SHTF barrel stoves

[CountryBoy19]

Originally Posted by bucky623

The door seal on my stove is made of what I would guess is asbestos rope.

Bucky

Probably fiberglass. Thats is what they normally are. They may also be some special fibers as well (nomex maybe?), but not asbestos.

[misconfig]

I'm guessing these barrels don't last long, but I'm pretty darn sure they'll last you through the winter months. For $125 you can't beat that, especially if you had to keep your family warm!

[1946]

Used to have one back in the early eighties. It was a double barrel stove. One above the firebox. Acted as a heat exchanger. Used it for six heating seasons in a 30x50 insulated building. Kept everything including me nice and comfortable (68-70 degrees). Just had to be sure you kept sand in the bottom 1/4 of the firebox and no problems. They do use quite abit of wood. More than a commercial wood burner. No longer live at same location, so no longer using wood. Just my 2 cents.

[red_zr24x4]

I have the kit that uses 2 drums, stacked on top of each other.
It heats my garage great, I put walls around mine like in one of the pictures with a fan behind it.
You can by the kits at harbor freight(everything but the drums)
Kenny

[bucky623]

The family of a high school friend had one to heat their house back in the late 70’s. When they moved out they gave me the stove, which was about burned out, so I put the parts on a new barrel every few years and have used it in my shop ever since. I made a grate out of re-rod but I still have the sand in the bottom.

Building a barrel stove from a kit is no big deal. A little cutting and a little drilling. That’s about it.

I agree with using the water heater and LP tank. Those would make a much more durable stove.

Other stoves I’ve seen were made from compressor tanks, section of culvert and a 275 gal. fuel oil tank.

Barrel stove kits on eBay.

Bucky

[bucky623]

Another thought. When starting up a new stove for the first time make sure you have plenty of ventilation because of the burning paint fumes. Scrape off the burned paint and paint with a good heat paint and burn again.

Bucky

[HiRoller]

I bought an old Warm Morning Wood/Coal stove from Craigslist at 75 bucks, spruced it up and put in my home last year, paid for it self and the flue piping the first year. My gas bil dropped 75% !!! I have it burning right now with the back door wide open and still 78 degrees in the farthest room away from the stove. Wood is easy to procure even in the heart of the city, coal is a drive to the country and back. One thing for sure is you can't beat the feeling of the wood fire !

[Sthunter987]

Nice idea. I'll have to check into this.

[IndyBeerman]

I'm in the process of doing a trial run on a 55 gallon drum kit, with several mods done to it as soon as I get some final parts so I can get it finished, if it works like I think it will. I'm going to do a final build out of much heavier material.

Went over some thoughts about it to a neighbor who HVAC company without really divulging details, but he's psyched to see my results.

I'll let everyone know the results when I get the first couple of burns in.

[ThrottleJockey]

In northern MN we have been using these longer than I've been alive. You can buy door and leg kits for about $50, extra $25 to make it a double. My grandfather used the same one for over 20 years with no problems and my father has been using the same one for nearly that long now. If you put a damper in the stove pipe, and adjust properly, you will get more heat than just about any other method and it really doesn't use any more wood than other methods. If anything, it consumes less fuel (if the vent and damper are adjusted properly). Also, put a flat steel plate on top and keep a big metal pan of water on it, they dry the air out something terrible. Oh, and not sure about here in IN, but in MN now you must use the double wall stove pipe which gets a tad bit expensive (about $400 in parts to go from the stove straight up out the roof).