Old wood stove for burn box

[minervalong]

Hi! Such an interesting site and so much information to be had. I don't have a lot of time to do a lot of research so thought I would ask a question and get a pointer to the info. 

The situation is that I'm going to be putting up a polycarbonate greenhouse 10 ft x 24 ft. It is really two 10*12's put together. I want to use wood to heat. I was given a small, steel plate woodstove. Wood is free for me so I can burn lots and I am not in a wood burn control area so emissions are not an issue either. I just want to be able to do a burn in the evening, with mass enough on either side of the stove to slowly leach the heat into the greenhouse. 

I do not have access to clay or the physical ability to make cob. I want to be able to use brick, I can get those easily and not a lot of physical output is needed (once they are unloaded of course lol). 

I can leave a 4 ft space between the gh kit builds, fill it in with fireboard on the side the stove sits on, put a door on the other side. Ideally, the stove would be midway with benches built out to either side, not more than 5 ft tall max, some sort of flat place where I could make a pot of coffee. 

Any plans out there for something like this? Or do I need to read all the info and then design my own? I really like the rocket bell designs but don't know how to fit a woodstove in there. 

Thanks for any help at all. It is February and I'd like to be outside but too darn cold lol. Hopefully with y'alls help, next February will be sunnier!!

[coastalrocketeer]

You can't really safely use a low combustion efficiency appliance like an old box stove to feed bells or other mass, as creosote buildup from the 20+% unburned fuel becomes a serious safety hazard, the same as it does in a chimney alone... Worse even, as MORE of the material will condense out with the more efficient heat extraction from that dirty exhaust...

[minervalong]

OK, thanks was just trying to get to keep more of the heat out of the old stove and skip building a burn box from scratch.

[coastalrocketeer]

I can totally understand that desire... Just not sure it would yield a safe result.

Box stoves are required in the US, by the EPA to maintain in excess of 350 degree exhaust to prevent/reduce creosote buildup in the chimney precisely because of their very inefficient combustion and dirty exhaust.

[coastalrocketeer]

briank may have some suggestions as he's done work in converting old box stoves to more efficient cores for mass heaters, using ceramic fiber board...
but would probably need pics and dimensions of your proposed unit, interior and exterior to give much useful advice on whether it could be done or how.

I can't seem to tag him properly in this post but you might be able to Pm him and draw his attention to it... Or look at his past posts from his profile page and see what he has been doing with other box stoves.

[minervalong]

Great, thanks for the info and pointer. I think I'm gonna let the hub put the old stove over in the hunting shack for when it's raining and filling up the firepit over there lol. Probably go with a RocketMass with clay flue for the rocket part, pounded earth filled bench for mass. Or, something else I can build lol, there are so many plans out there.

[briank]

Feb 5, 2018 14:40:45 GMT -8 coastalrocketeer said:

briank may have some suggestions as he's done work in converting old box stoves to more efficient cores for mass heaters, using ceramic fiber board...
but would probably need pics and dimensions of your proposed unit, interior and exterior to give much useful advice on whether it could be done or how.

I can't seem to tag him properly in this post but you might be able to Pm him and draw his attention to it... Or look at his past posts from his profile page and see what he has been doing with other box stoves.

Thanks, I got the tag coastalrocketeer.

Is there any chance you could post dimensions and/or photos of the old wood stove minervalong? Chances are that if it’s a simple plate metal wood stove it could be used for the basis of a 6” or 8” rocket mass heater system.

[gadget]

Have you seen this thread?

donkey32.proboards.com/thread/2667/make-firebox-frame-wood-stove