Wood Stove

[exMaggieDrum]

One of the things to consider is your neighbors and the marina management/regulations if you are in a marina. I know that I would not like a wood burning stove next to my boat. It may be nice and cozy inside but wood burn smell seems to be an extremely variable thing. I have neighbors on three sides of me at my house and each one of them manages to find the stinkiest disgusting wood to burn they can find.



On certain weather days the smoke drifts right in to our house or into our eyes and lungs. You cannot get out of it when it is drifting to you.



Also, your boat neighbors would not like to have soot from your stove coming down on their sail covers and decks. It is nasty stuff that is hard to remove. It tends to smear on decks and is almost impossible to get off of the canvas.



There is also the issue of embers coming out of the stove. I don't know the Cubic stove and it may have an excellent foolproof way to ensure embers can't get out. But if there is any possibility, at all, of that happening you could either burn holes in your neighbors canvas or start a fire.



The other thing to consider is how the flue and air supply are installed. If you are using cabin air for the stove then you are basically sucking out warm air and sending it outside. I removed the wood fireplace in my house and replaced it with a gas insert for that very reason.


Should you still go with the wood stove you need to make sure you have working CO monitors. A diesel or gas stove is out when you turn it off. Wood stove embers will burn (and not efficiently) long after you stop putting in wood. CO gas will definitely be created. And since you will have an opening to the cabin at least to put in wood, you have a definite issue here.


There is also the issue, depending on where you live, where there are burn bans in place sometimes when inversion layers create traps for smoke in the area. Usually there is an exception for residences where wood is the only heat source but some districts are starting to ban wood stoves for heating.



Don't get me wrong, I love wood fires like most. But I don't think they belong on boats unless you are far away from other boats and timber/grassy areas.

[LargeMarge]

In most places across fUSA, the government agents == bless their hearts == require cataclysm converters on wood stoves and fireplaces in stand-still buildings.

Garsh. I get the impression most of the rest of the system is engineered around the cataclysm converter. So, this's probably a good place to start.

Since your potential wood-stove is on a vessel in fUSA:
How much is the license?
What are the annual registration taxes?
How much time does the Continuing Education require?

And most important... since this's in fUSA, can you pass the background check(s)?

[a64pilot]

On all honesty there is good science behind a catalytic converter on a wood burning stove as they pollute considerably more than an automobile at highway speeds, it’s the smoldering fire and incomplete combustion that is the biggest polluter
This for grills, but same principle
https://www.motherjones.com/food/201...s-smoky-truth/

I don’t know if it’s true, you can find anything on the Internet, but I read that grills contribute more CO and CO2 in the Los Angeles basin than cars.

[arcticmonkey]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Also carcinogenic, but in a "if everyone did it" way

Years back I lived a few slips up from a wood burner, aptly named dirty george
yup soot was an issue. Later , living in the gulf islands a few years later I again had a neighbour, a wood burner, but this time no issues...choose your spots if you can.. but you can't beat wood for dry heat:

[Michael Conway-Brown]

I installed a Cubic Mini in a Safari van and used Dickenson hardware for flues and roof cap. It does need tending through the night a couple times, depending on fuel - max 6-inch long. It has glass front for cave-man TV. Their wall-mount has optional slide-out tray to catch any ash while fueling and cleaning. Note that Dickenson hardware installs upside down compared to normal woodstove install. Use lottsa stove cement at joints, or try to use Cubic Mini pipe and adaptor, but only straight up, no bends. I would put one in my sailboat if there was room. But I wouldn't remove my old kerosene heater. Use low-odour solvent in those for better performance.

[qwert]

I built my own based on this design:

Fire Design


I made a few changes but stuck firmly to the proportions of the vent, chimney etc sizes. I mainly use charcoal which we buy at a few dollars a sack. When the vents are almost closed it produces a lovely warm heat right through the boat (35ft) and burns for about 8hrs on a (very) generous handful of charcoal. We can also run it with the stove window open like an open fire but it does use a lot more fuel.

