Biochar - Making it in the wood stove AND heating our home
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 มี.ค. 2017
- www.edibleacres.org
After 3 years with this system it feels like its worth sharing our work flow with charcoal making in our woodstove. So far so good, with a few hundred sessions made.
We use hotel pans, stainless steel type... You can see what I mean here:
bit.ly/2nBYKn7
Tons of options out there. We found some that fit in the woodstove with a little room to put wood below and around. With three sets we can be making charcoal, having the next one drying and preheating near the stove, and one cooling in the garage. If I focus on it for a day, I can make about 10 gallons of excellent quality charcoal per day while heating our home on about 50% less firewood... Its pretty wonderful!
Edible Acres is a full service permaculture nursery located in the Finger Lakes area of NY state. We grow all layers of perennial food forest systems and provide super hardy, edible, useful, medicinal, easy to propagate, perennial plants for sale locally or for shipping around the country...
www.edibleacres.org/purchase - Your order supports the research and learning we share here on youtube.
We also offer consultation and support in our region or remotely.
www.edibleacres.org/services
Happy growing!
Great video. I bought two of those restaurant pans and started making my own biochar at home after watching this video. It works great in my wood burning stove. I also added a video on my channel showing the final process of how I make the biochar into fine particles and dust for use in my organic raised bed garden. th-cam.com/video/rsRHtgmFQyk/w-d-xo.html Thanks again!
I'll give this a pin for a while so folks can see your process. Maybe you'll get a few subscribers out of the deal. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent. Thank you!
Well done and well explained.
Here we go again another example that:
"Knowledge is a treasure that increases in value by sharing it"
These days, distance is no barrier - attitude can be ...Thanks for sharing
Completely brilliant, thank you for showing how a bit of lateral thought can be so productive, imagine if just 10% of people with wood burners thought about energy like this! Brilliant
I also wish everyone was free to heat their homes with wood. It's a shame people in so many parts of CA aren't allowed by the government to use anything besides gas or electric.
Your channel is truly a gift. I love "low-tech" solutions and you excel at them. Thank you.
Absolutely our pleasure to share with you!
So happy I found this! Always thought of making charcoal but didn’t like the idea of burning outdoors. Making charcoal and heating my house at the same time, simple but clever, love it. Thanks so much for sharing, keep it up :)
Please be safe and observant if you choose to try it!
This is awesome! I love the stacking of functions you have going on. It's amazing how much charcoal you are making from the process too.
Amazing wood stove and garden hack. Can't wait to do it!
Brilliant - I love your videos. They are always simple and informative. You have inspired me to start making biochar to improve our composting. Thank you so much 👍
I made my first biochar few days ago!
Again thanks! :)
Outstanding!! What a great option. I been trying to figure out a way to make biochar easily for my greenhouse rocket stove. This gives me ideas. Thank you.
Excellent idea. Will be using beyond other biochar projects.
Great to see a simple effective way of utilising the heat and making the char. Dont forget to quench it to make it hydrophylic
I love the stacked functions!
Fantastic idea. I've watched many ways of making biochar and this is going to be top of list to be try. Thank you!
We've found it to be quite wonderful as a system.
thanks for sharing the journey
Thank you very much for your video. I am making my first batch of charcoal right now. Greetings from Slovakia.
Wonderful. I hope it works amazingly for you.
Great video! Thanks for sharing your experience with a simple and handy way to make biochar at home.
My pleasure. Be safe and have fun!
love the set up! thanks for sharing good job!
Absolutely brilliant!
Happy pie day!
thank you for your informative vids! i was really looking forward to seeing how you made biochar for your chickens and for compost.
Hopefully it was helpful
What really put this into a great perspective.. was seeing the added functions of the stove. It isn't a linear thing and instead it complements your life in other ways. Now we see that it isn't just wasted away resources ...
Thats important, and what helps make these sorts of activities live in the realm of permaculture principles for me.
Thank you for showing this method. I live in an area where we can't have an open flame, nor do we have wood heat. But the propane grill and a hotel pan has been working very nicely whenever I cook on the grill. It is slow, but it is working.
