# Barrel stove; would this work well



## SJSFarm (Jun 13, 2012)

Looks and sounds nice, but is this legit?

55 GALLON WOOD STOVES

I use propane and I usually spend well over 1k for the winter months. Annual cost is over 2k with propane also being for the range, hot water heater, dryer, fireplace, and BBQ. 

Could anyone tell me if these things work well and if this is a good deal? I would still have to have someone come out and install the thing. 

Thanks all


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Barrel stoves have been used for years. I generally think of them as a shop or barn heater.

Kits are available to make your own. Here's one:

http://www.amazon.com/Vogelzang-Barrel-Stove-Model-BK100E

For efficiency, some people make double barrel stoves. The smoke goes thru the top barrel and radiates heat. You can get kits for single as well as double stoves.


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## SJSFarm (Jun 13, 2012)

Is the top one filled with something that holds the heat? 
If so, what? I think sand would be a great heat sink, but the weight would be too much. 

Could this go into the basement? And be hooked up to the ductwork?


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## DW (May 10, 2002)

We had one in a block shed for yrs...it would cook you out of the building. I think you can the kits cheap at Harbor Freight and other places.


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## Old Vet (Oct 15, 2006)

SJSFarm said:


> Is the top one filled with something that holds the heat?
> If so, what? I think sand would be a great heat sink, but the weight would be too much.
> 
> Could this go into the basement? And be hooked up to the ductwork?


If you don't have insurance you could but that is why it is used in shops and barn. The top barrel filed with junk iron is the best to keep an area warm. You can't hoked it up to a duck work. I wouldn't ant one where I was going to sleep because any leaks may be dangerous. To build one you must have barrels and construct it your self. There is no way that a person can build one and sell it. That is why you can only get kits.


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## SJSFarm (Jun 13, 2012)

I was looking for something for the house. This obviously isn't it. Well, I guess the regular wood stove is the best solution. 

Thank you


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

First - check your insurance company. Chances are they won't allow it.

That said, when the barrel lies horizontally, it takes up a LOT of room once you add safety clearances.

I designed and built a vertical one. The link to my old website article on it follows:

Barrel_Stove


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

SJSFarm said:


> Is the top one filled with something that holds the heat?
> If so, what? I think sand would be a great heat sink, but the weight would be too much.
> 
> Could this go into the basement? And be hooked up to the ductwork?


The top barrel is empty.


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

They also burn through a lot of wood, if you want one for constant use in your home then spend the extra money on one that has a secondary burn system.

When I bought one for my home I went cheap at first, started with a small non airtight stove off craigslist for 100.00. That was not worth anythng so I "upgraded" to a 500.00 new stove but it did not have secondary burn and only the damper in the flue for air control and it burned a lot of wood and only had about a four hour burn time. I finally spent the big money for a Quadra Fire Isle Royal that the secondary burn, I can put four splits in it and get a 10 hour burn time


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Check out rocket mass heaters. Looks like the least expensive way to go. I'm seriously considering building one for my next home, which will NOT be a tin mansion such as this.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

We use the Vogelzang two-barrel woodstove. Our upper drum has 50' of 3/4" copper tubing coiled in it to heat water. That heated water flows through our thermal-bank and heats our radiant floors.

We use a barrel stove as our primary heat source.

One year:





























Then later we modified it to re-burn the volatile oils in the upper drum, so it is a 'secondary-combustion chamber'.




Then we added copper tubing. 50' to heat water that circulates into our thermal-bank, which circulates through our radiant heated floors.





































Then the following year I moved the tubing to inside the upper drum. It heats water much better from inside.


When I first did it, many people [including posters on this forum] said that it would burn through in one year.

That was 2006.

It is still our primary heat source. Maybe if we lived up North somewhere that got cold we would use it more and it would burn through faster.

We heat a 2400 sq ft home in Central Maine with it.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Yes they work. Had one in the old farmhouse we had back in 1982 ish. It was ugly,but it worked well. We had no $ and a pipe was already there. Keep sand,ash or fire bricks on the bottem. You can also seal it up the best you can with stove cement, to better regulate the draft. Under 50 bucks for the one barrel kit(back then).


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## Helena (May 10, 2002)

We have and have used over the years a barel stove in the cellar for many years. We have one barel with sand on the bottom to prevent it from burning through the bottom. Same barel for probably 20 years now. They hear wonderfully!!! I would recommend them to anyone to excellent heat. Not pretty but will keep you wit.arm. They are cheap to make yourself and not a lot invested if you don't like using it. Give it a try...


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

Actually, at $2K (=$166/month) for all your heating, cooking, hot water, etc, and convenience of gas, you're not doing too badly. Don't forget that as you get up in age or if you begin to suffer health issues, heavy work like splitting wood may get to be more than you can handle. However, a backup to your other means of doing anything is no bad thing.

If you do go this way, take into account insurance costs. If this would invalidate your insurance, then a hair dryer or a kid playing with matches burns the house down, take that into account too. Setting it up as an exterior wood-burning furnace in a cinder-block outhouse may satisfy the insurance. Heating water as well as air, and plumbing that into your house supply so other heat sources are mostly not needed could save you money as well. Of course, your plumbing would have to make sure it wouldn't freeze and burst.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

wogglebug -
Some of us get our firewood pre-split. However my Vogelzang accepts fairly large pieces of wood, we rarely need split wood. 

Not all insurance companies care about woodstoves. 

As you pointed out it is great to have it heating water


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## rhome (Aug 10, 2006)

We used a barrel stove in the way back.
Firebrick lined, used a small cast iron fireplace grate on top of the brick.
On the top we cut a place to weld a 20"x20" 1/4" steel plate or you could just weld a bracket to support the plate for slow cooking and heating water.