I'd highly recommend the site even if you don't want to build your own there's a heap of really good advice.

[Buzzman]

A good trick for cutting firewood to length, for example driftwood, or fallen trees, is to use one large-ish log as the base of a cutting platform, laid horizontally on the gound - you then add uprights at an appropriate spacing of the length of the 'cutting platform' at intervals equivalent to the length you require your finished firewood to be.
So if you need 6" logs, drive the uprights in (one either side of the log cutting platform) at 12" intervals. If you have, say, 4' lengths of old water pipe, drive them in a foot, and you have a 3' high log cutting 'frame'.
You then stack logs in the frame to the top.
Then with your chainaw, cut vertically 3" either side of the uprights to end up with 6" logs.
Split, stack and stow.
I developed this method when, as a teen, I was 'deputised' to cut truckloads of firewood for the fuel stove and fireplace in our home.
My Dad had been using the (fairly typical) double-X-frame, that only holds one or two logs but, as the two X's are joined by a cross bar through their centres, the logs had to be moved each time you cut, so as to always have a non-interference cut through.
My 'log cutting platform' method (at home) utilised 4 pairs of 8' star pickets at 18" intervals, with two old hardwood railway ties as the base, meaning I could stack around a dozen or so 6' long, 6-8" diameter logs, up to a 6" high stack, and then simply make one single, continuous vertical cut and end up with a dozen or so 'rounds' per vertical cut.
But it also meant I didn't have to move or re-arrange any of the logs, and could make three vertical cuts, one after another, and end up with 3 dozen 'rounds' ready for the splitter.
It sped up the wood cutting immensely!
Meant I only had to spend one weekend cutting and stacking enough cordwood for the whole winter season.
I then 'deputised' my young brother as the 'daily wood hauler' to feed the wood boxes by each stove.
Who do you reckon got the better deal??

[Shadowwalker]

I have heated my home most of my adult life with wood. The problem you are up agent is getting a decent wood stove. These tiny little stoves may be cute but they are next to usless.
They do not hold enough fuel to burn more than an hour or two. If you do not need sleep great. I personally do not want to be up every hour just to feed the stove. my wood stove in my house holds 2.3 cu ft of wood and burns for 9 hours between loads. You do the math. Diesel is a far better way to go on a boat.

[BalticVicing]

I have had a wood stove for two season. It is very nice and I have no interest of going pack to air heater like Webasto. Stove is some cheap garden house model from eBay. Chimney is H- pipe my friend welded for me. Through hull fitting for the pipe is also self-made and interior pipe is a car exhaust pipe. Total cost for the stove installation was about 200€.

I use barbeque prickets. They are cheap (1€/1kg) and burns a long time. I use around 30 kg/season and can fit all that in a storage below the stove.

I can get it to burn 4 hours in minimum setting or 1 hours in full (4KW) setting. Two handful of prickets will give me around 12 hours of nice toasty boat.

Stove is in a forward cabin and there is small computer fan to push the heat in the rest of the boat. Ashes go to my DIY composting toilet (after cooling down) as ash is a very good drying medium.

I often keep the stove on while sailing. It is very nice to go inside to warm up when it’s raining and weather is cold.

Here is a short video of a stove:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ojlmp0lutv...10559.mp4?dl=0

[Wotname]

^^ very nice

[Snowpetrel]

This is a very simple stove in a mates boat. It works very well, though needs to he regularly fed. It sits under his table.

[Mike OReilly]

Interesting discussion. I’m still considering whether to go the wood stove route, but one comment. The Cubic stoves are not catalytic burners. They, like most modern wood stoves, uses an exhaust combustion chamber to reduce the effluent to very low levels. It’s not a catalytic converter.

Once up to temperature, these stoves produce no visible exhaust. It’s the heating up and cooling down phases where some smoke and soot will be produced. But this should only last a short time. With our house-sized stove it took a couple of minutes. I would expect a Cubic’s combustion chamber to be up to temperature much quicker.