Neat way to work with it!
This is great! My insert recirculates the air when choked and all the volatiles are burned off. Crazy how much heat it kicks out for the amount I burn. The ceiling fan helps move it around the first floor.
I was thinking about making an outside unit to make char but was worried about the temperature not being high enough or not burning the volatiles but now I don't have too. This is as close to zero.waste as you can get. Thank you for sharing this.
This is genius thank you for sharing. I will share this with my friends ☺️
Thanks for sharing ... super idea! I tried your method in our wood stove and it worked perfect very first try. Sure makes good sense to capture the heat required to make biochar vs heating the great outdoors!
So glad it worked for you in a good way
I like . Very good. I took interest in making char w my stove I have used for 10 years., I made my own char in my stove yesterday. I don’t use a pan as you do . My stove is a new generation of stove I invented my self. I can shovel char directly into a metal bucket placed at the stove door a little dusty because there is some unintended ash . Put more log firewood on top of char and repeat over and over. Made several gallons of char while heating my home as you. My stove is very efficient wherein you can place hand on exhaust and hold it when a pretty good fire normal burn. Requires no electricity or fan. Also burn pellets, dung , peat , chips, sawdust from saw mill. And firewood.
My interest in making char has been of late for my earth worms and garden.
A lot of shared interests and good stuff!! To all who aspire .
I let my patent expire so good for those who are in need of solutions.❤gift to the world. Excellent greenhouse or shop heater. Always knew there were other uses and processes that could be used. Thanks
What a great idea, love this
This was helpful, thanks for sharing.
This is simply beautiful, I love it! 🔥🧡
Excellent video! Thank you
Super cool (or hot) idea! Thanks for sharing your multi beneficial method.
Great idea using those catering containers. Seem made for the job. In the UK (and perhaps elsewhere) they are called Gastronorm and come in different moduar sizes. I've been wanting to make charcoal in a retort in my wood stove but couldn't think of what container to use. Problem solved.
Hope this idea serves you really well. Be safe and enjoy.
This is my favorite channel on allllllll of youtube
Thats a lot of lllllls! I think you mean it! I'm glad I beat out pewdiepie for yoU!
.. imo, one of the best regarding practical real life experience with plenty of "permaculture mentality", respect!
Brilliant. I didn't think about burning the wood gas in the stove. Absolutely brilliant. Thank you!!!
It's been really great for us. We make at least a few batches every day in the winter!
I've done this! Per your reccomendation last year I bought two of the small pans with lids. I had to be especially careful since I have a Jotul 602F woodstove. It is such a cute little stove for our 990 s.f. strawbale home. Anyway, the pans just barely fit in the door, and I have to tilt them a bit to get them out, since they expand a little when heated.
I've made batch after small batch of biochar using waste wood, wood chips (free from our city dump) and tree clippings and prunings from our farm. I've put fresh wood chips in the pans, and as long as I don't pack them down too much, they char up wonderfully.
I only get about 30 to 45 minutes of wood gas production from each full pan. But I attribute that to the size of my pan, not a fault of the system. Anyway, with two pans, it is plenty enough for 2 burns a morning, which is all I need so far this fall to keep my house warm. We go from 65F in the morning to 74F with 3 hours of wood stove burning.
Thanks for posting this video, and I hope to have it shared and liked by every wood stove burning person I know.
I saved my question for last. Have you tried burning compressed hardwood pellets in the pans? If so, did they do alright? I would try them, but haven't bought a bag of them yet, since I can get all of the free wood chips I could ever use.
Update: I bought a bag of compressed hardwood pellets. I've successfully turned them into biochar. One word of caution however, the wood pellets expands as they offgas and raise the pan lid just a bit. After more offgassing, they settle down. I would suggest using less than a full pan of pellets if you are worried about the lid shifting.
All of the fuels I've used to make biochar finish up being about 1/3 the size they were before burning.
Such a Nova idea. I will try
Brilliant idea!
Very nice, I've had thoughts along these lines and glad I found your video, I'll be doing some char in a masonry heater this winter!
