# New to wood heat.



## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

I recently got a nice wood stove for free from a friend and I plan to install it in my shop for winter work. It will be hooked up with and supplementing a furnace and a blower assembly that I also scored for free. I have never had a wood stove before, so I am totally in the dark as far as installation, maintenance, and operation of one. I have a huge pile of wood all stacked up ready to be split, but that's about all I know about so far. Anyone have a good resource for information on safely running a wood stove? It has a blower on it and a thermostat for activating the blower. I see that the fire brick is all busted up inside, so that will have to be replaced (it has been moved around a lot). I am installing this in a wood frame building, so what do I need to to do keep from turning the shop into its own heat source, if you know what I mean....


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

I've done several stove installations over the years and have no exact numbers for you, but if you have protected walls, you can get the stove up fairly close, otherwise, you need to keep the stove at least 24 inches of the walls. If you have a flat lid, get a chimney box that nails to your trusses and hangs down below your ceiling. Get an insulated pipe such as metalbestos or the like. which will sit atop the chimney box and run through the overhead and out the roof. Chimney should be at least 2 feet above the ridge or at least 10 feet away from the roof running level with the cap.........................


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Please note it's 3:51 in the morning. I'm off to bed. More later though!


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## Thomas (Nov 1, 2006)

Fire ext. or water hose near by just in case,also check chimmeny often for build up, maybe electric back case lost of power to keep blower running so it won't over heat the heat chamber.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

CB? The important thing to keep chimney fires down to a minimum, is to use completely dried wood and avoid turning the stove down. When you turn the stove down is when you get the smoke and creosote build up in the pipe that can ignite when the stove gets hot and a flame gets up in the chimney starting the whole build up on fire. If you must turn the stove down, do it after the wood in the fire box starts getting the alligator checking on the black charrred surface, as by this time, the creosote causing properties have been cooked out. Never load up your stove with wood then shut it down. BAD! As a kid, my dad would crumple up some newspaper and stick in the stove near the chimney outlet to the firebox, just prior to opening the throttle after being shut down for the night. We'd get a small controlled chimney fire that was managable rather than the raging infernos you can get if you're not careful. Lastly, I'd advise against cutting corners or buying cheap pipe. The heat and creosote eventually eat holes through it and if you do get a hot chimney fire, I've seen the cheap pipe come apart at the length seems. Not good at all!


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

tractor beam said:


> CB? The important thing to keep chimney fires down to a minimum, is to use completely dried wood and avoid turning the stove down. When you turn the stove down is when you get the smoke and creosote build up in the pipe that can ignite when the stove gets hot and a flame gets up in the chimney starting the whole build up on fire. If you must turn the stove down, do it after the wood in the fire box starts getting the alligator checking on the black charrred surface, as by this time, the creosote causing properties have been cooked out. Never load up your stove with wood then shut it down. BAD! As a kid, my dad would crumple up some newspaper and stick in the stove near the chimney outlet to the firebox, just prior to opening the throttle after being shut down for the night. We'd get a small controlled chimney fire that was managable rather than the raging infernos you can get if you're not careful. Lastly, I'd advise against cutting corners or buying cheap pipe. The heat and creosote eventually eat holes through it and if you do get a hot chimney fire, I've seen the cheap pipe come apart at the length seems. Not good at all!


Since my 'primary' heat in my house is (2) pot belly stoves, (This place170 years old and BIG) with propane 'back-up. I might be able to assist here. I also have 4 shops with wood stoves. Flue fires over 24 years, ZERO! 'Knocking wood and thanking God'.
If your stove is the 'air tight' style, you have to be very careful. It will build up and kill you quickly. Like TB said.... A 'controlled wide open' fire everyday will help a lot. 
I have the older style stoves that are not 'air tight' and I crank them puppies daily anyway!
I try to keep all 'installs' at least 4 ft from anything that will burn. All places that a pipe goes through is metal/ cinderblock or brick for 4 feet in all directions.
I usually build a brick 'pad' under a stove that is not on concrete or dirt and put a flat piece of metal on the floor next to the clean out door. (if on a wood floor)
The only 'green' wood that I burn in my non-airtight stoves is wild cherry and locust. Even then, I put seasoned wood in too to keep it hot enough to 'consume' the smoke. 
If you have 'smoke' coming out the chimney after a 1/2 hour, open it up! It's burning too 'cold' and will kill you!
If the stove is in a place where gasoline is used, keep the firebox at LEAST 18" above the floor! Fumes crawl and WILL ignite if they find flame!
Hope this helps....


