How to Use a Barrel Wood Stove
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ส.ค. 2024
- Or at least, how I used it ! I learned a lot during the 5 months of use. It worked better and better as I made various improvements. Its inexpensive, very efficient, and I'd recommend it to anyone who needs to heat a greenhouse, shop, garage, or other structure, ...or even heat a house or cabin.
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Aye I like the way you talk. You explain everything so understandable. You seem so humble and laid back.
Thank you sir. I learned a lot from this first setup. When I built the second greenhouse, I used what I had learned and did a much better job on the stove. Its a much bigger greenhouse, so I needed to be as efficient as possible.
I've learn more watching your videos than any others. You have saved me a lot of time and trouble thinking through the problems. Thank you for your videos. Don
Solved a problem for me before i knew i had a problem, ty!
The Barrel Wood stove cleans up pretty nicely. Great job in explaining your trials and tribulations. Should be a fun Woodstove 2.0 project. Thanks!
This is awesome! I appreciate your video more than I can say. I am definitely going to do this. I have spent days watching videos and jotting down ideas about how to heat my greenhouse but yours is THE BEST so far.I am still in the planing stages for my greenhouse but when it is up and going I'll give more feedback (probably next winter as I am going to try to have the greenhouse completed this summer).
The cost factor is what got my attention. There's no way that I could afford to heat 2 greenhouses with oil or gas. Something simple, yet effective, was what I needed. The barrel stoves fit the bill. The idea of burying the lower barrel, or incasing it in concrete or rocks is interesting. Thanks.
Good ol American ingenuity...Good job Bobby!
Being able to remove the lids gives you a lot of options, and definitely makes the cleanout much easier.
For an off grid situation, this would be a great way to stay warm. Thanks.
i really enjoy to watch your videos .. for some reason not only in the greenhouse but also at the field you teach people 100% the way that you are suppost to learn ......keep up the good work because you are the best
Bobby, I'm planning my GH as a winter project, so I came back & re-watched this and your other GH videos a couple of times. I realized that your VERY FIRST video was the original GH video done in Dec 2010. Man, you have come a LONG way in less than a year! You're a YT star! Someday I hope to be as successful and informative as you are. Had a little setback this summer with the rental prop, but I'll be doing more vids this winter & next spring. Thanks for your inspiration AND information. Karl
Great heater. I built one with plastic barrels, built a form, poured concrete, melted the barrels, leaving concrete cavities. The thermal mass of the concrete heats the green house for two days. Can’t clean out the upper chamber like you can though
When your ready to replace the top drum, try installing a horizontal baffle in the half way point in the drum. pressing against the back / Bottom wall of the drum. leaving a space of aprox 6" in the front under your removable lid installing you stack on the bottom of the drum. this will create a 2 pass forcing you flue gas to pass twice through your top drum.
I made one of those baffles inside my single barrel stove to burn up the smoke before it exits. I have no smoke and more heat with less creosote buildup.
Very clever man! Love when people come up with inventions or recycled methods to help resolve their issues.
Add some mass such as fire bricks or some other ceramic material to the top barrel. It will absorb heat and release it over time so if the fire dies down it will still give off heat.
I’ve watched a lot of ur videos cuz I’m marking a green house that’s never been done before & lot of the things u do are pretty good & simple keep it up
Excellent. I want one for inside my house and my small wooden garage, where i will be converting it into a small house, off-grid. Keep up the great work.
@TheDarkowen Thanks! Its great to hear from you. You were one of my first subscribers, back before I knew what one was ! Thx for sticking with me ! I really appreciate it !
Thank you. For greenhouse heating, I think they do a great job. They are certainly more affordable than heating with oil or gas.
If you add a third barrel, and take even more heat out of the stove, it'll probably reduce the exhaust temps to the point that creosote becomes a constant problem.
I don't know how much per week, since it varies greatly depending on the outside conditions. But I went thru 8+ cords of wood this past winter in the 2 greenhouses. For the upcoming season, my plan is to shut down for 6-8 weeks when the weather is coldest to cut back on wood usage, and to give me a break. Of course, I had the same plan last winter, and kept it going straight thru. So we'll see how it turns out.
Great video!! i have been using a single barrel heater for the last several years around the camp, and at my cook shack, as far as heat goes it has worked fairly well , My biggest problem seems it dont draft like i think it should and aint getting enough air, if the door is cracked open ,it does great . i just done another one and it seems to smoke out the door better than up the smoke stack which goes straight up thru the roof , my next attempt will be use pipe & a fan to get it air like you have done . i have drilled air holes but still works better with door open or cracked open .
These are simply metal barrels with removeable lids. The metal circle is called a locking band. It makes it easy to get inside and clean things out. I bought these from a lady online for 10 dollars each.