Critical note is that in my experience starting with a very lightly loaded batch with a gentle fire to begin with is the only way to go... One can get a feel for it without a big potential for overfiring.
@@edibleacres will start off small :). We light 40 lb fires and burn it top down so there's plenty of time for the char to be done. Before it's a raging fire
Dude I love the video. I've been looking into this kind of stuff a lot lately. I'm going to hook an ERV before winter here with return vent over or fire place to distribute the hot air more equitably this winter. Have you thought of any other ways to harness energy from the fire place?
Nice! I've been doing the same thing in our wood stove except with an unused 1-gal paint can. I have a 3/16 hole in the side where the wood gas shoots out and burns. After it cools, I've been dumping the biochar into the trashcan where the chicken poop goes after being cleaned out of the coop and before going to the garden.
I like your restaurant pans better because they look larger and easier to load. I'm going to have to find some of those. It does surprise me a bit that oxygen doesn't find its way into the pans, but the proof is in the biochar!
Thanks for charing!
Thanks for sharing notes. Sounds good to me with your system, although I'm learning I prefer to have the largest retort in the stove that can comfortably fit since it reduces so much once its done. But the can idea sounds nice since its got a handle and can be adjusted easily.
Very nice and efficient....also economical.
nice system, grate to see it
I have been messing with this method for a year now and it works beautifully! I really like that nothing goes to waste here. The only thing I find challenging is knowing when to pull it out, these gases are definitely not nice to get in your home I realized, lol!
The nice thing with it is when in doubt, keep it in longer. Can't hurt, it doesn't get wasted... Sometimes I just put another log or two around it if I think it's done but I'm not 100% sure.
@@edibleacres Sounds like a great idea, thanks! So, do I have to keep the fire in the wood stove burning quite strongly?
You’ve inspired me to do this also, except with two soup cans fitted together with three holes punched in one end. I can get about 4 or 5 uses before they are burned through, but it’s free. Of course it’s not very much volume compared you but that is what i had to use right now. I will be doing straight hard wood saw dust since i have unlimited access to it from a cabinet shop, and hopefully avoid the need to grind the charcoal pieces. I have not yet come up with an easy way to grind all the charcoal i make.
We add the charcoal to our chicken yard and that grinds it enough... You could put charcoal in walkways of your garden and after a year, scrape it up and put it into the garden beds. Passive way to crush charcoal, and it gives it time to absorb nutrients that leach from gardens...
What I did was get on unused empty gas propane bottle , after filing with waster to expel any gas , I cut the to
Off since I have a plasma cutter ( you can use a grinder ) , then after making the biochar . I wet it down first the pit it in the tub and smash it down with a piece of 2x 4 , it goes to very fine particles and no dest as it’s wet . I used a 45 gallon drum to make my biochar , also I have an old cast iron bath that does a grate job as well , I do have a wood Burner as well and could use this method quite easily. All my hot water is from wood and solar , I’ve not paid for hot water for several years.
Most efficient! Now I have a bio char source.
The best way I have seen so far on how to make charcoal, nothing is wasted, as your making the charcoal, and using the heat from the posses as well. I do think ammo cans would work, as they are sealed by the rubber gasket, but you could remove the gasket as it would not hold up to the heat of the fire and would only make rubber smoke and stink. If you remove the gasket from the Ammo can, the lid is no longer a tight seal.
Have you given this a try? Is the lid tight enough without the rubber gasket to keep out any extra air during the burning or cooling process? Looking forward to hearing about your results.
I AM NO METAL EXPERT but stainless will be unfazed by all the heat time after time. steel like ammo can is going to oxidize like crazy
Interesting. I never thought of that. Thx.
This is brilliant!
We really appreciate it
Thanks for the redirect. Noticed we think alike on stove setup. Built my hearth with broken floor tile and brick. Wish mine could be set to draw in unconditioned air to feed combustion.
The outside air intake is pretty amazing I believe, insanely high return on investment if it's at all possible.
