Best heat reflecting sheet panel (floor, pool, stove, paint)
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I am building a thing that will be right a wood stove (the bottom part will have a mini fridge and a mini freezer, the top is a finch aviary). I want to reflect back as much heat form the stove as possible. My plan is to use hardiboard with .24 sheet metal on it and insulation behind it. The question is, is there something better than hardiboard for reflecting heat? Would 5/8" type X sheet rock be better? Is there something else that is better for reflecting heat?
Would it help to put sheet metal on both sides of the hardiboard? What about a double layer of sheet metal?
My concerns are:
1. Safety. The cabinet/aviary will be fairly close to the woodstove (about 24" give or take) and the cabinet/aviary will be framed from wood. (I may try to use steel studs for the bottom part since the stove is only 2' high. I have not used steel studs before. It depends on how hard it is to build something with them)
2. Efficiency. It makes no sense to heat up the cabinet where we will have a freezer and fridge. There will be a fan in there to blow out heat produced by the freezer/fridge, but I do nto want ot heat it up witht he stove and then make the compressors work harder.
3. I do not want the finches to get too hot, but that is not much of a concern. The aviary will be quite large, they will have no trouble getting away from the heat if desired. Plus there is a tunner through the wall where they can go to an outside aviary if they desire. (Semi outside, it is inside a pool enclosure.) Although we may have to sop up the tunnel in the winter.
The type of heat that is a concern is radiant heat.
I built a vertical barrel stove many years ago. I used unpainted 22 gauge sheet metal bolted to it with 2.5" bolts as a heat shield. The wall was about 14" away. The stove could be literally glowing red and the wall in back of the heat shield was cool enough for me to lay my hand on and keep it there.
In your situation, I'd probably use sheet metal again, held away from the backer with the same type of bolts, creating an open air space in back of the heat shield.
Be forewarned though - insurance and code requirements may scotch your plans entirely. There is not much forgiveness in the clearance requirements.
I bought some steel studs. I cut the first part and laid it out on the floor (my driver is dead so I have to charge it). It seems really easy. That is a big plus, now I will nto have any wood near the stove.
How heavy is 22 guage steel? Cna I bend it to the shapes I need>?
I htink I will just put the wood stove in after our inspection is done. I can figure out if somehting is getting too hot
Most radiant reflector type lights (like those used for hyponics) are made of aluminum. The shield itself is highly polished giving some 90-95% reflectivity. I think that would be more than sufficient. And definitely lighter than sheet metal.
22 gauge, 24, or aluminum - the choice is yours. All should work. On one hand, I agree with KB that aluminum can look really spiffy (dating myself there) but you want to be aware that it is more easily damaged and that surface can also be damaged with improper cleaning. I just happened to have the sheet metal available, and I liked the strength.
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