Install guide

How to install a Mukluk.

Plain-English notes for owners and builders. This is not a substitute for a licensed installer, your council, or the relevant standards, but it should help you talk to all three without guessing.

1. AS/NZS 2918

This is the Australian/NZ standard for solid-fuel installs: hearths, clearances, flues, the lot. Your installer works to it. If you are doing any of the prep yourself, read up on it so you know what they will ask for.

2. Hearth, clearances, heat shielding

We are not formally tested, so we do not publish hard clearance numbers. What follows are suggestions to work through with your installer. They make the final call, including where tighter clearances are appropriate for your setup.

  • We suggest at least 200 mm or so between the stove and combustibles as a starting point.
  • On combustible walls within 300 mm of the stove, we suggest fitting a heat shield with a proper air gap (25 mm+, ventilated top and bottom). A sheet of metal bolted flat to a timber wall does almost nothing.
  • Clearances are measured to combustibles, not to the wall surface. Plasterboard is a combustible. So is the timber framing behind it.
  • Build the hearth to the standard's dimensions for an untested appliance. Your installer will give you the exact numbers for your room.

3. The flue

  • The Mukluk Small has a 5″ (125 mm) top-flue collar. It uses standard off-the-shelf flue pipe, the same diameter you'll see on stove and hardware sites all over the web. Nothing proprietary.
  • Through the ceiling and roof, use double-skin insulated flue. Single-skin black pipe is fine inside the room as the connector piece, but anything going through a ceiling needs to be insulated and properly cased.
  • Flashings: storm collar at the top, deck-fit flashing matched to your roof, sealed with high-temp silicone. Get this right. It's where leaks start years later.
  • Cap it. Rain cap or cowl. Keeps water and birds out.

4. First fires

  1. Start with three small fires over a few hours, just kindling, with the door slightly open. The finish may give off a bit of smell at first. Totally normal, just open a window.
  2. Leave the airwash open while the glass is cold. Once the fire is going properly, wind the primary air back.
  3. After that, burn seasoned hardwood. Avoid treated timber, painted offcuts, or anything that isn't clean wood. It's bad for the stove and it'll void your warranty.

5. What we don't supply

We send the firebox, door, glass, handle and fixings. You still need standard 5″ flue sections (insulated and single-skin), flashings, hearth materials, heat shielding, smoke and CO alarms, and someone to fit it all. Most of the flue pipe is easy to buy online. Your installer can source the lot if you would rather not.

6. Insurance and council

Let your insurer know you are fitting a wood stove and keep the installer's paperwork. The Mukluk Wood Stove is untested and uncertified, making it currently suitable only for movable accommodation where no permit is required. It is not clean air approved, though this is not usually a requirement for movable accommodation or rural installations.

Not sure about something? Send photos and we will tell you what we can.