woodburning stove

[woodwoodjohn]

after one of the coldest winters on record and now that summers here I need to invest in a good woodburning stove seen some pot belly type for about £120 has anybody got one of these or any other ideas on w/burners =D>

 

[condeesteso]

I'm a big fan of wood-burners generally, but I do recommend you look at any second-hand stoves rather than a new entry-level pot-belly - they tend to be a bit light-weight, thinner steels etc. And also rather poor air control. These stoves excel when they are well made, heavy castings etc, and above all efficient air control (ideally twin - one from underside, the secondary from above, often called air-wash). Fire-brick lined is a sign of a good one, as the bricks store and balance the heat - the idea with these stoves being they can run quite slow and the whole box gets so hot it radiates loads of heat. Even quite small ones can kick out 7kW plus.
Also take care re flue venting - the flue gasses are v hot and toxic - watch for combustibility anywhere near (workshop, wood, tricky sometimes), then maybe you have to meet building regs - even worse!. I have found that whatever is spent on a good old secondhand stove, allow about the same again on the flue system. An upsetting truth.
But they are fantastic things, and at this time of year eBay will serve you very well with a little patience.

 

[Graham Orm]

You need a rocket stove. It will use one third the wood of a conventional woodburner, reach higher temperatures and give off zero smoke. This is mine.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/rocket-stove-video-2-t69191.html

 

[Flynnwood]

after one of the coldest winters on record and now that summers here I need to invest in a good woodburning stove seen some pot belly type for about £120 has anybody got one of these or any other ideas on w/burners =D>

Is the woodburner for your home? or workshop?

 

[woodwoodjohn]

for my workshop

 

[custard]

I've just built an 80 sq metre workshop that's mainly heated by woodburner. I was a bit cautious at first, my previous workshop was centrally heated and I thought a woodburner would be a step down in terms of creature comforts and a step up in terms of hassle and inconvenience, but I've been pleasantly surprised.

The workshop is split into two roughly equal rooms, a machine room and a bench room, the 5kw woodburner is in the bench room positioned against the dividing wall, I also keep an electric oil filled radiator in the machine room which ticks over at the lowest thermostat setting. It's all worked out just fine through the winter. And if I don't have enough off-cuts then here in the New Forest good quality logs are pretty cheap. So provided you've got a decent stove, a reliable source of fuel, and a professional installation; then I think a woodburner is a very viable workshop option.

 

[marcus]

If it's for your workshop I recomment one of theses as they are designed for workshop use and burn sawdust as well as offcuts: great way to make use of the stuff.

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_burning_stoves/Steel-workshop-stove.html

A bit more expensive than what you've been looking at but not too much, and designed for the job. Also it is top feeding which is safer than opening a door near ground level when there's lots of shavings about on the floor — less likely for sparks to fly out.

 

[acewoodturner]

try this one on ebay. Made in the uk and is £159 for an 8KW. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/workshop-heat ... 336d475e45


Mike

 

[kostello]

try this one on ebay. Made in the uk and is £159 for an 8KW. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/workshop-heat ... 336d475e45


Mike

I got one of those and it works a treat

 

[custard]

Also it is top feeding which is safer than opening a door near ground level when there's lots of shavings about on the floor — less likely for sparks to fly out.

Marcus makes a very good point. I'm in the process of extending the hearth under my workshop woodburner for exactly this reason, it's almost impossible to run any front loading woodburner without the occasional ember spitting or spilling out up to about 12" in front of the door.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've a Clearview indoors, and a pot belly in the workshop. The Clearview is now about £1350, so that would preclude it's use in a workshop, but I bet the pot belly burns in 2 0r 3 hours what it uses in a day. The PB is also disintegrating and quickly becoming unusable after 4 - 5 years of occasional use. In my next workshop I'm going for a rocket stove.

 

[condeesteso]

Now summer is here, I thought I would fire my old stove up It's a Portway No3, made in Essex. Any knowledge of its history etc would be welcome.
Found this a while ago on eBay for about £65, a bargain I felt as the seller was concerned the ash pan was missing :wink:

Here it is fired up and running - nice and clean with just scraps from the workshop. You'll notice I have been having a corrosion problem. It has been stored in the workshop but I suspect there may have been moisture in the brick lining. It's a bit of a worry as the outer steel skin is corroded in places (though not all the way through).
That's partly why I fired it up, to get it hot through and hopefully really dry it out.
I notice a slight gas leak around the top, under the lip. Would exhaust putty be appropriate?
Next problem - flue. I suppose I need 3 off 90 degree bends, and a few longish straights - out of the back (4" flue), up the wall, bend and out the wall, bend again and up.
Please does anyone know a source for cheap flue pipe - I am upset that the flue system looks like it could cost about 4 times what the stove owes me.
So far on a test burn it seems to work really well, and air control whilst looking basic is effective.
Any help re flue, creative ideas etc, greatly appreciated.

p.s. when I say creative, I really mean cheap.

 

[acewoodturner]

Hi Douglas
I use single skin metal dust extraction pipe for my stove. It would be better to use the double skin outside though. I use single outside but the company I use for the pipe makes it about half a mile away and I get it cheap. Try to use 45 degree bends instead of 90 as the smoke may get trapped and backfill the workshop.

Mike

 

[Jacob]

Now summer is here, I thought I would fire my old stove up It's a Portway No3, made in Essex. Any knowledge of its history etc would be welcome.
Found this a while ago on eBay for about £65, a bargain I .....

All I know is that they were available new from Exchange & Mart in the 70s. We had one. They were generally known as "turtle" stoves but "Turtle" was a brand and actual "Turtle" stoves turn up at auctions etc - usually with attractive decorative castings.
The steel is thin on the tube and rusts away eventually. Replacing it is expensive but if you have a thicker sheet steel tube made up it will last a lot longer and won't need firebricks.

NB flue pipe (in the room) is a good investment as if you have enough length you get a lot of heat back which would be wasted if it went up a chimney.

 

[kostello]

I also use spiral wound extraction pipe as a flue........

But I have found an exhaust place on eBay that looks like if does a good price on stainless steel pipe.....

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Custom-Exhaust ... 34.c0.m322

And you should really try to stick with 45 degree bends if possible

 

[condeesteso]

Thanks all. First the 45 degree, understood and makes sense, but that could then become 6 x 45 degrees ?! As the stove was designed with horizontal back outlet, would a 90 at that point be OK? then 45 everywhere else?
I have seen the flexible spiral material - that would suit me v well, but is it ok for flue temperatures? I don't care about cosmetics as it is in the workshop.
I don't fancy the cost of re-skinning this stove, but I reckon the existing skin has good life in it, and I do rate the brick lining - very nicely done all cast to cylinder shape etc. We have had several stoves in houses and I find the better ones are always brick-lined. It seems to help the whole box get to an efficient temperature and keeps the burn nicely stable. that's just my hunch though.
The stainless pipe looks v good value... maybe a mix of that and some flexi could do the job. Plenty of the flue inside would presumably help dissipate flue heat into the workshop?
Just find me some bargain flue solution, I'll be v happy!!

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Guys. You need to be mindful of building regs where flue design is concerned. Because of the obvious fire risk, this is one area where you can't just make it up as you go. I don't know the details myself but every time I research workshop heating I feel the dread of local council beauracracy reaching out to squash the ideas!

It's the bit above the roof height and double vs single skin once outside that always comes up