Water Stove Help

[HOGSTEAD]

Has anybody built a water stove. I'm thinking about building one with used oil burner.

 

[oosik]

No - but saw one at a homesteaders place while we lived in AK. It worked too good. Summer time was OK because the stove was only used to cook. Winter - the water got too hot because the stove was used to heat the house along with cooking. There was the need for a by-pass line. Either manual or automatic - so when the water in the storage tank reached XXX degrees it either bypassed or just shut off.

In the winter - run a tub of water and wait or bring in a couple buckets of clean snow.

 

[Jeepnford]

I built one that burns wood. I just put a cylinder in a cube. Probably should have built one with some sort of flu baffle so I didn't lose so much heat. When the temp gets to about zero I think a steam locomotive would use less wood. Anyway, what's your question? I might be able to answer.

 

[yomax4]

I built one that burns wood. I just put a cylinder in a cube. Probably should have built one with some sort of flu baffle so I didn't lose so much heat. When the temp gets to about zero I think a steam locomotive would use less wood. Anyway, what's your question? I might be able to answer.

Built one too. More water the better. I copied the much hated Shaver furnace which was an old design but with mods, Can be made to function very well. Mine too will below smoke and heat when it's below zero and windy. Prepare to burn a dozen or more cord of hardwood depending where you live. I'm north central USA. If you live in a moderate climate say south of Iowa, Indianna, Nebraska. Prepare for a lot of Creosote and frequent cleanings. These babies run best below 35 degrees. I too wish there was a way to implement a damper but it would be a Creosote nightmare. Mines 10 yrs old and heats potable water too.

 

[yomax4]

I haven't paid for a drop of propane in 10 years but I have missed many a day of hunting and fishing because I had to make wood. Still happens today. I try to keep 2 years ahead. If you plan to split with a stand alone splitter I recommend a horizontal and add a log lift. I'm near the end of it and look forward to not having to plan my life around Fire Wood. I do enjoy cutting, dragging, cutting, splitting, stacking, hauling and restacking and then burning. The stuff warms you many times before it turns to ash.

 

[locknut]

Back in the 80's I built some copper coil pads mounted on sides of the woodstove from a magazine article.Used it for many years with no problems.In May I switched over to the 2 4x8 solar panels on the roof.The electric water heater hardly ever came on year round.Used an 80 gal preheater tank and a small Teel brand pump.The article and plans are still available in internet form.

Build A Woodstove Water-Heating Attachment - Do It Yourself - MOTHER EARTH NEWS

 

[feasant]

i use a central boiler brand. only thing i can say if building a water stove is make sure you have the water vented as water turns to steam and builds pressure can be explosive

 

[FarmWrench]

1/3 of the energy is in the conversion of CO to CO2. (Firefighters know this energy release when "flashover" occurs.)

You need to be almost 800° and with a water cooled jacket holding the temp to the point of boiling water the majority of the smoke and CO exits unburnt.

Stoves like the "wood gun" and European gasification stoves get the efficiency by using refractory lined combustion chamber and absorbing the heat elsewhere. The downside is a small firebox.

I did some numbers and couldn't make the mountains of wood a boiler would take for what Natural gas costs.

I even bought a CD of design and construction ideas from eBay. I wanted to know how to properly control the air. I've seen where things went South and had run away fires damage the stove.

Prairie farm report had a collection of farm built stoves. I really liked the ones where 8' long logs got dropped into the top and a hydraulic lid closed. Lots of flax bale burning also on the PFR. YouTube should find something for you.

 

[GLyford]

only thing i can say if building a water stove is make sure you have the water vented as water turns to steam and builds pressure can be explosive

Even a Pressure-Temp relief valve is not a guarantee, especially if your steam vent line goes outside then turns down at an elbow that is open to subzero weather, and your relief is opening more often than you realize putting condensed steam in that elbow.

Fortunately for us, we just had to replace the relief valve and resolder the vent line, and then cut off the outside vent elbow for good measure. When Dad remodeled the kitchen, the stainless water jacket* came out since there was no way to get that past the inspector, but at least it was a good 10-ish year run. Since the stove was used for general heat, not just water, he could run the fire hotter, and made sure to have at least one hot fire every day to keep the stack clean. The jacket was tied into the solar heat exchanger-controller-circulator-storage system. Without that infrastructure already in place (and subsidized by the tax code) it would probably have been more hassle than benefit. There was also a learning curve, the first jacket was not stainless and smaller, and I think only lasted a couple of years.

* rectangular, maybe 2x6x16? Was bolted to the wall of the stove above the firebrick (which came up half high), and had two circulator connections on the "back" end, and I think a drain plug on the "front".

 

[BLSXJ]

look up GARN wood heaters. from what i have seen they have the best approach.