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

Now that it's cold out, are you using it yet?

I've already burned over a cord.
I discovered a small problem with my 1869 design 'Caboose' stove tonite.
The seal between the top and the bottom is leaking! It's not letting sparks out, it is letting too much air in, causing me to think that my flue was clogged.

I will be taking the bolts out and using boiler sealer to repair the air leaks.
I could use muffler sealer to 'patch' it up, but think a more permanant repair is in order.

(I drank two pots of coffee to get through the 'shift change' this week and everyone on my rolidex is sleeping! I'm still bouncing off the walls and looking for 'quiet' things to do)


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Okay Cub.......pictures are in order here............'Sides, this would qualify as a "quiet activity"!


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

Don't have it installed yet. The guy that is going to install it had some issues with his wife going into labor very prematurely and had to deal with all that (kid is doing well now), so I didn't want to bug him and ask. Plus, I have to go through the stove and clean it up, replace the broken fire brick inside, and give it a nice coat of high-heat paint. This stove has a fan on it, and two outlet pipe holes. I assume one is for the exhaust and the other is for a hot air duct. The stove is a large box with a door on the front that seems to seal. I haven't had much time to look at it this year, so I'll probably re-do it over winter and have it installed next year. I have to finish insulating the shop anyway before I permanently heat it, so there's that too.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

Lit off my latest 'experiment' with wood heat tonite!
Pics as soon as I get the thing a ittle closer to 'safe'.
I built a stove out of a water heater, a propane tank and some 3 and 4 inch pipe.
It's still in the R and D stage, but I lit it off tonite.
I am going for the most heat from the smallest fire possible.
The pipe that goes outside is 4".
The neighbor, (Clayton), lit his 'fisher' clone tonite, then came to my shop to check out my 'experiment'. He LOVED it! He works as an HVAC mechanic for a living!
His 'clone' made smoke everywhere. My little experiment made almost NO smoke and made heat that rivaled his much larger stove.

The propane tank is used as a heat exchanger mounted on top of the water heater. The fire was small, but heated a large percentage of the shop, and the pipe going outside was cool enough that you could touch it!
I'm sure that when the thing is working to overcome 0 degrees, you will not be able to touch that pipe, but the fact that a hot fire in the bottom tonite did not make the exhaust hot was mind blowing!
Clayton said that he was going to build one off of my design as soon as he gets his shop 'working'!


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

There are barrel stove kits you can get where they stack two barrels on top of one another, one for the burner chamber, and the other has the exhaust pipe woven through it and a fan at the back to trap the extra heat and blow it into the room. That's what I had planned on doing until I was given this stove for free. My stove has a burner chamber surrounded by a outer shell with a fan to blow the heat from the space in between out into the room.

Amazon.com: US Stove BKAD500 Cast Iron Double Barrell Stove Adaptor: Home & Garden


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

I have the barrell kit that stands upright. Cast iron top with a door and a cast clean-out for the bottom.
It worked great last week when I fired it to heat my 'farm' shop. 18x36x12, partially insulated steel building.
I've seen the one like your pic. That thing will make some serious heat.
I made one of them for a friend to heat his sheet metal shop.

