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[slimjim]

All depends on the stove, conventionals could be an issue, gassers not so much

[browncty]

Mine is 54' from my home. I have 8" rienforced slabs under mine.

[the trailmaster]

I would also consider ground freezing and lifting.  Make sure slab is raised to deal with frost heaves if this is local to your area.  If not, you could find your unit sitting in a pool of water mid winter as the ground heaves around it.  Just a thought!!!!

[Roger2561]

When I was deciding on placement of mine, I called my zone enforcement officer and inquired about distance from the house.  In our town he said go by manufacturers recommendation; that was 20 to 30 feet.  So, mine is at 25 feet from the house.

the trailmaster has a good point.  I live in NH where ground freezing is a way of life.  I did not pour a slab, I use those solid cement blocks measuring 4in thick by 8in wide by 16in long that outlines of OWB.  My problem is I didn't properly prepare the area.  I thought I did but the clue I hadn't is that I'm experiencing some heaving in one corner.  So far it hasn't effected my OWB, but I've been lucky.  My idea to combat that is to put in a flex joint that will allow the OWB to move without compromising water flow to and from the house.  If that doesn't work, I fear I'll have to it jack up and redo the ground under it.  Roger

[Hammersquash]

  I am installing as we speak. 
 
  My boiler is 165' from my home and I will be using logstor insulated PEX.  The supplier not far from me gives you a roll on a trailer and you cut off what you need at the job site.
  I am pouring a 4" concrete slab with 2 inches of compacted A gravel as a base.  I am hoping I don't get any heaving but I guess next winter will be the test.  We sure had a long cold one this year.
  The boiler is 15' from my shop but the shop is completely clad in metal so there is no worries there.  I would put as much thought as possible as to where the smoke is going 360' around the stack of your boiler.

[Sprinter]

Floating slabs are not effected much by freeze thaw heaving at these small sizes. Just a 1" thick foam board underneath and this small size is cheap to have some wire , rebar or even scrap that is under 1" diameter. We have a lot of greenhouses , heated floors or not, 40x100 with reagular 3000psi mix and Michigan has some bad freeze thaw cycles to heave. Our roads are famous for it.

[Jwood]

I would go more than 2" of gravel but that's just me.