider or you may even have to change companies because many companies will not cover you if you have wood heat. There are some that do but your agent must come to the home and take pictures for the company and then they may require you to do a few things. One thing most insurance companies like is to put in a second wall with a 1" air space between the two (fireproof) walls.

3. Make darned sure you have fireproof walls and floor. The hearth should be made preferably with porcelain tile over cement board and possibly using two layers of cement board. 

4. Make sure you follow the manufacturers specs for the hearth and distances from flamable surfaces.

5. If this is your first time for burning wood, make darned sure you book up on everything but above all make certain that the wood you burn is well seasoned; that is, it must be seasoned a mimimum of a year. 

Best is to cut in early winter and get it split and stacked by the end of March. Stack the wood preferably where the pile will receive sunshine and any summer breezes. Leave the wood pile uncoverd through the summer so as not to inhibit evaporation. Cover the wood pile in the fall just before the fall rains come.

6. Join a forum or at least keep watch of the forum on heating with wood. A good one is: http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums

7. Don't be afraid to ask questions.


----------



## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

Yup cousin had his policy cancelled. He was trying to be a nice guy and inform his carrier about the new heater............."instant" cancellation........he did find another carrier though........


----------



## Ausable Junkie (Oct 2, 2002)

I know that u can use black single wall pipe inside the house UNTIL you
go through the first combustable surface. Typically this is the finsihed
part of the ceiling. Selkirk/Metalbestos is the all-fuel pipe i'm familiar with
that needs to be used from this point on out, even after u are above the
roof. The finish support package gets attached to the bottom chords of the
trusses for a flat ceiling application. This piece bears the weight of the
pipe system that sits above this piece. It also maintains a 2" minimum gap
from any combustable surface as the pipe passes through the framing and
insulation in the "atttic" space. Most people have to build a little box just
a bit higher than the insulation level around the pipe to make sure the insulation can't touch
the all-fuel pipe. As long as the box is 2" away from the pipe, it can be
made from plywood or other wood products. The roof flange keeps this 2" clearance for
the roof sheeting and roof covering (usually shingles).

The manufacturer requires a 2-in-10 clearance for final pipe height. Measure
2' up (from the higher side) at the point where the pipe exits the roof. Now
measure horizontally from this point and see if you have a MINIMUM 10'
distance from the roof. If not, keep increasing the height of the pipe until
u have a minimum of 10' horizontal distance to the roof OR are 2' above the
ridgeline of the roof. For applications like mobiles, u usually
end up having to run pipe at least 2' above the ridge/high point of the roof.
This keeps the danger of downdrafts to a minimum.

Hope this helps


----------



## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

I believe mobile home installation also calls for double wall pipe coming out of the stove before going into the metalbestos pipl

One more thing I think they call for is a spark arrestor cap. However, those things really suck. The cap will always be the first place for creosote to form. Having a spark arrestor only causes the cap to plug very quickly which means no draft and constant cleaning. 

Also with a mobile home you definitely will need a fan blowing warm air down the hallway and it is also very good to have a ceiling fan very close to the stove. The fans only need to be run on low speed though.


----------



## mattl (Aug 6, 2005)

Good info, thanks. I'm not sure if I'm going to install it in the mobile home itself or build a bumpout room just yet. If there are too many restrictions/changes I'll have to make to the existing mobile it would be easier/safer to just do the bumpout. Thanks again.


----------



## Creek-Chub (Apr 15, 2004)

One more thing to look into would be the stove itself. I'm presently in the market, and while I don't live in a manufactured home, I've been seeing some stoves that say "mobile/manufactured home approved". Not sure exactly what that means specifically, but something to look into. Maybe the feet are set up in such a way as to be easily strapped down? I don't really know.


----------



## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

CC, what that means is that the stove can be installed so that the intake air can be drawn from outside rather than from inside the house. There are many stoves that you can do this with.

The stove we have also can be done that way and would make an excellent stove for a manufactured home. It is soapstone so it is expensive and very heavy. Made by Woodstock, we have the Fireview. 

One thing you will read about the soapstone stoves is that the heat is more of a "soft heat" that they give off. What that means is you won't get roasted out like you might with a steel or cast stove. That is, standing perhaps 3 feet from a cast or steel stove when it is cooking good you really feel it. Standing that distance from a soapstone feels good. Also, the soapstone does take a little longer to heat up if starting it cold...but it also takes much longer to cool off when it runs out of wood.

There are many different stoves out there. Some great, some good and some that are questionable. Whatever you do, my advice is to not go cheap. This is something you do not want to go cheap with. Do it right the first time and you will love it. Do it wrong and that is how people pay with losing their home or even some lives. It is nothing to scrimp on. Yet, installation does not have to be expensive either and you can do it yourself.


----------