Great info, thanks for sharing. God bless you.
good and informative video. Have a marvellous day
I watched a few years ago and I started doing this with wood chips I get for free. I quench it in water while still hot. I have converted an insinkarator to a compost/biochar grinder to break up the biochar. I mix some biochar into the compost grinding to feed compost worms and then I also mix biochar into the worm castings. This works great as is shown in the video.
Cool system you've evolved for yourself!
I tried this with a simple aluminum foil takeout container with a lid. Terrible idea, the thing burned down within 5 minutes.
Definitely going to get a restaurant pan for future uses. Thank you!
I would have to have one of those half that size for my stove, but I will look for one to do the job, thanks! Very cool! (or warm)
The nice thing about the hotel pan as a core element is they come in so many shapes and sizes and are not hard to find... I'm sure you'd find some that fit your stove with room to spare for wood, etc.
The power of wood awesome thanks
Thanks for the inspiration man.
Hope it works great, please be safe
This is the best biochar video I've seen! Brilliant way of creating biochar! Just one question... Does the process of creating biochar nullify the allelopathic chemicals in certain woods?
Brilliant!
Brilliant.
Great share!
Great idea 💡 I wish I had a wood stove. Might have to get one I think 🤔
We use this system every day in the winter at this point.
I have a couple of those steamer pans perfect idea!
I love utilizing a process for maximum benefits and minimum cost...yeah!
Me too!!
Great job!!! Genius!
thanks for sharing, respect!
Great channel,! 2 questions: since the gas is coming out, how many wood logs do you need for 2 hrs of heat? Can you overcook charcoal if you keep it in there longer once all gasses are cooked out?
Hi! I love this video, have watched it several times. Can you give any info on quenching the charocal with water? Is it necessary, and do you know the benefits or drawbacks?
Thanks, I've been doing this for a few months now and it works absolutely great. I'm using tin cans which are a little smaller but I also have a smaller stove, yet they still produce an impressive amount of heat. I made a quick video how I do it, "Making charcoal in a wood stove". Again, thanks for the idea 👍
Glad you are making it work for your context. I wonder how long the tin cans may last, but hey, great you are working with what you have!
@@edibleacres The tin cans hold surprisingly well so far, but in case they get destroyed I have even more of them :)
And they're just the right size for my stove, whereas the size itself isn't really the issue but the amount of heat produced, my stove can easily get 50°C hotter than usual
@@tomlauris Would there be any worry of contaminating you biochar with metal toxins using the tin can method?
Thanks for this video. Wondering if a camp oven vessel would work?
I haven't tried so I can't say... Just be careful!
Amazingly smart!!!!!!!!!
Very cool. I recently started using binchotan charcoal as a water purifier (charcoal is the active ingredient inside a typical Brita-style water filter) but I've been wondering if homemade charcoal would work just as well. Glad to learn it's pretty easy to make, I'll definitely try it one day.
I had to look up that binchotan idea, never heard of it... Looks very interesting, I'd be interested to know how its production would differ from this method. I'm sure there is more to it than what I'm doing!
I'm in England and I use biscuit tins.
You can even make charcoal powder from newspapers this way if you ruffle them a bit
Neat trick!
Absolutely love this! Fascinating too! I have been watching your videos for days now. Learning so much! Thank you! I can’t imagine you will have time but I will chance it.. you mentioned how it would be dangerous to have a sealed metal container as it might explode with the expanding gases however if the container was punctured before hand with holes for gases to escape would that be ok in your opinion? And if so how much room should be made available for the gases to escape.. Thank you so much. 😊🌱💚🙏✨🔥
Really glad you are into the channel! I don't want to offer any advice on what you are describing because unless I truly knew what you were trying to do I can't be sure I'm giving a positive nod to something dangerous. I think having a loose fitting lid is quite critical so if gasses build up intensely they can easily escape. Whatever you end up doing, go super slow and observant, add only a tiny bit at first! Good luck.
wow....what genius!!!
Love your video!. What do you then use the biochar for in the garden?
I'm sure we'll make more videos on the many uses for biochar in the gardens as the season begins... But we add the crushed charcoal to where ever there is 'excess' nutrient. So in the chicken yard under where they roost, whenever compost gets a smell to it, as a filter for water moving in the landscape, etc. etc and then finally, once inoculated fully it goes into the garden.