Before installing inside burn off the paint then paint with BBQ paint.


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## JoeKan (Feb 4, 2006)

This is exactly what I want for emergency heat in case the grid ever goes down. Thanks everyone for sharing. 
ET1SS, I love your set up. Does it burn all night?
Joe


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

they work , and they were much better than much of the early 70s and 80's wood stove tech 

but 21 century still non electric wood stoves have moved up to 80-85% efficient from 50-60% in the best stove of the 80s 

this means less wood , less work . and a hole lot less space needed 

we have a quadrafire , it is rated 83% efficient , it is very easy to start , it keeps 4-6 hours on a load of wood , a bigger stove would hold more wood and burn longer but a smaller stove burns smaller amounts of wood very efficiently. and it can go 3 inches form a combustible wall to the rear , 8 inches to the sides 

the old stoves and barrel stoves need 24 inches in every direction , that is a small room in it's self if a barrel is 3 feet long and 2 feet wide you need a 7 foot by 6 foot area around it that does nothing.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

JoeKan said:


> This is exactly what I want for emergency heat in case the grid ever goes down. Thanks everyone for sharing.
> ET1SS, I love your set up. Does it burn all night?
> Joe


In the morning, it will usually be a deep bed of embers. A little stirring, toss in fresh wood, and in 10 minutes you have roaring flames again.

We save all cardboard year-round. If I rip-up a few pieces of cardboard and throw that in before any wood. It makes the fire come back a bit quicker.

But either way, it does not need a re-light.



It is not good for ash. After the house is toasty, I need to let it die down, so mid-day I can clean-out the ash. If you let the ash build-up, it will block fresh air flow. 

On a daily basis, I lift the front end of the grill, and shovel under it. Clean the front half of the stove's ash. [maybe 2 minutes]

If I am careful, there will still be enough embers in the back, that a few crumpled newspaper sheets can go in and the fire will come back on it's own in 10 minutes.



About once a week, I do a more thorough cleaning. Pull out any remaining wood, tilt the grill to one side, shovel all the way to the rear, then tilt the grill to the other side and shovel again. [maybe 5 minutes] After that it always needs a re-light.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> ... the old stoves and barrel stoves need 24 inches in every direction , that is a small room in it's self if a barrel is 3 feet long and 2 feet wide you need a 7 foot by 6 foot area around it that does nothing.


We have a large house. 60 X 40 [2400 sq ft]. Our stove is in the center. It sits on a 8 X 8 pad. 

With barrel stoves, that upper barrel doubles surface area for heat to radiate. It basically doubles how much heat the stove throws out. The upper barrel has a lot of room for the smoke to curl around in, this causes the smoke to cool down a lot, you can measure how much it cools down the smoke. As more heat leaves the house you are losing efficiency. You want the smoke to be warm enough to rise and make the draft, but no warmer than you can comfortably rest your hand on the stove-pipe. The upper barrel does all this for you. 

Next, I placed a ceiling fan directly over our stove. So it blows down on the stove, it pushes the heat out to the farthest corners of the room.

Lastly, I filled our upper barrel with coils of copper tubing to heat our water.


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## JoeKan (Feb 4, 2006)

I just bought the same kit you have. Now, I just have to find a metal barrel. Is there any barrel thicker than others that would work better? Also, what kind of flue (pipe) did you use and where did you get it at?
Thanks,
Joe


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

They sell two grades of cast iron door. We had the cheaper grade, but after a couple years it warped. Now we have the heavy duty grade.

There is a pastry factory near-by where I got food-grade steel drums [vanilla, pineapple puree, lard, .. ]

I got our stove-pipe from: 'Woodmans Parts Plus'

Even though I am in Maine, and most homes in my town burn wood, so every hardware store carries woodstove stuff. I found the best selection and prices at:
http://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/


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## JoeKan (Feb 4, 2006)

Thank you!


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

Et1 ss It is good if you have the room , I don't my house is about 1/2 the size of yours 

8x8 is most of a bed room in our house and nearly half the living room


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## JoeKan (Feb 4, 2006)

I don't know. This guy here has his barrel stove next to a wall. 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhkCc33Dtas[/ame]


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## JoeKan (Feb 4, 2006)

ET1 SS said:


> They sell two grades of cast iron door. We had the cheaper grade, but after a couple years it warped. Now we have the heavy duty grade.
> 
> There is a pastry factory near-by where I got food-grade steel drums [vanilla, pineapple puree, lard, .. ]
> 
> ...


I bought the wrong one! I'm trying to cancel the order and get the deluxe model instead of the standard. Thanks for the heads up, I didn't know there were two.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

JoeKan said:


> I don't know. This guy here has his barrel stove next to a wall.


That is not just a 'wall'. 

That is a fire-proof heat reflector.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

It was pointed out that 24 inches clearance may not be code for everywhere , please everyone check your local code , zoning , ordinance , and with your insurance.

My insurance company said , get a UL listed stove , have it on the main floor of your house , have it professionally installed , and we won't touch your rates.

So I built my pad to exceed the required 1 1/8 inch they told me i needed , and then the stove company charged me 500 dollars to install my stove and new chimney , that did a few things , It made my mother happy that her grand kids weren't going to die in a house fire caused by a the wood stove or chimney and it made my insurance company happy , if i can make both of them happy for 500 dollars , that is a deal.
I also have a 12-12 pitch roof that is a pain to work on , and it seemed like a better deal as they were up there installing it , so happy mother , happy wife , happy insurance company , and me happy to not be on the roof is 500 well spent. and the hole cost of the wood stove was recouped int he first year , we cut our fuel oil usage by more than half close to 2/3rds that was the year it jumped from 1.44 to 4.01 a gallon , it is back to 3.60 or so a gallon but we will never see it under 3 dollars a gallon again


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