fire-retardant paint for wood stove guard (for baby)
I like wood so I am building a wooden fence with gate to protect my baby daughter from my woodstove. Of course I am facing two challenges: warping and flammability. I’ve just read about suggested minimum horizontal clearance of 36″ for combustibles…will any spray/paint allow me to avoid such a distance? If I were to fasten some fire-retardant backer board to it, how close should I reasonably get to the stove? If I can’t install it between 14-16″ away, then it’s pointless, as it will impeded traffic in the room. Stove is Blaze King. Thoughts?
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If you want a wood look check out this product. I don't know anything about it, but it sounds like an option. http://www.flamestop.com/fire-retardant-spray-for-wood.html
Fire typically starts on lumber at sharp corners, so I would round over all edges, and would only use dense wood that is more difficult to start burning, and Ipe (ironwood) would be a good choice, as well as Oak etc.
double edge sword
Reflecting the radiant heat is your best bet. Aluminum foil is an excellent radiant barrier. You might try installing that on a layer of fire-retardant backer board. Of course if you install a radiant barrier or non combustible thermal mass to block the heat from your child, you also reduce the effectiveness of your wood stove. Most wood stove comfort and effeciency is gained by their direct exposure to the room and convective air currents they set up. It seems that if you block the lower currents, then most of your heat will be forced upwards. At that point, you'd probably need to incorporate a fan near thge ceiling to move the warmed air towards other parts of the house.
BTW, use a laser therometer to check material on pedestrian side or combustible parts of your barrier you put up during the height of your stove's output. I would think any surface tempature above 130 degrees would be of concern with respect to your childs safety.
I called around, including the stove manufacturer. Blaze King suggests 16 inches clearance on the sides, so that works for me. Their guy didn't seem think having a wood fence that close was a problem but I think I may use some heat-resistant paint from the Depot to be on the safe side.
I do think mounting a 3X5 sheet of cement board on the inside is counterproductive for the reason already given.
Good idea re checking the surface temp to see how hot things are really getting.
Thanks.
Paint the side facing the heat white, so it absorbs less heat. You want the paint to be heat-resistant, but "fire-retadant" paint is unlikely to reduce any supposed fire hazard, and "fire-retardant" materials tend to be toxic.
Recommendations for distance to combustables are mainly to prevent fire, but it's unlikely that a fire can get started with an open fence-like structure, even if it does get "too warm" -- it will just char instead. Of course charring is going to produce a bad smell, so you have to judge how close you want to try.