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Stoves, the BSS, and what people actually do


Antrepat

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6 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I think that is going to excess (overthinking it)

 

Following that line of thought, maybe anyone owning a narrow boat should be 'controlled', or, they may hit a canoeist and then slice him up with their propellor, should 'propellors be banned' as dangerous because there is no way of the BSS knowing if you might 'run-over' someone.

 

There is very little legislation on the UK waters (compared to virtually everywhere else in the world), maybe we should be grateful for that rather than asking for greater control over our lives.

 

Second time I've been accused of overthinking it on here.  Same answer: I'm afraid I do sometimes, sorry.

 

I'm definitely not seeking more control, but I do like consistency and logic and clarity in the application of what rules there are, though.  Vagueness and rules of thumb about what's safe around a very hot box full of burning fuel is not consistency, logic and clarity.  The BSS position on stoves seems to be "a specific part of our mission is protect others from boat fires but we're not going to require anyone to do anything in order to fulfil that."  I'm not sure why I'm the only person who thinks that's a contradiction.

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4 hours ago, Bee said:

You have to use that most unreliable thing - common sense. Boat fires (in my experience and when there is anything left to investigate) tend to start by charring and igniting the surrounding wood, hull lining can be removed, sprayfoam substituted with f/glass wool and then covered with that fireproof board stuff, surrounding woodwork really should not be too close but fireproof board with a good airgap is a must, I reckon the best hearth is a steel tray standing on the ballast with a good depth of cement and tiles in it , cut the floor away, this lowers the back boiler if you have one and gains a useful couple of inches for hot water to climb and helps to thermosyphon. The other danger is the roof around the chimney, cut it back as much as possible before trimming the hole, thin stainless steel is good. Heatshields around the gunwhale overhang and anywhere else are needed.  You can't just bung a paving slab down and plonk a stove on it without really thinking hard about the risks. If I went to the pub or bed and the fire was in I always put a shovel full of ash on it too.

 

Thanks, this is good advice.  Trust me, I've thought about the risks, and heard advice ranging from the equivalent of "as long as the scorching isn't too bad" to "you must obey the standards as an absolute minimum".  I was going to build CaSi panels, tiled on two sides of the stove and up the wall, and completely clear a good space around where the flue passes through the roof - three times the flue diameter is the supposed minimum but it's those minima we keep arguing about.

 

I spotted the steel tray solution in an earlier thread, as illustrated by @Ally, and I'm going to try to get one made - that should solve the "massive hearth area" part of the problem.  I'm considering asking about adding back and side plates integral to the tray, like Chas Hardern has done on his current Thorin, so I'll just have to insulation board line behind them and leave an air gap, and build something to protect the wall panelling from the radiant heat from the flue (also should be three times the flue diameter to anything combustible, supposedly).

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Someone once said to me that there are some things that you just have to accept, because you will never understand the reasoning or logic behind them. That may be the case here, and if so, there are options that negate having a solid fuel stove.

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Perhaps you should consider a Refleks Oil Drip stove? After all they were designed for boats and the installation instructions  give minimum clearances for stove and flue (which are easier to achieve as the stove is round and a bit smaller than most solid fuel stoves).

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Quite apart from safety you need a significant gap to let the heat out into the boat, which is the main aim??

My stove is in a corner mounted at 45deg to the wall, so lots of exposure. The only part near a wall is the rear and as there is a back boiler it doesn't get so hot anyway!

 

May not be any help, but during lockdown I have to get involved in something. ?

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7 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

you'll be disappointed then.

 

I won't be disappointed, boats with substandard stove installations aren't my problem, but they might be disappointed when they see their stove rolling around inside their boat. 

 

It's actually the same issue with stainless or plastic water tanks that aren't properly secured inside the boat. It can cause no end of damage if they come loose on tidal waters. I'd rather have an integral tank for that reason.

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22 minutes ago, Floating Male said:

Quite apart from safety you need a significant gap to let the heat out into the boat, which is the main aim??

My stove is in a corner mounted at 45deg to the wall, so lots of exposure. The only part near a wall is the rear and as there is a back boiler it doesn't get so hot anyway!

 

May not be any help, but during lockdown I have to get involved in something. ?

 

Definitely a good point!  I feel the same - got to do something under house arrest.

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  • 2 weeks later...

BTW It just occurred to me. (Old age time lag) ...

It is worth making the fire surround as reflective as possible. The stove will be radiating a fair bit (Being black!) and the lighter the surround the more this radiation will be reflected, rather than absorbed and thus heating the surround.

My surround is cream glazed tiles. In practice this surround only gets slightly warm, so fire hazard is not a worry.

 

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