Hello Edible Acres, thanks very much for the awesome videos, super inspiring. With out recommending anything, do you think this process would work in an open fireplace, we are in a very old house and in each room there are open fireplaces. They are extremely inefficient and it is hard to keep warm with out burning a lot of wood, I wonder if this would keep the room warmer.
Kindly,
Jess
Seems like somethiing to explore. Please be careful, but I would try it if it were my space.
What an awesome way to do this! I'm curious about how you're pumping heat into your basement. Could you do a video on this? I'd love to implement the bio char and the extra heat into our heating system. I currently just collect ash and the charcoal left behind for our animal pens base layer then mix into their bedding then compost but this is so much more multifaceted:)
th-cam.com/video/6uuhrdmfnqo/w-d-xo.html - First video where I at least mention it, perhaps it's a place to start on thinking about pulling heat down into the basement from the stove. We don't use it all the time, but when it's going to get super cold we put it in to add a warmer pillow down there.
Hey does anyone know of any options out there for an electric starter? Or to generate steam electricity from your stove? Great vid! Keep em coming!
I'm very impressed. This is a very effective and efficient way to make biochar. Far superior to what I've been doing not far away in the Whitney Point /Lisle area. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with those of us with no mentoring.
Absolutely our pleasure to share. Nice to have you as part of the community here Tom!
I tried it now for about 20 batches and I can tell that it is a great method. Thanks a lot for sharing! Can you maybe provide some details about that type of stove you use in this video? I live in Europe and have not seen such built before.
So glad it's working for you.
We have a Superseries stove, made in Canada. Older model but quite nice.
brilliant idea. beautifully explained. your cadence with which you teach is perfect. regarding your first biochar video: are you still inoculating with urine? how is that working? have you added or changed anything else to your inoculation?
We now make biochar and crush/store it in large plastic feed sacks and then will distribute it to the early stages of our chicken composting operation or as cover material for active compost piles. Urine is still I think an excellent inoculant but we have so many other places where the char is useful that now it moves around the landscape a LOT more.
Wow. The biochar looks so nice and it crunched beautifully.
sorry for asking, do you make some hole on the pan you're using? Because from other video i saw they make few holes at the bottom. Thank you
No holes needed. Stainless steel hotel pans as indicated in the video work perfectly, unmodified. They've lasted years now and feel as close to ideal for this application as I could dream for.
Sorry that I am bumping an old comments section. But I saw your video when researching if this idea was possible and am glad that I found it. I am curious, if you have some time, can you answer this:
1. Other than smell and smoke, is there a texture or sound I can gauge the charcoal as being complete?
2. I've been using an 8 quart stainless steel stock pot in my wood stove successfully. It seems they are never mentioned/considered, but it does work, and works well; and can sometimes be purchased at Good Will for as little as a dollar.
3. I've been throwing everything in there to see what works or not, reason why I asked Q#1, even old sliced bread. Seems to work even with that. Is there anything you may have tried but feel it failed of is not a good charcoal source?
Thanks in advance if you can answer, and thanks for the video.
Firstly, here is a newer video that goes into more detail on this in some ways, definitely check it out...
th-cam.com/video/C066C2qsd0A/w-d-xo.html
1). I test to see if a retort is done by tapping it with a metal tool, or even lifting the liid just a tiny bit in the stove to see if any smoke comes out. When in doubt, I add more wood and keep it going, no need to smoke out the house!
2) Sounds like you found a great solution!
3) I would strongly recommend aiming for the most carbon dense and dry material you can put in there... Most energy for heat, most total char out at the end, and most yield for the work/risk. I wouldn't pack one with say old clothes or food scraps, etc, I'd compost those instead...
Good luck and be safe
Could you explain why you mix it in to your compost and chicken bedding? Love the videos
I would encourage you to research biochar as a concept to learn more in depth, but the basic idea is the fresh charcoal is like an empty sponge, and you need to fill it so to speak before adding it to the soil or it will temporarily 'rob' from the soil.
