What does everyone think of this homemade wood stove ?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

nathan125

Member
Nov 18, 2013
70
idaho
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.


I have not heard of anyone lining a stove with 3 inches of refractory cement. I think this stove has some merits and I like it but curious what our more seasoned (see what I did there) members think of this stove build and the concept and efficiency behind it.
 
He is saying all the proper buzz words but without proper lab testing its function is just guesswork. It looks well built, I will give him that...
 
When i bought my shop there was a homemade wood stove lined with regular cement about 4 inches thick.A lot had crumbled away over the years.
The door was in poor shape,after i fixed it the stove worked pretty good for the size of the shop.
Had to remove it because of the insurance company
 
Thoughts…. His stove is glowing. I don’t think I needs to. Speaks to an error on the extreme temp side to ensure complete combustion. Oh add a combustion blower too (get it hotter). 600 degree door temp. That’s ok. Heat exchanger well yeah you have to if you are running the firebox at glowing temps.

Why do this. He needed lots of heat. Couldn’t find a wood stove to heat his house. So he needed a 5 cu ft fire box and a really high burn rate (glowing stove) to generate enough heat. Neat concept looks well built.

Wondering what he has for insulation and windows and how many cords a year he burns. Wonder what his insurance company would say?

Just my thoughts
Evan
 
I believe in other videos he has posted he stated in 4 or 5 years he has burned less than 15 face cord, Heats his basement and house. As far as proper testing and lab work.... eh. He knows if he is saving on wood consumption if he has previously ran an efficient stove to compare with.

Why not use 2.5 inch thick firebrick and layer a half inch over with refractory cement, seems to be more cost effective this way....Not sure if it will "glow" though.
Would adding the blower air tubes and secondary burn tubes be of any use?

For homemade designs I think it has a lot of thought put into it, I have seen some really awful ones.
 
"Saving on wood consumption " is difficult to quantify. Btu in vs btu out, particulate emissions, etc that would be measured in a lab, is.
Lab testing is expensive and I am not suggesting that he go that route. I am simply stating that "claims" are often different than facts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nathan125
less than 15 face cord, Heats his basement and house
Ok I’ve got some questions here. Let’s call his face cords (this is not a real measure measurement, it’s like a slice of pizza how nice was the pie and how was it cut) equal to 1/2 a real cord (close enough if he’s cutting to 22”). So that’s two cords a year. Even if his stove is 95% efficient (which it isn’t) that’s just not a huge heating load. An average woodstove could certainly heat that space. So how many square ft is he heating and how well insulated is it? And what climate zone does he live in? What are his flue temps? He put a lot of time and money into that only to burn 2 cords a year.

I want to applaud his fabrication skills. I would want to see the flames.. glowing glass is not a good thing.

Evan
 
From what i heard in his other videos... He is heating about 4,000 sq ft total. half of which is a basement. He used his thermometer to show the outside temp, it was about 2 degrees or something like that. As far as insulation I am not sure.
Is there an advantage to using refractory cement at 3 inches over say 2.5 inches thick of firebrick?
 
A face cord is 1/3 of a cord. Full stop. End of discussion.
 
No. A face cord is a stack of split wood measuring 4*8 ft, and of un-defined length.

I can therefore sell you a face cord of 12" long splits. That does not make 1/3 cord.

 
A face cord is 1/3 of a cord. Full stop. End of discussion.
He said he was putting in 22” logs. I rounded my math up to 2’ so he’s about 1/2 cord per face cord. Close enough for youtube land and easy math.
Is there an advantage to using refractory cement at 3 inches over say 2.5 inches thick of firebrick?
I think it has a higher r value.