On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 1:01:44 AM UTC-5, SteveB wrote:




What makes a good wood burner, and what is good to look for? Are the

more expensive ones inherently more efficient? And just what does the

second barrel do, other than provide greater surface area? And would it

be possible to mount the second top barrel somewhere other than directly

over the lower one to take heat to another portion of the shop?



Just how airtight are these? Is it necessary to monitor them very

closely with CO detectors, or is the inherent leakage of a hobbyiist

built enclosure safe enough?


Steve


The EPA ought to publish plans for an efficient wood stove that meets their standards. But they do not. They just publish a list of approved stoves that have been tested and has passed their standards. The list does not even show the actual test results. Just shows a figure that is the max limit for emisions. And of course if you install a stove that does not meet their standards , you are breaking the law.

So you have several options for stoves to install in your shop. One is to ignore the law and build your own. Another is to buy a used stove that meets the requirements. And of course you can buy a new stove.

But you can build a wood furnace and use it. It does not have to meet any standards. In addition it can be outside the shop so the wood does not have te be brought into the shop. And that also reduces the fire hazard.

My neighbor has a wood furnace located in a shed on his property. It is not very efficient and put out a fair amount of smoke. So he burns it early in the morning. The furnace designed by Richard Hill is efficient. It hurns the wood in a cast refractory chamber so it burns very hot. Then exhausts thru a fire tube boiler. So it produces very little smoke.

If you do build your own furnace or stove, you really want it to be as efficient as possible. Wood stoves require a fair amount of work, so the more efficient is is, the less wood you have to cut and haul.

My solution was to buy a used wood stove. I bought it from a guy that had it in pieces. He was planning on refurbishing it before he installed it. But then found his town would not permit any wood stoves, regardless of their being on the EPA's list.

Dan