Forced Air Wood Burning Stove Shop In Garage

Forced Air Wood Burning Stove Shop In Garage ENERGY Wood Burners (65) 27-1-20 When Tad Schreiner went looking for a cheaper way to heat his garage and shop, he couldn't find a forced air wood stove that would do what he wanted. That left him with only one option: He had to build it himself. The wood stove he came up with is built out of three barrels - a 55-gal. one on the outside, a 35-gal. barrel inside, and a 20-gal. barrel inside of that. The 20-gal. barrel serves as the firebox. Air between the firebox and the 35-gal. barrel heats up and is pulled out through a 6-in. dia. elbow on one side of the stove. A thermostat mounts on the elbow. The space between the 35-gal. barrel and the outer barrel is packed with insulation. The stove sends 180-degree air through insulated air ducts into the shop and garage. An old furnace fan draws air from the shop and returns it to the stove. Exhaust air exits through an 8-ft. high, 6-in. dia., high pipe that mounts on top of the stove. "It does a nice job and didn't cost much to build," says Schreiner, of Prior Lake, Minn. "The nice thing about my stove is that after winter is over I don't have to leave it sitting in the yard all summer and mow around it. I can disconnect the stove from the air ducts, put it on a two-wheeled dolly, and roll it into my shed. "My shop is located under the living space in my house but I didn't have a chimney down there for a wood stove. I could have bought an outside stove that pumps hot water to the house, but I didn't want to spend the money and have to deal with pipes and water lines, etc." Schreiner had 14-ga. cold-rolled sheet metal rolled into shape to build the 20-gal. firebox. He was given the other two barrels. To build the stove, he first cut the tops and bottoms out of the 55 and 35-gal. barrels to fit them together. He welded a door collar and fresh air inlet into the firebox and cut openings into the other barrels. The firebox was then placed inside the 35-gal. barrel, and 6-in. dia. stove pipe elbows were welded onto it. Then he used 16-ga. sheet metal to cut out new tops and bottoms for the 35-gal. barrel. Then he put the 35-gal. drum inside the 55-gal. drum and packed the opening between them with batt-type insulation, making sure to pack it in fairly tight. Then he welded a top and bottom on the 55-gal. barrel. Next, he used sheet metal and angle iron to build an insulated door and painted the stove black. "It's not as high tech as some commercial models, but it works well," says Schreiner. "Most commercial models are equipped with an automatic damper system, but I have to open and close the damper manually. However, it isn't a big inconvenience. Once I get the fire going, I turn the dampers off so the wood will burn longer. The thermostat I use came out of an old furnace and is used to turn the fan on or off. I set the thermostat to kick the fan on once the stove temperature reaches 200 degrees, and to shut off when it reaches 90 degrees. The thermostat is wired up to an extension cord that runs to the house. "There is about 3 1/2 inches of insulation in the stove, and it really contains the heat. Even after the stove has run for 8 hours, the stove won't melt any snow that may be on it." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tad Schreiner, 16250 Suel Lane, Prior Lake, Minn. 55372 (ph 952 447-5421).

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