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Convert a Hot Water Heater Into a Wood Stoveby ShutterBugger on
January 7, 2011
Table of Contents
Convert a Hot Water Heater Into a Wood Stove . . . . . . . . . .
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Intro: Convert a Hot Water Heater Into a Wood Stove . . . . . .
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Step 1: Materials needed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 2: Cut out the door. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 3: Cut out the stovepipe hole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 4: Cut the vent tube out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 5: Drill vent holes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 6: Install the draft tube. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 7: Cut the door. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 8: Assemble the rest of the door. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 9: Install the gasket seal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 10: Finishing up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 11: Final thoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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http://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-a-Hot-Water-Heater-Into-a-Wood-Stove/
Author:ShutterBugger author's websiteI have a project at
http://www.belljar.net/xray.htm on making x-rays.I post some of my
projects in a blog on the MySpace page.
Intro: Convert a Hot Water Heater Into a Wood StoveAbout 6 years
ago, with the cost of heating my house rising, I began looking at
designs for wood stoves. In The Mother Earth News (Issue # 49-
January/February 1978)I found a promising article about using
discarded hot water heaters. Using that article as a guide, I
constructed a wood stove that I have been using for about 6
years.
The stove is used in the first floor of a 20 foot by 36 foot
uninsulated brick house. When the temperature is 20 degrees
outside, the basement is 80 degrees and the floorabove is 55
degrees. The temperature difference would be reduced by connecting
the floors with ducting.
Here in the city, it takes about 16 square blocks of scavenging
territory to scrounge up enough discarded wood to supply one house
with one years worth of fuel. It helpsto have a car or truck to
transport the wood that people throw in the alleys. Discarded
furniture made from particle board is great because it is easy to
break into smallpieces. Keep an eye out for folks with dead trees
that you can offer to remove.
The Mother Earth plan calls for electric water heaters. My
variation uses a gas heater, which is much more common in cities.
For this instructable, I made a second stoveand documented what I
did. Since there are so many metal scavengers in my area, it is
very difficult to find a heater in the alley, so I traded an old
car battery for a waterheater from a nearby scavenger.
Note, before starting this project, check with your homeowners
insurance to make sure there wont be a problem.Photo A shows the
heater with the covering and insulation removed.
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Step 1: Materials needed.Materials.1. A 40 or 50 gallon gas
water heater. The 40 gallon heaters are about 4 feet long and 16
inches in diameter (with the insulation, base, and outer covering
removed).2. A large helium gas container of the type used for
balloons.3. A saber saw and plenty of metal cutting blades.4. A
Dremel or Rotozip tool fitted with a metal cutting saw.5. An angle
grinder with a metal cutting saw.6. A 3/8 inch drill.7. An
assortment of bolts and two hinges.8. Some fiberglass cloth or
ceiling tile.9. A knob for the door.10. A latch for the door.11.
Scissors to cut the fiberglass and stapler to secure the pieces.12.
Measuring tape and marker.13. Enough 5 inch stove pipe to reach to
the chimney.14. A wrench to remove the gas valve and remaining
pipes
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Step 2: Cut out the door.Remove all the outer coverings,
insulation, base coverings, and pipes from the heater. There will
be a sacrificial anode inside that also needs to be removed. I
discoveredthat in 3 out of 4 heaters, this anode is made of
magnesium. If scrapings from the anode can be set afire with a
match, you have magnesium.
Get some ear plugs and goggles, along with an angle grinder or
saw with a metal cutting blade. Put the heater on its side and mark
out the door opening at 9 incheswide by 18 inches long. See photo B
for details. Cut the door opening at the domed (top) end of the
heater and about 4 inches from the end. You will get longer life
fromyour blade if the rotation of the blade and direction of the
cut are as illustrated.
Save the cutout for later where it will be used as part of the
door.
Step 3: Cut out the stovepipe hole.Use a piece of stovepipe as a
template and center the stovepipe hole about 9 inches from the
bottom end of the heater. Drill a starter hole and use the saber
saw to cutthe opening for the 5 inch stovepipe. I found that the
blades dulled quickly and broke, probably because of the glass
lining of the heater. Keep the cutout piece for uselater on. Photo
C illustrates this.
Try to keep the fit as tight as possible to minimize smoke
leakage.
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Step 4: Cut the vent tube out.The water heater will have a 3
inch diameter vent tube in the center, running from top to bottom.
This tube will be cut out and used as the draft tube of the stove.