I actually considered something like that, with one end outside so I could load the barrel without going into the greenhouse. I ended up building a room on the end of the new greenhouse for a new stove setup and to store a decent supply of wood. It has worked out great.
Really enjoyed it, thanks. Hopefully I can apply this to my next greenhouse.
Thank you. If you need a lot of heat, the barrels are a good choice. It's an inexpensive way to get the job done.
The cinder block idea is interesting. I have moved the stove into a different location, so now I don't have much extra room to work around it. Thanks.
It was just a local site that has odd things for sell. The lady had gotten some barrels from where she worked and was selling them to make some extra money. If you have a site over there that has classified ads, that would be a good place to start. Just search for "55 gallon drum" and you might run across something.
Great job! Bet you are the tomato king in your area.
Uh oh...you gone and done it now. You said something about welding. I am terrible at welding thin sheet metal. 1/4 steel is no problem, but the lightweight stuff gives me a fit.
@bowlmeoverva Yes sir...real easy to work with. Thx, looking forward to the next version !
I love your inginuity Bobby! Blessings
Sounds like a lot of hot air to me! lol
Thanks for the vid!!! Daniel and I are hoping to put something together in our greenhouse for the winter. We picked up one barrel from Memphis twine when I bought my crop netting and they are supposed to call me when they empty another one! I think that I'm going to dig out about 2 feet deep and set the stove in it to give me some room for extra dissipation. My greenhouse is only 7 1/2 feet tall!
Excellent video
Yep... I have the good black pipe on the 2 new setups. I have one for each greenhouse and they both have straight stacks, making things much easier.
The plastic is plenty far away. Heat dissipates rather quickly moving thru air. Thats why it takes several hundred degrees to be able to maintain an average temp of about 60.
way cool good vid,nice setup,you are Mr. handy.awesome thanks for the upload.
Really enjoyed it, thanks
@VERN186 Thx Vern, and Happy New Year to ya sir !
Thank you kindly.
@imstillworkin I've got to come up with something. The grate really helped. I saw they had the stove pipe, I'll be going with that the next go round. It was an awesome winter. Snowed several times in December. I had to shovel a path to the GH ! And it was like another world inside, a really cool experience ! Now, its just down right HOT !
I basically set it up per the manufacturers drawings. One of the problems with trying to capture all of the heat is that you end up with low stove pipe temps. There is a lot of heat dissipated in the second barrel. If the exhaust temps are too low, then creosote becomes a serious problem. And that's not good. Its a tricky deal trying to get as much heat as possible, while not being too greedy.
I made a grate out of old plow shares I just put a inch gap between them. they usually have 3 to 4 holes in them so you can bolt them to a couple flat irons that run the length of the stove. This is perfect since you can take one end of your barrel off to get it in.
The fan came from Grainger, and the thermostat came from ACF greenhouses. Most any GH supplier will carry a thermostat like that.
Put 2 or 3 secondary air tubes near the ceiling of the bottom barrel like the modern EPA stoves have and you'll burn a lot less wood and have hardly any smoke coming out the chimney.
Secondary reburn is where it’s at 🤘
good job....thanks 4 the tips
@atzerath No, not a dumb question at all... I tried some firebrick in the top barrel, and it was just too heavy. Those barrels have fairly thin metal, and I wasn't comfortable with the additional weight on top like that.
@thinkyourright Rebar is too soft. I just put a stainless steel grate in it, (as noted by the VR) and should have no problems. True on the pipe..much of todays metal is recycled junk. When making a video on a topic, you don't know if the viewer has seen 50 more like it, or if its the first one. I try to explain everything as best I can. I'm sure you've seen plenty that provided few details and left you wondering. Merry Christmas ! ;-)
Thanks for the video. This Will help me.
fantastic video!
Thanks Don. I've had some time to work out the kinks. It works much better once I figured out what the heck I was doing. :-)
VERY innovative! Great vid....ty- I want to try and build one with smaller barrels!
Very interesting Bobby. You give me lots of ideas but on a smaller scale. Keep up the good work. Mark (Pepperman)
Very good video friend. Thumbs up! Heres some more tips. Paint your 'fan box' and pipe black, and put it in a southern exposure if possible. Additionally, if you can run your air intake, through or around the stove, before running it outside, this would also help pre-heat the intake air. Making your stove even more efficient.
Bobby,
I have a double barrel stove but have never used it. I have natural gas for my greenhouse but I thought of using the barrel stove and the gas would be backup. My thought was to use an addon shed as you have thought of and using a fan to blow the hot air into and circulate through the green house. I also wondered about running water lines through the top barrel and using hot water heat. I'm not ambitious enough to get it done but maybe you are. Love your videos, keep them coming.
Phil
During heavy use, I'm cleaning them out every 2 weeks. Seems to work pretty well.
@MelodeeRose Thats the thing that made the most difference. It makes starting a fire a piece of cake. Like a car going 0 to 60 in 4 seconds... it gets a fire going in a hurry.
