Do-it-Yourself Wood Heater

Some dried twigs already contain enough innate energy to provide sustained heat in a proper wood-burning stove.

Wood-burning heaters can be made from a variety of materials including tin cans, discarded water tanks, pots, and kettles, among other things. Advantages of such stoves are that they are portable, easy to build, use comparatively less fuel, and are more environmentally friendly, as they produce less smoke than an open fire. A turbo stove uses gasification and the combustion of gases produced to efficiently burn the fuel. This is essentially done by producing a smoky fire, and having a secondary flame which burns the smoke. You can use a stainless steel vacuum thermos flask to make a wood-burning heater with minor modifications.

Things You'll Need

• Stainless steel vacuum thermos flask
• Drill
• Wooden base
• PC fan
• Battery charger

Instructions

1. Remove the stopper, the rubber seals, and the top and bottom caps of the flask. The bottom cap might be difficult to remove, since it is press fitted. Drill a small hole in it and pop it off with compressed air. Once the caps are off, drill a 6mm hole at the bottom, through the three layers of metal, to provide air for the combustion. Then enlarge the hole to around 12mm for the two outer layers. This is done to prevent the fuel pieces from falling out, as well as providing a large enough air-inlet.

2. Drill roughly fifteen 3mm holes on the top, along the groove where the rubber seal would normally rest. The precise size and number of holes will not make too much of a difference. However, for this type of turbo stove, you will need to supply artificial convection using a fan. A PC fan will work, but for better results, an impeller type fan, powered by a battery charger, will be ideal.

3. Use a simple shallow box as the bed for the stove components. This box will have two connected holes, one for the stove, and the other for the fan. The air from the fan is blown in through one hole and comes out below the stove. Use some bricks as the billy stand, which should be high enough to allow the flame to burn properly.

4. In order to control the air output to the heater, you can use variable resistance in your electrical circuit. This way, you can increase or decrease the air supply, to control your flame. You can use this heater either outdoors or indoors, as it produces negligible amount of smoke. Light the fire using small dry twigs or shavings and then add the larger pieces. Use liquid fuel to light the fire. You will get a smokeless flame, which will be accompanied by a soft roar.

References

• Zenstoves.net: Wood Stoves and Wood Burners
• Eddiem.com: Eddie's Cheap Easy-to-build, Turbo Stove