[Shelter] Heat - Wood (was Wood Stoves)

[davep]

Et voila

[PeakOiler]

Et voila

lol, but my solution doesn't require fossil fuels. The magnifying glass costs about $5. How much did all those Bic lighters cost?

The magnifying glass will last a lifetime if cared for properly. (Get two.)



Edited to correct spelling.

[davep]

Ok, as pennance, here's a couple of videos from the incomparable Ray Mears on firelighting:

Desert firelighting

How to light a fire outside with nothing but your shoe laces in any weather

[PeakOiler]

davep: Thanks for sharing those video links.

I suggest readers try some of these alternative methods for starting fires instead of relying on those Bic lighters. They won't always be available. (My Bold Prediction.)

Remember what Tom Hanks showed us in the movie "Cast Away"? I recall the scene where he holds up the Bic lighter at his reunion gathering...

[papalegba]

For anybody who has to start fires on a regular basis, whether a campfire or in a woodstove, a blowhard is a pretty handy device - and far superior to a bellows.

A 'blowhard' is my name for a handy little tool I discovered in Japan many years ago. To make one, take a piece of bamboo of about two or two-and-a-half feet long, and cut it so that one end has one of the sections, the 'joints' of the bamboo, at one end. Then take a metal rod, like a piece of rebar, and knock out all the other 'joints' of the bamboo, except for the one at one end, so that you have a long tube, closed at one end and open at the other. Then, with a drill make a very small hole, about 1/8" or maybe even less in that closed end. You're done.

To use it, point the tiny hole end at the place where you want air in your fire, and put your mouth on the other end and blow. You get a powerful, very focused beam of air right where you need it.

You could probably make one out of pvc or metal pipe, but the thought of plastic pipe near fire where you're breathing isn't very appealing. Metal would get kind of hot but would be better - bamboo is ideal.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

ok so I made two versions of fire starters. They are basically either a cup cake paper or paper egg carton filled 2/3rds with sawdust and the last 1/3 or less is parafin wax. Some I mixed the wax and sawdust others I just poured the wax on top.

So far the egg carton ones are great for size and will burn for just under 5 minutes. Great. the bigger paper cupcake sized ones go for much longer and are awesome. My dad who's been building fires for 65 odd years, says he loves it, its brilliant and he wished he'd had something like that. Its so much easier to light a fire with one of these things and it doesn't take that much to make or much $.

I'm hooked. I plan to stock pile wax during the canning season to bring my prices down and got sawdust for free. Now I am just going to put a sign up at work asking for paper egg cartons. The smaller ones fit inside a film cannister and will make lighting camp fires a breeze.

[Pops]

My first post ever here I said I wasn't here to talk about the ifs and whens but the what-to-dos. So I decided to start going back in the archives and dig up something constructive to talk about, so here goes.

I always said I'll spend my last $10 on fuel for my chainsaw. We have some wood on the place but nothing very good or straight. Anything that falls around here is about half wasted because of all the crouches and knots. It's mostly stringy elm and isn't too easy too split even in the straight logs. Long story short I bought a splitter this year.

I have a small, 40hp, diesel tractor with about 1,000 hours on it, barely broken in in other words so instead of buying a splitter with a dedicated engine I'd buy on that works off the tractor hydraulics and I'm pretty happy so far.

We had a big old elm that died as a result of an ice storm several years ago and was threatening the house so it had to go. Easily 3' across at the base and with a very swirly, stringy texture we'd have hauled lots of good wood to the brush pile so that was my excuse. I'm guessing there was at least a rick and a half of fairly decent cord wood that came out of that tree that would have been wasted without the splitter.

The best part is I barely ran the tractor above idle and split 6 or 8 ricks of wood (I had a bunch of gnarly stuff from years past) over 6 or 8 hours on maybe 3 gallons of diesel. If that elm is worth 15-20M BTUs a cord that ain't a bad return.

And the best part is the engine won't poop out anytime soon.


What are you doing for heat this winter?

[Loki]

What are you doing for heat this winter?

That's a good question. It dipped well into the 40s in the RV last night, I'll probably have to fire up the propane heater soon. It gets the job done, but I hate it, uses way too much propane, reliant on both propane and electricity, if either of those goes down, I get no heat.

Been thinking of getting an Eco-fan, a gadget that runs off the stovetop (also propane). It'd likely reduce my propane use, and it isn't dependent on AC, but the fire hazard worries me and I'm not eager to spend the money. A friend of mine likes his, though.

Ideally I'd have a woodstove, but can't do that as long as I'm doing the RV thing. Last winter I fantasized about a yurt so I could have a woodstove.

[Shaved Monkey]

Ideally I'd have a woodstove, but can't do that as long as I'm doing the RV thing. Last winter I fantasized about a yurt so I could have a woodstove.

