In a site-built home, the chapters of the 2021 International Residential Code that we read set no ban on a wood stove in a bedroom. The stove's listing and manual decide, your building department confirms, and the code asks for a carbon monoxide alarm inside the room.
This page covers houses built on site. A manufactured home follows federal rules, and our guide to a wood stove in a mobile home answers the bedroom question for it.
What Does the Code Say About a Wood Stove in a Bedroom?
The code sets alarm rules for a bedroom that holds a fuel-burning appliance. In the chapters named below, no section keeps a wood stove out of a bedroom.
The carbon monoxide clause is section R315.3 of the 2021 International Residential Code (IRC).
It reads in full: "Carbon monoxide alarms in dwelling units shall be installed outside of each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms. Where a fuel-burning appliance is located within a bedroom or its attached bathroom, a carbon monoxide alarm shall be installed within the bedroom."
Section R314.3 of the same chapter lists where smoke alarms go. In our words, the first place on that list is each sleeping room.
The IRC section that keeps gas appliances out of sleeping rooms, with listed exceptions, is G2406.2. It sits in chapter 24, Fuel Gas, which section G2401.1, in our words, applies to fuel gas piping, fuel-gas appliances and their venting.
Chapters 3, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18 and 24 of the 2021 IRC contain no section that bans a wood stove from a bedroom.
There is no national building code in the United States: codes are adopted locally, by the state, the county or the town, often with amendments. So your building department has the last word. Ask it before you buy the stove.
Why Do the Stove's Listing and Manual Decide?
Because the code has the stove installed to its listing and manual, as well as to the code's own requirements.
IRC section M1410.1 in chapter 14 covers wood-burning room heaters. In our words, it has them tested to UL 1482 and installed to their listing, the manufacturer's installation instructions and the code.
So the manual is the document to read before a stove goes into a bedroom. Check it for these points:
- Whether it approves the stove for a bedroom or sleeping room.
- Its clearances to walls, the ceiling and anything combustible in the room.
- The floor protection it needs, in size and material.
- What it says about combustion air.
- The size of its flue collar.
- How the stove may be loaded and left burning.
If the manual says nothing about bedrooms, ask the stove maker in writing and show the answer to your building department.
Does a Closed Bedroom Need Outside Air?
The stove's manual answers that. In our words, IRC section M1701.1 in chapter 17 takes the combustion air for a solid fuel-burning appliance from the appliance manufacturer's installation instructions.
A bedroom door is often shut at night. Read what the manual says about combustion air with that in mind. Ask your building department whether it wants an outside air supply too.
How Much Clearance Does a Bedroom Stove Need?
The stove's own listing label and manual set its clearances, so we give no figure for the stove itself. The installation instructions for our Class A system say the same: the appliance manufacturer's instructions set the clearances between the stove and combustible materials.
In a bedroom, count the bed. Those instructions list furniture and curtains among combustible materials. Measure the stove's clearances to the bed, the curtains and the closet as well as to the walls.
| Part | Clearance to combustibles | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|
| The stove | As its label and manual give it | The stove's listing and manual |
| Single wall stove pipe | 18 inches | IRC Table M1803.3.4 (chapter 18) and page 3 of our Class A installation instructions |
| Double wall stove pipe | Closer than single wall | Its own listing and installation instructions |
| Class A chimney pipe | At least 2 inches | The installation instructions of the system installed |
Page 3 of our Class A instructions names two ways the 18 inches for single wall pipe can come down. One is a clearance reduction system your building department accepts. The other is a stove whose listed instructions give a different clearance.
For the floor, IRC section M1410.2 takes the materials and size of a listed stove's floor protection from the manufacturer's instructions, in our summary. A small stove in a tight room has less to spare. Our guide to the space around a small wood burning stove covers the layout.
How Does the Chimney Get Out of a Bedroom?
Through the roof or through an outside wall. On both routes insulated Class A chimney pipe makes the pass, because with our systems, stove pipe never passes through a wall, ceiling or roof.
For a factory-built chimney such as Class A pipe, the clause is IRC section R1005.1 in chapter 10. It reads: "Factory-built chimneys shall be listed and labeled and shall be installed and terminated in accordance with the manufacturer's installation instructions."
