Barrel Stove?

arabian knight · #21 09/30/13, 11:55 AM

The EPA Takes an Ax to Self-Sufficiency: Most Woodburning Stoves Will Soon Be Illegal

Quote:

When you think of that little dream homestead in the woods, what does it include? Probably a well and septic system, a little stream bubbling nearby, a chicken coop, a sunroom for winter growing, and a cozy fire to curl up next to.

When my daughter and I spent a year living in a cabin in the Northwoods of Canada, our woodstove was our lifeline. It was the only source of heat in a place that reached -42 degrees. It was the only way we could cook when our power went out during snow and ice storms (as it did frequently). It was the cozy center of our home, and we survived for an entire frigid winter for less than$800. After that experience I vowed never to live in a home without a woodstove.

If the EPA has its way, however, heating your home self-sufficiently with wood could soon become illegal – or at the very least, insanely expensive.

http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/the-...legal-09282013

JoeKan · #22 09/30/13, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

I started by lining the bottom barrel with refractory cement.

You can use anything.

Ash comes from your fire.

Thanks, I knew that.

farmerscotty · #23 10/01/13, 08:33 AM

Two things come to mind from me. 1 you don't need it lined, actually if it gets water inside, it would rust faster since the ash and water makes lye and eats it up, you need to be able to clean it out completely. The bottom can be insulated with 2 inches of ashes and be fine. I have seen drums 10 years old with a paint strip still on the bottom since the heat goes up. 2 Any heater that is homemade will not be covered by insurance. That could be a big deal, it is in the fine print on policies. We have had many drums last 7,8,9 even 10 years in our outdoor heaters. Stay warm, I figure Missouri is in for a winter this year...we haven't had much here in SW Missouri last few years. Scott

Rustaholic · #24 10/01/13, 07:17 PM

Back in 1984 my wood fired furnace suddenly died and the only thing I had was a small two barrel stove that my father-in-law had built. He had used it one year and it wasn't much good.
It was two 15 gallon grease drums.
I hooked it up for the 84-85 season because that was all I had.
It was not enough to heat my house well.

When my FIL built it he did not buy a kit. He hand made all the parts.
For the pipe between the two barrels he used the steel centers from two terminal spools from a factory.
When he welded them together they were 1/8 inch apart and he welded around them by welding an inch and skipping an inch. Then to seal it up he packed furnace cement around it.

All that Winter I had to build fires that were not too large because the lower barrel would glow red and I did not want to burn it out.
We started saving money to buy a new stove for the next year and then the 1985-86 season started extra early.

I was short a couple hundred bucks so first really cold spell I went down and started a small fire in the barrel stove.
It was then that I noticed how dusty that stove was so I grabbed a shop brush and started sweeping it off.
oops, I barely bumped that connecting pipe and the collar of furnace cement fell off.

What a blessing that it worked that way. If I had seen the dust before lighting the fire and the furnace cement had fallen off then for sure I would have "fixed" it before lighting the first fire.

What happened was as air entered those slots all around the pipe there was a ball of fire going into that top barrel.
From then on the fire burned in the bottom barrel and the gasses burned in the top barrel.
What I had to do was build VERY small fires or the top barrel would get too red. The bottom barrel never got red again. I used half as much wood and got more heat than we really needed.
Seven warm winters I used that stove until it was too burned out to use safely.

Right then I was working on a house and there were two stoves on the front porch.
A piece of crap Franklin and a larger All-Nighter that looked like only one fire had been burned in it.
I paid $100 for the All-Nighter and it came with the original manual and a large cast iron teapot.
That is exactly the $1100 stove I was wanting to buy eight years earlier.
We are still using that old air-tight stove and I am now looking for a piece of 20 to 22 inch well pipe to make an upper "barrel" from and guess what I will do between the two. I will put a door with a window on the top chamber and a shelf inside so the burning gasses have to go around it before leaving the stove.
I will also line that top "barrel" with a 3000 F rated castable refractory. I am getting ready to build a foundry that will melt cast iron and I have more than twice as much of that refractory than I will need.

This experience absolutely has proved to me that secondary combustion really is way more efficient.
I just do not have the money to upgrade and I do know how to get twice the heat from this old air-tight stove.
Right now it does a pretty good job but my goal is to use less wood and have cleaner exhaust.

Oldcountryboy · #25 10/01/13, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDDIE BUCK

Dang,and I was hoping Big Rockpile was back in town..

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Originally Posted by ceresone

I, too, was thrilled to see our old friend back-- Drats, hope's dashed!

Gosh, what a dissappointment! I too, was getting a thrill that old rock was back. He is one guy I miss and miss all his game pictures. Wished he would come back!

Rustaholic · #26 10/01/13, 09:12 PM

You folks have been around here much longer than I have . All you need to do is click on his name then click on Find All Post by Big Rock Pile.
He is still here just posting in other areas.

unregistered41671 · #27 10/01/13, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustaholic

You folks have been around here much longer than I have . All you need to do is click on his name then click on Find All Post by Big Rock Pile.
He is still here just posting in other areas.

Nope, his last activity was 1/21/13