Safety test for stoves

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 45, 28 April 1987, Page 10

Safety test for stoves

A number of solid fuel stoves have passed tests which show that in pumice concrete fireplaces and chimneys, the building code requirement for a 50mm clearance between the concrete and any timber is not necessary to ensure these stoves can operate safely. The test method was developed by the Building Research Association of New Zealand, in conjunction with the New Zealand Home Heating Association, and the New Zealand Fire Service. It involved measuring temperatures generated by a solid fuel stove installed in a representative precast pumice concrete fireplace and chimney. A spate of fires last winter led to widespread publicity on the potential fire risk involved in the installation of solid fuel stoves in fireplaces that did not meet the building code. Householders were warned to have their installations checked before further use, and in an attempt to reduce the cost involved with checking clearances and any subsequent work to meet the code, some solid fuel stove manufacturers began to develop stoves which could

be more safely used in existing fireplaces and chimneys that did not have the 50mm clearance. The Head of Fire and Structural Engineering at the Building Research Association, Mr Russell Cooney, said the New Zealand Fire Service would be recommending to the Territorial Local Government Council and through them various local authorities that they accept the results of the tests as evidence that certain stoves did not need to meet the New Zealand Standard (742 1 : 1 985) requirement that there must be a 50mm clearance between the concrete in existing chimneys and fireplaces and any adjacent timber. , This exception only applies at this stage to the tested stoves installed in pumice concrete chimneys. Fireplaces and chimneys of brick, ordinary concrete and natural stone were still to be investigated, said Mr Cooney. Local Authorities would be informed in writing by the manufacturers as to which appliances had passed this test, once the results have been audited by the Building Research Association in consultation with the New Zealand Fire Service.

Only local authorities or the manufacturers of the stoves that had been tested could release this information, he said. Even though certain solid fuel stoves were considered satisfactory in pumice concrete chimneys by the Building Research Association, the requirement for a 50mm clearance still stands except where waived by the territorial local authority for tested appliances. Several testing laboratories were capable of testing solid fuel stoves to see if they met the necessary requirements. Further tests are under way and the results were being passed on to the Building Research Association for auditing said Mr Cooney. The recent developments in solid fuel stove testing does not invalidate earlier Building Research Association advice about existing installations. This was that all fireplaces and chimneys with a solid fuel stove installed needed to have 50mm clearances between concrete and the timber, and should have been inspected to see that these clearances were present, and that the chimney showed no signs of damage that would render it unsound, he said.