It can be done
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/201 ... 811400.htm

http://www.myspace.com/gypsyvw/photos/1 ... 3708432%7D

[deacienVieniKar]

Hello folks!! Greetings from Ivydale

[Loki]

It can be done

I've seen pics of similar vehicles. It's cool, and maybe it can even be done safely, but at some expense and a fair bit of work. I considered it last winter, but came to the conclusion that I don't want to spend any money on my RV unless absolutely necessary. I don't plan on being in it more than another year or so, after which I want to sell it.

Last winter I was drooling over these little boat wood stoves. Cute, but kinda spendy (US$1090).

[Revi]

I met the guy who makes those stoves. I think they are worth the money, especially for a boat. They are cast iron, so they should last a good long time.

http://www.marinestove.com/codinfo.htm

[papa moose]

Heya!

My partner and I wanted to ask do you raise birds? Could it be truly worth it?
I enjoy birds

Please tell me your opinion

Hi, i love birds too!

[Frank]

Help me out Pops: just what is a "rick" of wood? Some sort of carrying device or ?

[vtsnowedin]

Help me out Pops: just what is a "rick" of wood? Some sort of carrying device or ?

While we wait for Pops here is my take on it.
Most often a rick or a run of wood is a pile four feet high and eight feet long and as thick as the wood has been cut. If it was cut sixteen inches long to fit into most cook stoves it would be one third of a full cord.
http://www.vermontlumber.com/cord-of-wood.php

[Frank]

Aha - what us Maine-ahs would call a face cord. Never heard it called a rick before...

Thanks!

[Quinny]

Just started Caravanning and a lot of the vans where we go use an old gas cylinder with doors cut in the side and a length of pipe for a chimney.

One way is to have one door the other has three doors so you can adjust according to draught.

They work a treat, and cost next to nothing.

It can be done

I've seen pics of similar vehicles. It's cool, and maybe it can even be done safely, but at some expense and a fair bit of work. I considered it last winter, but came to the conclusion that I don't want to spend any money on my RV unless absolutely necessary. I don't plan on being in it more than another year or so, after which I want to sell it.

Last winter I was drooling over these little boat wood stoves. Cute, but kinda spendy (US$1090).

[Heineken]

I'm giddy about my new stove, which I installed a week ago. It replaces a crappy, smallish, no-name stove I've suffered with for a while now. The true value of the former stove, as it turns out, has been to demonstrate by contrast just how wonderful and effective is the new stove (the recently released Lennox Grandview 230---and no, I'm not a salesman, but I do recommend this stove if you're in the market).

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cac ... KZfPvb38mQ

The stove wasn't cheap---about $1,950. Man have prices soared since I was last in the market. But it will pay for itself in short order.

Here are some things I like about the stove. The firebox is really deep (18 inches) from front to back, which allows the option of "north-south loading" (the ends of the logs face the front of the stove instead of the logs lying sideways). North-south loading is superior because it enhances the draft (you can still load east-west on warmer days). The firebox itself is pretty darn roomy, about 2 1/2 cubic feet. I like a big firebox because you get a large bed of hot coals, which makes for a more stable fire that's easy to adjust up or down as needed. And of course you get more heat.

The stove is plate steel rather than cast iron. I prefer plate steel stoves because they're less leaky and last "forever"; apparently cast iron stoves are prone to needing rebuilding at some point (they sort of fall apart). And, ounce for ounce, a plate steel stove is less costly than cast iron. No, it's not as pretty as cast iron, but it's every bit as functional.

Cast iron retains heat longer than steel, but this doesn't matter if you're running a stove for weeks at a time. And you benefit at the front end of the burn cycle, since a steel stove heats up (and warms you) much faster.

This stove has metal projections like fingers extending from the top of the firebox, which radiate heat that comes out of a vent-like slit. (The "heat exchanger.") You can feel the hot airflow coming vigorously out of this vent, almost as if from a blower.

The design is a step-top, with two levels and plenty of room for pots and frying pans. A huge airwashed window gives the stove a fireplace-like feel.

Great draft control on the side offering precise adjustments. And a terrific door handle with a very positive action. You can crack the door different distances and it will securely stay there and not drift.

I opted to go without the ash drawer. Ash drawers seem never to be large enough, and they're a pain to handle if you ask me. I prefer a lidded ash bucket and a shovel.

This baby weighs about 385 pounds and is already doing a credible job of heating our whole, elongated, ranch-style house (over 2000 square feet), with an assist from some fans (but not a blower).

[Shaved Monkey]

Came across this page it seems to have lots of good info on rocket stoves etc.
http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp

[Revi]

We have a jotul 602n in the house and a steel stove at the sugarhouse. We have to cut the wood shorter for the jotul, but the evaporator can burn up to 2 feet. We cut a couple of different sizes, but it works.

The cost of wood is going up along with the price of gas and everything else. Ok by me, but it's going to be a long cold winter for a lot of people around here.

We're going to cut a bunch of wood this winter, so that should get us through the next couple of years.