Fire guard bar sizes

[Thrashsmith]

Hello all,
I went to measure up for a simple fire guard yesterday, the red arrow shows the path.

I went there thinking that 40x10mm top and bottom would be fine with 16mm ERW at 100mm centres would be good to keep the weight down. 700mm tall is client request.

Then the client said how much heat the burner throws out, heating half the house, getting to around 300 degrees on the thermometer & it made me wonder if 16mm ERW might bow, and if I should up it to 20mm? Or even the 21mm tube with a 3mm wall?

Am I overthinking this & 16mm ERW be ok? I think 12mm solid round would look flimsy & 16mm solid round would be unnecessarily heavy.

Thanks in advance

 

[6ply]

I don't think 12mm would look flimsy. Regarding weight, I'd want to work out the total materials + approximate weight and check with the client before going ahead. We've had a lightweight fire guard ever since our kids were small and there's no way I'd want something more than a few kilos. We clipped it to the wall when they were young.

 

[bletchmonster]

Assuming the guard is sufficient distance from stove to stop little fingers reaching hot metal though the gaps, I don't think the heat is going to warp the erw. I doubt it would move it if was 10mm away. It's going to be steady temp changes anyway!
The 40x10 is possibly a bit overkill, but I get the chunky visuals.

 

[Thrashsmith]

I don't think 12mm would look flimsy. Regarding weight, I'd want to work out the total materials + approximate weight and check with the client before going ahead. We've had a lightweight fire guard ever since our kids were small and there's no way I'd want something more than a few kilos. We clipped it to the wall when they were young.

This one will be getting screwed to the floor so it's a relatively permanent feature, only being moved out in the warmer months.

 

[BrokenBiker]

the guard around my ex's grandparents burner was just stamped mesh with a folded edge and some rubber trim pressed around the edge, held tot he wall with some hooks and eyes. their fire was used to heat the whole house and only the bedrooms had radiators and there were never any issues with distortion from that