How Many Layers of Insulation Did You Use?

Hi

I know the instructions call for 2 one inch layers of ceramic fiber blanket for the oven. My question is, is that what most folks are doing? If you added more than 2 layers did you measure a difference?

Thanks very much.
Greg

My educated guess is that it’s about two thirds using the 2 layers (a box) and one third using the 4 layers (two boxes).

It depends on your climate, Greg. If you’ll be using the oven in temperatures below about 45°F (and some cook when it’s well below freezing) you’ll want the extra layers, and you won’t regret it.

I did do the two-box approach, and my oven’s outer shell comes out near the edge of the hearth frame—there’s just a little shelf-let at the edge. Plenty of room in the back, and the front is not affected.

Hope this helps!

I used 3" of insulation: One box and some leftover from a friend who was also building a pizza oven. If you want to nerd out on the subject see my analysis based on measurements I made on my oven:

Temperature Profile

Surprisingly, when I changed the insulation depth to 2 and 4 inches and reran the equations the overall results didn’t change much. Most of the effect is in how long the oven retains heat after the fire burns down. There’s very little effect when you’re burning wood to maintain the temperature

You might burn a little more wood with 2" rather than 4" but I’m betting it wouldn’t be noticeable since most of the heat will be going out the big, open door in front.

My 2 cents. YMMV

1 Like

This helps a lot, I didn’t think about the outside temperature. I will for sure be using it in the winter with cold temperatures, hoping to be to bake bread the morning after pizza night.

Thanks very much Matt.
Greg

Thanks very much, this is very helpful. I do want the oven to retain heat so that it can bake breads the morning after a pizza night.

I used two layers and I can burn my oven for hours and the exterior feels minimally warm-hot after a few hours. No need, in my opinion, to go more than two layers. The internal temp on my set up are easily maintained even in winter weather.