Inside the bedroom, the connector runs from the stove collar to the Class A pipe. For a stove with a 6 inch collar, our 6 inch double wall pipe can sit closer to a combustible wall than single wall pipe. Its listing and instructions give the distance. The chimney is never smaller than the stove's outlet.
| Question | Through the roof | Through the wall |
|---|---|---|
| Where Class A pipe passes | The ceiling and the roof | The outside wall, through the wall thimble |
| Inside the bedroom | The connector rises to the ceiling support box | The connector runs to the Class A pipe before the wall |
| What to check first | Whether an attic or another room is above | What the wall is made of, and its thickness |
| Height | The 3-2-10 rule above the roof | The 3-2-10 rule against any portion of a building within 10 feet |
Through the Roof
Our through the roof chimney kit is designed for open, vaulted or cathedral ceilings. There the chimney runs straight up without passing through an attic or framed ceiling. The connector rises to a ceiling support box, Class A pipe carries on through the roof, and the flashing is chosen by roof pitch.
If the bedroom has a flat ceiling with an attic or a room above, the run passes through more of the house.
Page 4 of the installation instructions requires an enclosure wherever the Class A chimney passes through a closet, a storage area, an occupied room or any place where people or combustible materials could touch it. Keep at least 2 inches between the chimney and the enclosure. Send us that layout before you order.
Through the Wall
Our through the wall chimney kit takes the chimney out through an outside wall. Only insulated Class A chimney pipe enters the wall thimble. Outside, a tee turns the chimney upward, and wall brackets hold it, spaced no more than 8 feet apart, as page 20 of the installation instructions requires.
Treat the wall as combustible if it contains wood framing, as the kit page asks; most US exterior walls do. A brick or stone face over wood framing does not make the wall non-combustible. Weighing the two routes? Our guide to wood stove chimney through the wall or the roof sets them side by side.
How High Must the Chimney Go?
High enough to meet the 3-2-10 rule that NFPA 211 sets and our Class A installation instructions repeat.
The chimney must extend at least 3 feet above the highest point where it passes through the roof and at least 2 feet higher than any portion of a building within 10 feet.
On a wall route the chimney top must still be at least 2 feet higher than any portion of a building within 10 feet of it, the roof included. Our guide to chimney height requirements works the rule through on three example roofs.
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms in the Bedroom
Install both before the first fire. The code sections above set where they go:
- A carbon monoxide alarm inside the bedroom, as section R315.3 requires where a fuel-burning appliance is in the room, and one outside each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms.
- A smoke alarm in the bedroom, as section R314.3 asks for each sleeping room.
- Each alarm placed as your building department and the alarm maker's instructions say.
- If the carbon monoxide alarm sounds, get everyone outside and call 911.
Our guide to the carbon monoxide detector code covers the alarm rules for houses with a stove or fireplace.
Can You Sleep With the Stove Burning?
The U.S. Fire Administration advises against it: its fireplace and wood stove safety card says to put the fire out before you go to sleep or leave your home. If you do keep the stove burning overnight, do it only as its manual allows for loading the stove and leaving it burning, and check that both alarms work before you rely on them.
Can You Install It Yourself?
Yes, a capable owner can do a standard installation of our chimney kits by following their installation instructions.
The limited lifetime warranty on Class A pipe applies whether the owner or a contractor installs it. The supplied instructions must be followed and its other terms met.
Ask your building department about the permit and the inspection first. Then ask your insurer what it needs to see for a stove in a bedroom. Keep the permit, the inspection sign-off and the installation instructions together.
Plan a Bedroom Stove in This Order
- Ask your building department what it needs for a wood stove in a bedroom.
- Check that the stove's manual approves it for a bedroom, and note its clearances, floor protection, combustion air and collar size.
- Choose the spot from those clearances, counting the bed, the curtains and the closet.
- Choose the route: through the roof, or through an outside wall.
- Measure the roof pitch, or the wall's thickness and what it is made of.
- Work out the chimney height with the 3-2-10 rule.
- Install the carbon monoxide and smoke alarms before the first fire.
Our free chimney route design can plan the chimney around your bedroom and send back the parts it needs, or call 888-834-0880.
Need More Information?
Clearance, temperature and code questions are answered in our chimney and stove pipe FAQ.
Each route is taken step by step in our stove pipe installation guides. To go through your bedroom with someone, ask a chimney specialist or call 888-834-0880.
