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Old 05-08-2015, 21:35   #16
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

Just a couple more thoughts on woodheaters.

If you mount it above the settee, make sure there is enough clearance above the top to the deck. you really want to be able to easily fit a kettle or a pot on it and still have room. A reasonably straight flue is always going to work better than a bent one. Damn things get hot, I've seen them glowing red hot before, so make sure your insulation and surrounds are up to the heat. Wood surroundings slowly dry out and change composition after a long time at high temperatures, so just because it hasn't caught on fire after a few years doesn't mean it wont suddenly spontaneously combust. Keep the wood cool!

I mentioned insulating the flue. I think it would make a big difference, but havent tried it myself. It would be hard to keep any fibreglass tape dry, so probably best just to go with a twin wall stainless flue. It's also probably a good idea to twin wall at least the lower portion inside, as it often starts glowing when the fire is cranking.

for insulation I have used cement sheeting with tiles glued on, and a small 2mm air gap behind it, but the best is a thin sheet of polished stainless with about a 10mm airgap, ideally withsomething noncombustible and insulating behind it like cement sheet . watch the cupboards around the fire place, they can get pretty warm.

I toyed with the idea of fitting an automatic damper system using a thermo sensing gas strut to drive the damper. So as the temperature rises the damper closes itself and starts to stave the fire for extra safety. But a modicum of commonsense is all that's really needed.

Small is good, the things pump out so much heat! my next one will probably be made from 3mm 150x150 RHS square section. And be top loading.

Nothing beats the smell of a tiny bit of woodsmoke, and the radiant heat is lovely. I find the woodstove much nicer to live with that a diesel heater, though the diesel is great once it's going, any backdrafting is absolutely horrible, and they lack the charm of real wood. Its also nice to be able to collect some small twigs of the beach and cook some soup in a self sufficient way.
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Old 06-08-2015, 00:13   #17
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

What size of wood are you using SP?
And presumably it's hard wood???
And how much does it burn (Kg/Hr or whatever)

Initially I was going to build a small wood heater and then I started to think about carrying wood and then thought much easier to carry diesel () so thought diesel air heater but it's uses electricity - why can't heating be easy
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Old 06-08-2015, 00:50   #18
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

Ha Wottie, I have used whatever I can find. Softwood is ok but won't burn for long into the night, hardwood is much better.

My old mans a builder so they use offcuts, often just pine, As kids we used to beach-comb for wood, with a pruning saw and small axe to chop the sticks to size. Just got to watch out for spiders and other nasties! Keep the wood outside in the cockpit.

A bit of coal or bbq bricks can work, but you have to be very careful not to use to much or you end up with a nuclear meltdown inside your boat! we used to start it on wood and just add a few chunks of coal at a time to keep it simmering away, and conserve the wood.

Snowpetrels woodheater was sized to use those compressed wood blocks, but that made it much bigger than it needed to be for the boats size.

Good insulation means the wood heater doesn't have much work to do. often you have to open the doors to let the heat out! but they do a brilliant job of drying the whole boat out.

It doesn't take a lot of wood to keep a boat warm. Those servo pre pack wood batches work fine for a few weekends of evening use if you want something sanitised. But it does take up more space than diesel, and it is more mess. As you say, nothing is perfect, but if you have the space and temperament a tiny wood heater is pretty nice.

My mates latest wood heater is a tiny top opening one that sits at the base of his mast under the table. It works a treat.
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Old 06-08-2015, 02:28   #19
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

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Originally Posted by Snowpetrel View Post
.... Just got to watch out for spiders and other nasties! Keep the wood outside in the cockpit.....

It doesn't take a lot of wood to keep a boat warm. Those servo pre pack wood batches work fine for a few weekends of evening use if you want something sanitised. But it does take up more space than diesel, and it is more mess. As you say, nothing is perfect, but if you have the space and temperament a tiny wood heater is pretty nice.....
Come to think of it, I might have enough cockpit space at the rear under the tiller for a few days or a week of wood.

As for wood heating, we are using nothing else at home, but this year we are using more wood than last year . So far, about 9 tons of stringy bark and blue gum and winter has a bit to go yet

Space is always a premium on 31 x 8.5 foot boat but something might be squeezed it. Back to the drawing board!
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Old 06-08-2015, 04:15   #20
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

Wot, I've been looking at a little unit out of Montreal called a "cubic mini", it would be awesome if someone bought one before me so I could hear a review

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Old 06-08-2015, 07:00   #21
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

That cubic Mini Looks great


Very good price as well, and the glass door is wonderful. A big benefit of a commercial unit is it's much easier to get insurance surveyors not to freak out when you show them an official set of installation instructions with the words "ideal for a sailboat" on it.

If they were available here I'd seriously consider buying one. Only two possible problems I can see. They are a very big unit, and will pump out a lot more heat than a small yacht needs in most weather that doesn't include snow, and I wonder how easy it will be to keep the glass clean?

The extra heat can be managed by only feeding it the wood it needs, and maybe fitting some sort of water heater.
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Old 06-08-2015, 07:04   #22
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

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As for wood heating, we are using nothing else at home, but this year we are using more wood than last year . So far, about 9 tons of stringy bark and blue gum and winter has a bit to go yet

Space is always a premium on 31 x 8.5 foot boat but something might be squeezed it. Back to the drawing board!
9 tonnes, Ouch, mind you I haven't had a leccy bill this winter yet!

I'll try to get some pics of my mates latest miniature version for you. it is very cheap, small, simple and works a treat.
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Old 07-08-2015, 15:44   #23
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

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Originally Posted by FamilyVan View Post
Wot, I've been looking at a little unit out of Montreal called a "cubic mini", it would be awesome if someone bought one before me so I could hear a review

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I would love to help out but.....
I would need to get a bigger boat to fit the "cubic mini"

It does look nice. I wonder if anyone ever bought a boat to fit the stove before

Custom will be the way to go, maybe glass fronted, top loading and cantilevered off the cabin bulkhead.
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Old 13-08-2015, 09:25   #24
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

I've always cherished the woodstove advice I got from old Paul Luke himself (God rest his soul) 35 years ago. I had spent a small fortune on one of his brass and tile boat fireplaces for my 46' liveaboard cutter.

The crate finally arrived, and it was a real beauty... however there were no installation instructions whatever. Although it was obvious that it had an insulated housing, i was worried about whether I could build it into the cabinetry without additional insulation, so I called the Paul Luke yard and foundry in Maine for advice.

Ol' Paul himself answered the phone in his thick Downeast accent. He informed me that the back and sides of the fireplace would never get so hot that you couldn't comfortably lay your bare hands on them (and he was right). I asked him if he had any other installation advice.

"Be sure to leave lots of pahp," he replied.

"Eh?" I said, not being fluent in Mainer.

"Be sure to leave lots of pahp (trans. "pipe")," he repeated. "It's a great place to dry yer sahks."

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Old 31-01-2016, 12:50   #25
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Re: woodstove (re)instalation

Same for me. I gambled and ordered one. I've been looking for a long time for a decent design/size/price and this is the best I've seen. I'd love to hear if someone else has one, and how they feel about it

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