The issue of how long these stoves burn is a good one. I’ve not used one, but I do currently use a meth burner. My practice is to run it for a short while, but never overnight and never unattended. My boat heats up pretty easily, and then remains warm, so no need to run it continuously.

This is how I would expect to use a wood stove on my boat: short bursts of heat. This would only be appropriate for moderate cold climates. If I needed continuous heat to keep warm, I’d think a forced diesel burner like a Wabasto would be far better.

[john61ct]

Yes would not want it burning overnight, if extreme temps just as a supplement.

Merino socks + onesie, good sleeping bag and maybe a hot water bottle has been fine for me camping in the snow.

[BluePeter]

Lady
Do it. Boat heating has little or no resemblance to home heating and is much less work. You don't need a chainsaw--just a sharp folding handsaw, the kind backpackers use. You don't need a "20 inch setback" (??) from combustibles. You don't need to store all your wood at once. You can use standard 3 inch marine installation pipe and deck fittings. (My experience in living aboard for several summers in the Canadian subarctic on a Nimble Pilot house sloop.)

First of all, dead and down wood is abundant almost everywhere--even in the treeless subarctic. The smaller diameters needed for a ship's stove require very little effort to cut and require very little space to store. You an cut what you need on a daily basis if you're coasting. You're not going to heat the boat 24/7--only for the times you need quick heat. You won't need heat during the day or when you're sleeping. You need it when you're wet and cold after spending a day on deck, or during dinner and so on. Nothing will dry you out as quickly as a wood stove! (However, I dispute Cubic's specious argument that wood is "safer" than either diesel or propane--it all depends on the quality of the installation and the user's proficiency and oversight). I used a Dickinson solid wood heater, which is a junky (lightly constructed, poorly designed POS) but not a cheap little wood stove. Even though I never over fired it, the steel casement warped right away. Also, it failed to heat the entire (small) pilot house--all the heat settled near the cabin top. In this sort of boat you'd need a circulator of some sort (a 12 volt fan). And perhaps a stove with a larger capacity. It's difficult to get a truly air tight stove in the mini sizes, so it's best to keep the flame small and controlled. A setback of two or three inches from a bulkhead is adequate, provided a steel mount and empty air space are installed between the stove and the wooden or otherwise combustible bulkhead (standard marine installation). Cleaning is a cinch. And ashes go overboard offshore.

For backup you can always carry charcoal briquettes or wood by-product bricks.(So called bio bricks) An armload of which will last days. The advantage of the CubicMini, although it is not marketed as a marine stove, are many. It's the right size for a small sailing vessel, and the price is right! Marine stoves, like everything else so labelled, are cruelly expensive! Some--like the Luke soapstones and so on, are worth it, while others, like my Dickenson, are junk).

You'll be very happy that you installed a wood stove on your boat. A proper installation is vital. Thru fittings must be meticulously installed. I never noticed any soot buildup on deck, although you must be careful about your placement of the chimney as it relates to your sails and canvas and so on. Because you're generally burning pretty hot, there's not much in the way of soot (creosote) buildup in the chimney, which in any event can be brushed out in a matter of minutes, and only every so often. Good luck--do it.

[Mr O]

A friend of mine has a cubic mini on his Downeast 38 and is very happy with the stove for PNW cruising. He uses compressed wood logs which have no bugs, burn clean and easier to store. Scraps of kiln dried wood from his workshop also work well. The boat gets quite toasty and dry.
My boat came with a Webasto diesel furnace which heats the whole boat nicely without fuss. Runs all night when we sail in the winter. Wood stoves produce a really good infrared heat that forced air furnaces can’t. Then there’s the aesthetics and romance of a wood burning stove. I get my fix at home all winter with a wood stove heating the whole house when the mini split heat pump doesn’t quite do the job. Wood comes from trees on my land so cost is not an issue.