@@edibleacres thanks! I'm not working today so sounds like a good time to read up on it. If you know a good book/website to start let me know.
Great! How long does the stainless steel pan/lid last? What size is the pan? 6 inch depth? Thanks ❤
Hi Sean, Followed your directions and have now made about 10 gallons of char! Very exciting! My stove is a very similar size to yours. After reading all the comments, it seems like this system of heating your home produces less CO2 going up the chimney? Do you think so? Eventually I’d like to have more stone surrounding the stove to bank the heat in the mass of stone. But first reinforce the floor! Thank you, thank you for such fabulous ideas! If you and Sacha are ever in Bar Harbor Maine, you’d be most welcome to visit our farm and spend the night! Would love to have you!
Thanks for the kind words and offer!
Excited that this process seems to be useful to you!
I don't know for sure that this is a cleaner way to burn, but I do see that the stove runs hotter and more intensely during the burns which generally connects to cleaner and more efficient burns. That, and if you are getting gasses out of material that would otherwise not heat your home, and they are cleanly burning WHILE making charcoal, seems like a winwinwin!
I'm installing a fireplace insert next week. I like what you're doing with your stove. I'm guessing that it might produce higher heat. Are you using a blower on your stove? Could the excess heat from this practice damage your stove?
We have a simple box fan behind the stove we turn on and off depending on how hot the stove is. It helps move a lot of air around the house and it was only $20. We can clean it and put it away in the spring.
I think the biochar sessions, if allowed to run full blast, could easily overheat the stove... Once they are up to full speed I close down the damper to help control it.
@SkillCult, yes you don't utilize the full heat potential from the material but that is the only way to make heatung the house carbon negative, all this char is captured carbon for potentially a millenium.
Personally I think combining this with a Walker batch box stove would be even better, that design ensures complete combustion similar to a rocket stove.
That said this thing most likely barely produces any smoke at all. I use a stainless steel stovepipe section in our woodstove.
You sir, …….. are a genius! :-)
Currently I am working on a indoor TLUD stove which pyrolises 100% of the feedstock so in term of biochar production that is more efficient. Major downside though is that it is a batch loaded system but for a 187sqft house in Portugal that should do the trick since winters are not that cold.
I'd love to see images or video of this when it is at a stage where you can share that...
th-cam.com/video/dGYN6zxfDS4/w-d-xo.html sneak preview, excuse the sound, I had a small fan running for the primary air since pellets reduce the airflow through the fuel cylinder a lot, did remove it a few times shortly throughout the burn and the stove might run fine without it but that needs to be tested.
So when do you use just the charcoal to heat your home...
We are new with the wood stove but we don't have a leveler. So what are some ways I can make sure the heat is right? What should the temp be? Also we would like to warm up the first floor form the top floor. Do you have a video on how you installed the system to warm up your basement?
Hi, great video. I have been thinking about something like this for some months and I am very glad somebody has a real experience with it.
Besides all those advantages for biochar use, I think this even might be a solution for carbon crisis. Just imagine if this became a common practice in home heating and millions of tons of charcoal were put in the soil every year.
Did you ever try grass clippings, straw or hay this way? I can imagine you have different use for it, just curious.
Grass, straw, hay... All more valuable as mulch or bedding for our chickens so we don't use that, but dry sawdust and if we can get a load of dried woodchips from a dead standing tree (high carbon, low nutrient, coarse so not ideal for garden, etc) then that would be PERFECT feed stock... I built a simple 'wing' off our wood shed to start collecting offcuts and sawdust, etc so we have a mountain of material to char this winter.
Yes, if it was a common practice for people to heat in their woodstoves with charcoal producing waste material it would be pretty darn rad!
what side pan are you using? Is that a 1/2 and 150mm stainless steel pan? we have almost the same stove. great idea!