The toolI used to cut the tube is illustrated in photo D .
I used the Rotozip tool to cut the tube from the inside, and
close to the ends so as to keep the tube as long as possible. After
both ends of the tube are cut, you will haveto use the saber saw to
cut the hole for the draft tube and remove the tube through that
hole. This is illustrated in photos E and F . To recap, the 3 inch
tube that used tobe the vent for the water heater is now being used
as the draft tube for the wood stove you are making.
You will probably need two cutting disks because they wear out
quickly.
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Step 5: Drill vent holes.After you get the vent tube (now the
draft tube) out, get out your drill with the biggest bit you have.
I used a inch drill bit. Now, drill a line of holes along the tube
at about2 inch intervals. These holes will allow air to enter the
stove along the length of the tube. The holes dont have to be
accurate or neat.
Use a center punch to mark the places to drill, otherwise the
bit will be hard to start. The punch will also break any glass
coatings. You will need lots of pressure to getthrough both sides
of the tube. I found that I had to resharpen the bit every 2 or 3
holes. Photo G shows this.
Step 6: Install the draft tube.Put the finished draft tube back
into the hole that you cut in photo E , leaving a few inches of it
poking out the front (like in the insert of photo H). Then, at the
back, drillan anchor hole through the tube and the bottom of the
stove. You will use a 4 inch bolt in this hole to fasten the tube
to the stove.
I used the 5 inch stovepipe hole as an access for the drill.
This was cut in photo C . Photo H illustrates all this.
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Step 7: Cut the door.Find a 12 to14 inch diameter helium
container. Use the angle grinder to cut a door approximately 9
inches by 27 inches. Measure to make sure its right for your
stove.You will find the curve is close to the amount that you need.
One of these containers is depicted in photo I .
Step 8: Assemble the rest of the door.Center the piece from step
2 into the piece you just cut from the helium jug and drill holes
for 5 mounting screws along each side. Like before, I had to
resharpen the drillbit often while doing this. See photo J .
After the two pieces are bolted together, fit the door on the
stove and when you have the best fit, mark the position for the two
hinges. When you mount the door, put alight and mirror inside to
check the alignment as you progress. Photo K is a closeup of the
hinges. You can use hinges of steel, aluminum, or brass. The
alignment of thedoor was troublesome and took time to get
right.
You will want to be able to replace the hinges and fiberglass
gasket, so have the nuts on the outside for easier removal.
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Step 9: Install the gasket seal.Photo L shows the fiberglass
cloth that I used for the gasket. I cut it into strips 10 inches
wide and 22 inches long. This came from an automotive supply
shop.
Wind the fiberglass on a smooth rod as shown in photo M .
Actually, the rod was half an inch in diameter.
Use a stapler to flatten the rolls into strips as in photo N .
Put a staple about every two inches.
After you have finished, you should have 4 fiberglass seals, as
in photo O . The two shorter pieces were made from fiberglass
curtain cloth. The curtains came from thealley.
Use the inner plate, of the door, to hold the pieces of gasket
in place. Photo P shows the whole door and Photo Q is a detail
view.
There are other alternatives for gasket material. One
possibility is the gasket from the oven door of a discarded gas
range. Another idea is to cut strips from a piece offiberglass
ceiling tile. These sources are illustrated in photo R .
The latch for the door can be anything available. I found a
glass knob to use as a door handle, but you could use an old sash
lift instead. Photo S shows what I did.
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Step 10: Finishing up.The 3 inch opening at the rear of the
stove (what used to be the bottom of the hot water heater) can be
used with three inch stove pipe to divert hot combustion gases
toother purposes like heating water, but I just plugged it up using
the piece I cut from the stove pipe hole in step 3. Photo T shows
this.When you are finished, your stove will look something like
photo U . I stuck it on a small refrigerator for the photo, but you
will need a base made of bricks or perhapsmade from scavenged water
pipe. A base or stand made of pipe is preferable as it allows more
heat into the room. There will be holes where the plumbing used to
be.These can be plugged with 3/4 inch plugs.
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Step 11: Final thoughts.You can use a torch to light the stove
using the front opening. After lighting, I cover the opening with
an empty 5oz catfood can. I have three cans, two having
differentsize holes in them for differing air allowance. I
typically use the torch on short lengths of wood lath to start the
fire going. When the supply of lath runs out, I use an ax tosplit
up small boards.The torch lighting is shown in photo V .
