Heat Protection for Floors
With stoves burning cleaner and hotter than ever before, a traditional ember protector or homemade hearth may not protect the combustible floor beneath your stove. Building codes and safety standards now require the hearth pad to provide adequate thermal protection based on the stove model. With that in mind, we now offer two levels of protection to meet the needs of every stove. All our pads are tested to meet or exceed UL 1618. Whether you’re burning gas, pellets, corn, coal, oil or wood, our hearth pads offer the best protection on the market - and they look great too.
Type 1 - Steel Hearth Pads
All wood, pellet, coal and corn stoves require a hearth protector. Most require only protection from falling embers. But some stoves produce enough heat directed down and forward that a Type 1 – Ember Protector won’t stop the heat from passing through to the floor beneath the stove.
Type 2 – Traditional Hearth Pads
For today’s highly efficient stoves, an American Panel non-combustible hearth pad will block the heat from passing through to your subfloor. Fully non-combustible, with an R-value of 2.24 or 1.592 (R-value information), it provides protection well above the minimum requirements for Type 2 hearth pads (minimum requirement of R-value=1.0). ThermaShield or a 6" pedestal is recommended for hearth pads requiring an extremely high R-value. All our pads are tested to meet or exceed UL1618.
Compare to ThermaShield
If you were building your own hearth pad, how would you reach an R-value of 1.592? Well, to match the thermal protection of a ThermaShield pad using ceramic tile, you would have to use 86 layers of ¼" tile. Check out these comparisons of other non-combustible materials to a ThermaShield pad.
| Alternate Materials to Match R=1.592 | How Much Needed |
|---|---|
| Durock ½" | 7 Layers |
| Hardibacker 500 ½" | 34 Layers |
| Cast Hearthstone 2 13⁄16" | 3 Layers |
| Brick 2 3⁄8" | 4 Layers |
| Ceramic Tile ¼" | 78 Layers |
| Cement | 9" |
| Marble | 31" |
ThermaShield XTreme
Some stoves require extremely high R-values. For these stoves, we have designed the Low Profile Base and the award-winning ThermaShield Xtreme Floor Protection System. With the ThermaShield Xtreme, you can achieve an R-Value of up to R=10. Consult with your stove dealer and stove manual for your stove's required R-value.
Low Profile Base
At 1" thick, the Low Profile Base provides additional layers of insulation in a frame beneath your hearth pad. This will provide an additional R-value of R=2.4. This is also a great option for installations when carpet can’t be removed beneath the pad.
ThermaShield Xtreme Floor Protection System
ThermaShield Xtreme Floor Protection System. Consisting of a ThermaShield hearth pad and specialized matching 6" pedestal, the system can be customized to provide a range of R-values from R=2.4 to R=10.
Which Do I Need?
Check your stove manual for the required hearth protection or ask your stove dealer which Type is right for you.