I'm 'down sizing' the idea for a smaller shop. The area I'm trying to heat right now is 32x26x10 wood frame and cinderblock, mostly insulated with another 18x24 potentially added in later and a 14x20 area that is under consideration.
The other areas will have to be heated with liquid, due to the shape of the building.
Mine will have firebrick and shaker grates so I can use some coal too.
I put a 20# propane tank for the exchanger, then I'm going to wrap it with copper tubing that will be filled with anti freeze and gravity feed a baseboard radiator on the other side of the shop. I will plumb in another propane tank for an expansion chamber and put a 'pop off' valve from the water heater on it in case it gets carried away. It will be a 'closed loop' system.
My clean out door will be welded to a sheet of 18 guage, bent to fit the bottom of the stove. It will be as long as the stove and the end will be open like a 'scoop'. I will regulate the air by pulling the door out a little and clean the ashes by pulling it out all the way. Madman at work.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

Country Boy said:


> There are barrel stove kits you can get where they stack two barrels on top of one another, one for the burner chamber, and the other has the exhaust pipe woven through it and a fan at the back to trap the extra heat and blow it into the room. That's what I had planned on doing until I was given this stove for free. My stove has a burner chamber surrounded by a outer shell with a fan to blow the heat from the space in between out into the room.
> 
> Amazon.com: US Stove BKAD500 Cast Iron Double Barrell Stove Adaptor: Home & Garden


That thing would heat a Home Depot warehouse!


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## Thomas (Nov 1, 2006)

You may want some kind of blower/fan,for thats will be lot of heat rising up.


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

I have a propane furnace and a blower assembly that will all be hooked in line with the wood stove. The guy that is installing it does HVAC for a living and he plans on mounting the furnace up in the loft with a duct from the wood stove to the furnace, then through the furnace to the blower assembly, then out across the shop with a few air drops to blast hot air more evenly through the shop. The blower will give the air being blown by the stove and the furnace a good boost so it can make it all the way through the shop. All of this stuff was free and hasn't cost me a penny yet. I just need to get the rest of the shop insulated so I can keep it heated all winter so my stuff doesn't freeze out there.


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Sounds like its going to be a good setup when you get it finished..


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

I sure hope so!


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## Larry in OK (Jul 22, 2010)

For everything "wood heat" go here-Hearth.com | Wood Stoves, Fireplace, Pellet Stoves, Gas Stoves and More - Forums!


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

I 'test fired' my little experiment today. I worked on it last night for a couple hours then went deep into it today. I built a small fire last night and played with several configurations for the firebox and doors. 
Today, I rebuilt the firebox, added a shaker grate, modified the door and stuffed it full of small dry wood. It smelled the place up for an hour burning off all the paint and stuff, then settled down. 
With a little bit of small wood, it kicks out about 200,000 btu's for an hour.
I'm guessing that a 48x48 heavy wood skid will heat that shop for 6 hours.
There doesn't seem to be a shortage of them, so that is what I built the stove to 'eat'.

Untill it gets warmed up, it throws a bit of smoke outside, but settles down once everything gets hot. It still needs some 'cosmetic' work and the clean out tray and door constructed, but it's useable now.

Next, I'll add coils around the pipes and plumb them into a baseboard unit on the other wall. I'll fill the pipes with antifreeze and put a propane tank in the system for an expansion chamber, with a 'pop off' valve vented to outside.


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

Sounds like a sweet setup Cublover! Got any pics of the unit yet, or is it a trade secret? 

I got some crappy news from my insurance company. Seems that no insurance company will insure an Ag shop that has a wood stove in it. If I install the stove, I lose the insurance on the shop. He said he checked around with other companies for a few clients of his, and none of them would do it. I can put it in the house, or a residential garage, but not in the shop.  I have to ask the agent next week if putting it in a separate room from the rest of the shop would be okay. I am planning on building a lean-to off the side of the building for an office, so I could add on a little more as a boiler room of sorts and install the furnace and wood stove in there.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

I gotta finish some of the cosmetics before I show the world my ugly welds!

