How much space should I have around my stove?

When considering where you are installing your stove then siting it too close to combustible material is clearly a fire hazard. How you choose to site a stove in an area considered to be non-combustible also requires consideration, A stove placed too close to the walls of a fireplace, or packed into a confined fireplace barely larger than the stove itself is a bad idea.

Combustible materials

You might have seen some examples on television, online or in magazines where combustible objects such as wood logs are stacked up against the side of a stove, This is fine when used as a decorative feature in the summer, but is not safe when the stove actually needs to be used!  

Every model we manufacture is independently tested for a variety of things, one of them is to determine the safe minimum distance to combustible materials. 

The safe distance varies according to the stove model, due to the different kW heat outputs, size and the design and construction of each stove and how it operates. 

Each stove model generally has the a figure showing the minimum safe distance from each of the following dimensions:

• From the rear of the stove,
• From either side of the stove
• In some cases we show the distance from the top of the stove. Generally this figure is not independently tested and we supply our recommended estimate instead

Look in your manual or your stoves technical specifiation to find these values for your stove. These distances must be adhered to for your safety.

Non-combustible materials

Not allowing for sufficient clearance between or around your stove and non-combustible materials (such as brick work or masonry) will not only damage the stove body over time but also reduce radiant heat into the room, reducing the stove's overall effectiveness. 

Whilst there is no legal definition for what this must be, as the manufacturer we suggest that stoves should be installed with a minimum of 100mm clearance to non-combustible materials all around the appliance.  

As the nature of each stove installation will vary from property to property, it is difficult to account for every installation, such as when a stove has a rear heat shield and a twin-wall flue fitted. Remember that for regular annual maintenance you or your installer may need to have access to the back of your stove at a later date, Your installer can use their discretion in combination with our minimum combustible distance recommendation to suggest a safe, practical and optimal recommendation about the distance to non-combustible material in your property.