That greenhouse is a perfect candidate for a rocket mass heater. Paul Wheaton has some good videos about them.
You're right about the cost of gas. I couldn't do this if I had to heat with it.
Yes sir, double poly is a good idea. Since this video was made, I did add the second layer. And the new greenhouse that I built also has double layers and the inflation blower. I haven't used any type of bubble wrap.
Nice setup, thanks for sharing and keep up the good work. I wanted to mention to anyone who might do this... DO NOT FOR ANY REASON burn so much as one stick of CCA pressure treated lumber in this or any other wood stove. It is tempting to burn the scraps but the ash that remains (and escapes through small cracks into the inside of the greenhouse) is EXTREMLY poisonous! No Joke here.
@cfenster If you can get some 35 gal barrels, or whatever the smaller ones are, that might be better. There is a tremendous amount of heat being generated in the 55's...might be a bit overkill. And the hardware bkts support both size barrels.
Thank you.
I lined my burn barrel with fire brick half way up. I also baffled the upper barrel that routed the wood gas to the front of the barrel then attached the stove pipe flange at the back if the barrel directly above the burn barrel pipe. I welded up my log grate from 5/8" rebar. My stove runs at 750-800 degrees at maximum fire. Using a fire brick liner allows banking coals and makes the barrel last much longer. I did forget to mention building an angle iron frame that fits inside the burn barrel to hold the fire bricks in place. My stove heats a 5000 sq ft. 2 story barn that was converted to a home. My next barrel stove will use 30 gallon barrels. I agree with you about using barrels with removable lids. Currently I am fabricating a wood stove using a 100 gallon propane bottle. Thicker steel means a longer lasting heater. If I wasn't living in a mobile home I would be heating with a rocket mass heater.
where do you get 100 gal bottles from that are cheap?
GENIUS!
I used a fiberglass stove gasket. It held up very well. 7/16 or 1/2 inch will do.
@dahistoryman That is something that I've thought about quite a bit. Right now, its about cost..copper is too expensive for me to be experimenting with. 2 options I've considered...wrapping the outside of the top barrel with copper, maybe 3/8, and pumping it thru an A-coil or other heat exchanger and using a blower...or just pumping it thru a long grow bed using pex. After I get the new one setup, I may try this.
this video was a great idea for green houses/ high tunnel that have cold climates that was on point
@mindround Thx. I'm hoping somebody see's it and has suggestions on how to make the stove work even better. I'm trying to figure a good way to heat my house with it, without getting smoke inside....for when we have no electricity...or the SHTF.
@SidneyBou Thx. Around here, I dont think anyone uses coal, at least I haven't heard of it. Theres a lot of outside wood boilers though, something I'd like to have.
@grandaddyc I'm not familiar with that stuff. I was thinking of just using a rope gasket around the lid, and then using the high heat caulk stuff around the access door. That lower barrel has temps around 1K degrees at times, so its gonna take something that can withstand those kind of temps. I really would like to get it airtight, so the stove would work at an optimum level.
@MrHoneybee1234 With the current setup using a thermostatically controlled fan, I'm getting about 4 1/2 to 6 hours. It hasnt gotten real cold yet, so I expect that to be cut down to about 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Thats a lot better than the 2 1/2 to 3 that I was getting at times last winter. I want to be able to go to bed, and get back up only once. A 4 hour burn will give me that.
@Marlania1 Hmmm...very carefully ? lol. Kinda simple, each hoop is 3 10ft pcs of 3/4 conduit, bent on a homemade jig, secured to the ground with 3ft pcs of 1 inch conduit. 2x4 and 2x6 framing around the bottom, ends are 4x4 and2x4..windows I had on hand...framed ends to fit windows. Plastic secured by 1x2 furring strips. When I start the next one, I'll do videos of the process. Its gonna be very different.
Of what I know(and you have the best !!!) what, these are great stoves, hands down. this is how you do it !!! you can use bed frames for a coal bed.(grid), the fan starts the fire in a hurry , but you can use a air injector to assist the exhaust,up the pipe rater than pushing on the flame. this way any time you need to add wood to yor stoves house is is neg.pressure and it sucks hard from the outside. it's like a venturi effect so to fix that a switch to shut off the fan when refueling,, the only problem I can see is a lack of humidity. that could be solved with a large pan of water on the top of the stove, to accommodate the given plants humidity's needs. why I say this is, pulling outside air can mess with the humidity ? and most plants like it humid and warm ?.
once again you have the dream double barrel set up. = crazy heat !.efficient, and GREEN and self supporting, if done right!!!. good job, nice build .! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.and a heads up to the idiots that have no clue.
@mediamaker2000 I have watched several videos about them, but I don't fully understand the process or how to apply it to what I'm doing. After I saw how well the barrels worked, I just concentrated on ways to improve them. I'm sure theres a simple method for the rocket stove, I just haven't researched it very much.