I believe you'd be searching for stainless steel 6" deep "half hotel pan" or "1/2 hotel pan" to find the same type. Of course you'd need a lid too... I'd start with one and see how it goes. We now have many and can have loaded ones pre-drying on the stove while one is in while one is cooling in the garage... Saves maybe 1 cord or more a year.
gréât vidéo, i am thinking of trying this. at what temperature should your stove burn in order to ignite the gases?
Wood does not burn as a solid, it heats up and releases Volatile Organic compounds (VOC), the VOCs burn. In the presence of an abundant oxygen supply the bio mass is completely consumed and leaves ash. In the absence of oxygen the VOCs are released but do not ignite due to the lack of oxygen. when the VOCs escape the chamber into the fire box they ignite. They are the same gases that are released from the wood in the fire so as long as the flame is near the escaping gas or the gas should ignite. The key is heating the bio mass in the retort vessel enough to force it to release VOCs, it is important to use dry material because the water boils off the material at a lower temp than the VOCs are released at. It would still work butit would take longer for the process and be less efficient, needing more fuel to heat the biomass being Pyrolized. If you have a good fire going it should ignite, if it doesn't put a piece of wood close to where the gasses vent from your vessle and they will.
So what do you do with all the charcoal ? What are the uses for it ? Maybe it would be good to make a video showing it's uses
If you search 'biochar' or 'bio char' on our video list you'll find a number of videos where we explain what we use it for. We fold it back into our soils!
good!!!
I like it. I'm going to start using this concept now. I would proably not have thought to use the pans, those seem great. Any ideas on why the increased efficiency? You're burning the wood less completely than if burning it to ash, so there is heat potential that you aren't using that would normally be used in operating a woodstove. Maybe increased efficiency from burning a slowly released gas in a controlled way so that no energy escapes as smoke? Sorry, if you said in the video, but I skimmed ;)
I think more efficiency in that I'm burning material that I never would otherwise, so it offsets the consumption of standard firewood. We're getting heat from sawdust and nuggets that would otherwise just smolder in a woodstove. Somehow it cooks very cleanly in there and produces solid heat for 2-3 hours with very little actual firewood and a full pan of shop sweepings and 'debris'...
Oh, I see. I imagine there is zero smoke that escapes out the flue from the wood in the tins though. I think it is somewhat how a modern super efficient woodstove is supposed to operate, but they often don't. It's just much more controlled.
And adding in: Our wood stove is one of the "super efficient" ones since the EPA updated their standards. We get amazing heat from just one small pan of biochar debris.
I've charred wood chips from tree companies, pellets, sawdust, tree prunings, paper, cardboard, and even old walnuts, hickory nuts, and almond shells. Anything that is small enough, and is woody will make excellent heat.
I think it is the smoke getting burned with the secondary air added in that makes it so efficient. There is darn little smoke exhausted out the top of my chimney, and it is amazing to hear the small roar of the wood gas burning off in the stove.
Hi there. Thanks for sharing. Does it matter what sort of wood? We have a lot of eucalyptus and pine. Would wood chips from these be fine?
I would start with a small batch of resinous stuff, so you can learn how to do it. You may have to damper the fire down.
I find pine bark and shavings burn off quickly and hot! Good luck.
Great!
Almost all of the videos that I have seen so far has wood being burned for charcoal, but they are not utilizing the heat from the fire.
It seems that mountains of charcoal are probably needed for biochar and for purifying water.
Perhaps there is a way to use some of your ingenuity with this on a larger scale.
Thank you for sharing helpful videos!
Very cool video, it tells me exactly what I need to know. I plan to make apple and cherry charcoal for use in a barbecue. I think your pan is 10 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches deep. My Blaze King wood-stove has inner dimensions of 20 inches by 20 inches by 9.5 inches. So I think I need the same size pan as I'm guessing yours is. Also, the available gauge for 300 Stainless is 22. I'd be glad of any of your suggestions. Thanks for any response.
Sounds reasonable to me. If you can go to a local kitchen supply place you'll be able to see options.
This is a great, very efficient way to make charcoal! Very nice, really good to take full advantage of the energy. A LOT of charcoal is made wastefully, but not yours!
I agree.... This system has worked incredibly well for us for years and getting most/all of the heat has been wonderful