I've been cutting and changing things, tacking it together, etc.
I may have to bring the plaz home for a weekend to 'clean things up'.
I've been cutting with a DeWalt grinder and a sawzall. The plaz and torches are 15 miles away at the farm. (this is my 'man cave' heater)


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## hanger (May 23, 2010)

Cublover said:


> Now that it's cold out, are you using it yet?
> 
> I've already burned over a cord.
> I discovered a small problem with my 1869 design 'Caboose' stove tonite.
> ...


Where do you get boiler sealer? I've got an antique top loader stove that leaks around the bottom. I tried sealing it with some grey gasket sealer used for door gaskets but it didn't last...........the stuff gets really hard and becomes brittle. Thanks.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

hanger said:


> Where do you get boiler sealer? I've got an antique top loader stove that leaks around the bottom. I tried sealing it with some grey gasket sealer used for door gaskets but it didn't last...........the stuff gets really hard and becomes brittle. Thanks.


Sorry, I yanked it out of the dumpster at the County complex!

Diving!
That was the ONLY time a dispatcher had to drive the truck to the dumpster in several years!
THAT day, someone had thrown away 3 quarts of boiler sealer! It just happened that I was driving the truck!

I may be able to spare a quart.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

*Geared up! Ready to GO!!*

I hauled the big compressor and Plazma cutter home sat night. My soon to be 'son-in-law just left with the GMC. He got a 'salvage slip' for all the barrells that are in the trailer.
The place he works make a lot of 'cool' stuff, Remington and Federal ammunition, etc. They also make the motors for 'Tomahawk' and Patriot missels!
He said the barrells that gunpowder come in are a good bit heavier than the others.

Watch this space! Barrell stoves 'R' us! I need 4 right away! No, I am not going to paint them pretty! I'm gonna burn all the paint off and give the owner a bottle of stove black. (if they want it)


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

10 nice clean barrells showed up last night! I've been looking them over and coming up with a 'master plan'.
I kicked a few ideas around with the 'Magic Man'. He liked my ideas. Cleaning them out tonight. Explosives placards tell me that I should.
Pics soon..


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

OK, It's after midnight and I just came in from the shop.
I dumped the left overs out of 5 barrells and caught it in a big pan. I was wondering what would happen if I started cutting on these barrells without cleaning them. I took a pile of the residue, 1/2 inch high, 3 inches wide and put it in a coffee can. Then I threw a match in!! There was really intense white fire, then it burned for 15 minutes as a small 'glow' that almost melted the tin!
Sure am glad that I didn't take the Plaz to them tonite!! They might have found my body north of the Manson-Nixon line! OHH!! Mason-Dixon....
Needless to say, I cleaned the HELL out of them!!
Did a little 'research'. This stuff is the 'solid' part of 'solid ROCKET fuel!
We are talking 2 oz out of a container that weighed 600 POUNDS when full!!


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## mbotticelli (Nov 15, 2011)

Dude, there's no better heat than that which comes from a wood stove! I keep my pad around 76 allll winter, especially my shop! The trick is to give the wood time to season, maybe a year or two depending on the type of wood. One of my favorite wood for burning as well as splitting is maple... i love it and it's easy to split and seasons nicely in one year. Chimney is the most expensive part of the project for you... too bad you can't score some of that for free too ha ha. Enjoy and keep warm!

Gotta Boogie


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

mbotticelli said:


> Dude, there's no better heat than that which comes from a wood stove! I keep my pad around 76 allll winter, especially my shop! The trick is to give the wood time to season, maybe a year or two depending on the type of wood. One of my favorite wood for burning as well as splitting is maple... i love it and it's easy to split and seasons nicely in one year. Chimney is the most expensive part of the project for you... too bad you can't score some of that for free too ha ha. Enjoy and keep warm!
> 
> Gotta Boogie


 I have different places to put wood. If it's dry, it goes in the first section of the wood 'rick', almost dry goes into the second section, third is for the wood that will be ready in a month or 2. Green wood is cut, split and stacked where the rain and snow can push the sap out.
I've been using wood here for 25 years now. No prob!!
I have some seasoned maple that I use to start, then throw on some locust and oak.


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