Put a grill over the draft tube. This will keep the coals from
burning through the bottom of the stove and allow air to come in
through the draft tube. You will probably haveto replace the grill
each year. See photo W .
The stove will create about 1 to 2 pounds of ash each day. It is
best to remove the ash after each day because a buildup will reduce
the heat output. Photo X shows thetools I use to remove ash. I use
a magnet to remove nails and screws from the ash because I put the
ashes on the lawn in the spring.
You will have to deal with a buildup of soot (creosote) in your
chimney. I tied a rope to a brick, and wrapped an old t-shirt
around it, and pulled it up and down the chimneyevery year.
I have looked into soot-destroyer chemicals and found them
wanting. Tests of these chemicals show they barely work if at all.
One popular class is a mixture of 90%potassium nitrate and 10%
charcoal, which actually promotes chimney fires. The idea being to
have frequent small chimney fires instead of one big one. These
materialshave ignited the soot in the stove pipe, causing it to
glow a dull red.
A second type of soot destroyer is a fire retarding chemical
that vaporizes in the flames and then condenses on the soot
deposits. It acts to make the soot more difficult toignite. You
still have the problem of buildup in your chimney.
Another possibility is to put small pieces of broken
plasterboard in with the wood. The idea is that hot sulfur dioxide
is formed and it reacts with the soot in the chimney.As I recall,
plasterboard is calcium sulfate and it decomposes into calcium
oxide and sulfur dioxide when heated.
The first use of this stove should probably be outside so as to
burn off any combustibles on the outer surface. Like wise, dont
paint the outside of the stove because itwill smoke and burn
off.
If you have welding equipment, you should add a lower chamber
for collecting and removing ashes. This could be made from another
helium container.
I found that keeping flammable materials at least 3 feet from
the stove was adequate for fire safety. This is especially true of
the area directly over the stove, where heatis concentrated. Any
smoke alarms should be positioned away from the stove because some
smoke is often emitted when you refuel the stove.
As I used the stove, sometimes the cap on the front opening
would pop off after a new charge of wood was added. So, I added a
bolt to hold the cap in place. This isillustrated in photo Y .
The valve in the photo was something that I added on the stove
Ive been using. It has proven to be completely unnecessary and
always open.
If you are using this stove in the city, start with small
amounts of wood. Start in early fall with small loads so as to get
the neighbors used to seeing smoke come from yourchimney. City
people, seeing that, OMG!!!, there is smoke coming from a chimney,
will call the fire department to investigate. That, in turn, could
lead to confiscation,condemnation, or regulation. In my case, the
fire department was fascinated and found nothing to criticize.
As much as possible, keep your wood supply dry and out of sight.
You dont want neighbors claiming that a woodpile is an eyesore or a
rat haven. Keep some wildcats around to control any rodents.
You can also burn small amounts of various plastics. Some
plastics will produce quite a lot of quick heat.
I found that, on really cold days, the stove can be used to melt
aluminum for casting. My cast iron crucible holds about 18 oz of
water and that amount of aluminumrequires a lot of heat to melt.
Even on cold days, melting aluminum can easily raise the interior
temperature to 100 degrees. It takes about an hour and a half of
stokingthe fire to completely melt it.
Photo Z is an illustration of charging the stove with wood. I
have to split most logs to get them in. Much of my fuel is broken
furniture. The fire in this photo is simulated.
The main design principle here is the use of a tube or pipe to
admit air the fire within. This tube serves two purposes: One, to
preheat the air entering the stove and two,to dampen oscillations
in the air column through the stove and up the chimney. These
principles can be used in masonry stoves, barrel stoves, and cast
iron stoves.
The thing about this project that gave me the most trouble and
frustration was compiling the text and pictures on a Windows
computer. Windows programs seemdesigned to impede and infuriate the
unfortunate user. I think we will never have good software until
Microsoft is out of business.
Next time, Ill use numbers for the pictures. I almost ran out of
letters on this one.
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Comments3 comments Add Comment
gmoon says: Jan 18, 2011. 5:41 AM REPLYExcellent job, really
great project. The photos are very illustrative.One request: I'd
really like to see a photo of the stove with the door open, and
fuel being loaded...
ShutterBugger says: Jan 18, 2011. 8:54 PM REPLYHi gmoonThe
picture you wanted has been included.~Bob~
gmoon says: Jan 19, 2011. 4:53 AM REPLYCool. Thanks!