@djs6576 Thx, I looked them up, not a bad deal. I'm gonna try to seal the one I have and see how it goes. If it fails...I'll be ordering the deluxe version.
@llewej7 Thx...I've heard similar about treated wood. All my scraps go to the dump, no need taking chances.
The barrel stoves are quick and easy to set up but I'm also considering building a masonry stove which would have greater thermal mass . I might even add a oven to it so I can make pizza . Ha ! And I like your idea of being able to feed the stove from the outside so you don't have to store the wood inside or be opening and closing a door.
@dianemummvideos Hmmm... I'm kinda booked up the next couple of months ! And I'm sure there's some travel involved as well. ... They are really simple. If you decide to go this right, I'll be glad to help you. Its 18 x 40, really not very big. That stove would easily heat twice that size if I did a better job of insulating, and added the second layer of plastic and blower.
@anyusmoon1 Yea, a small panel would run a fan no problem. I'm gonna do a lot of things different next winter, I just haven't figured out what they are !
very impressive...
hi... nice video. i wanted to comment about the bricks. i am speaking from theory, and from what others have done... i have not done it myself (yet). i saw one guy that used vermiculite. he built an inner chamber in the top and bottom barrel, and in the outer chamber, he filled it with verm. its light, cheap, and is a mineral so won't burn but will help retain the heat and make the burn more efficient. hope that helps. thanks for sharing your experience
Great video -- I've been thinking about doing the same for my greenhouse -- I've bookmarked this page for future reference. Thanks for uploading this video
@mfpieklik Me? Ideas? Uh oh, lol ... What do you have in mind? Any suggestions that might help me ?
@mrbr549 Sounds like some of the ideas we tossed around. I've got a couple of buddys who are great HVAC guys, and wrapping in copper was suggested, as well as pipes in the barrels, and even a large heat exchanger. There are 2 things I need....function and simplicity. It has to heat very well, a lot of BTU output. And it also has to be able to operate without electricty. Trying to picture what you're suggesting... let me think on it a bit ;-)
Have you looked at the fans that run on heat?
Just the heat from the stove makes electricity to run the fan.
Make your grate out of rebar. Lasts a long time , costs a bit, but is worth it in the long run
Your ultimate solution will be to make your own outdoor furnace. To go the cheapest route, use your barrel stove wrapped with soft copper line just outside the greenhouse. Run underground lines for glycol hot water inside the perimeter of your greenhouse, using thermostatic control over the draft to your stove. You will need to enclose your stove in a structure of course, and I would suggest using sand as the thermal mass and for fire isolation. You may need to use 4x4 framing to hold the sand.
good job
thumbs up
@stevesrt8 Thx, I'm just trying to give back a little. I've learned a lot from other folks videos, a whole lot !
what's the ceiling minimum clearance? what if it has heat shield?
On the galvanized silver pipe have you tried sloping it more so that any condensation on the inside will go back to the wood burner. that way the condensation doesn't just sit in the pipe and will go back to the heat and dry it out
@DesertDigger1 Thank you much !
@MrVTHILLBILLY Thx ... its been a life saver !
@GilaTomster Thank you !
If your stove smokes you need to improve draft by raising the height of the vertical chimney, preferably with insulated pipe outside the structure. To get more room around the stove place steel sheeting shields 18 inches from the stove allowing the heat to thermal upward and throughout the green house. I run a single drum stove in a large house with 28 ft tall vaulted ceilings at 5,000 ft altitude. The single wall vertical pipe is over 20 ft tall before it goes through the ceiling. It heats like nobody's business.
My work uses radiator heating and its always cold so i put a fan blowing on the radiator and it warms the room better and quicker So I wonder if you put a regular stand osculating fan blowing on the barrels back and forth would dissipate the heat into the green house.
@bigfatcahoonas Thats an idea that has been "floated", no pun inteneded ! The problem with that is trying to support the 30-40 gal weight. If the barrel was turned 90 degrees, and a support was built under it, that might would work. Welding would be another issue. I'm terrible with thin metal, so trying to weld inside a barrel, and make it water tight, would be a problem for me. It does sound like a good idea though.
i like the idea of wood stove to heat up the green house of a set temperature, why not use it as smoker too,.. using mesquite or hickory, smoke your tomato marinated with garlic, basil, parsley, rosemary & little bit of olive oil, also smoke your fish or meat inside, used it for a multi-purpose smokers,. mind as well it will benefit you from using electric stove or gas, it will serve you much better for your family,.
Two suggestions: Adding a layer or 3 inside the second barrel to increase the path the heat has to take. Second adding fins to the barrels to increase convection (heat transfer).
Im sure you can build it too guys. Just look for woodprix guide.
Lovely. That is awesome to me!