[elgin]

Have you given any thought to how you will keep warm next winter? What if, between now and then our cities infrastructure goes to hell and your electric heat pump/gas furnace no longer functions? Do you have a back-up plan?

If your back-up plan is to purchase a wood stove maybe you better think again. I'm building a new house and had my wood stove all picked out and had designed the whole house heating system around it.

So I go down to my dealer the other day and dejavew, it's like I'm at the local gun store. "We'll put your name on our waiting list, but we can't give you any idea when we might be getting more of that model stove in".

Here's the story: Stoves are not manufactured in the United States anymore, almost all stoves these day come from China; except right now the supply has dried up.

I hope to get my stove before we're ready to move into our finished house, but whats a person to do if he find the need for heat some cold winter day?

One possible solution I'm offering for your consideration:

About forty five years ago I lived on the Navajo Indian reservation in Arizona. All the hogans at that time were heated with oil-drum wood stoves. They were easily made at little or no cost.

An 55 gal. oil-drum was cut in two so that the bottom end is about 22" high. The bottom of the drum becomes the stove top cooking surface. A square door is cut into the side for feeding the fire, saving the cut-out piece to be wired back in place to open and close for feeding the fire. On the side of the top opposite this door (right at the edge) trace a circle the diameter of whatever you are using for a stove-pipe. Then bisect this circle into six pie-shaped sections, cut along these scribe-lines and bend up; these are what the stove-pipe screws to.

If I were making a stove today I would certainly use a right angle grinder/a cut-off wheel attached. But back in the day I saw one of these stoves manufactured with nothing more than a cold chisel and a hammer. BTW - Be sure you know what was in the drum originally, try to steer clear of drums which might have contained gasoline or other explosive stuff.

Of course hogans all had dirt floors and a smoke-hole in the center of the ceiling; to put a drum stove in a modern house would take some improvising. A shallow clay box to set it on and maybe a short run of stove pipe out a window would suffice.

I realize that with enough time and money, a better stove than this could be constructed. I just threw this out in case someone got jammed-up next winter.

Elgin

 

[Moose711]

Plenty of them around me.
Menards, Northern tool.
But I did just buy one because who knows how much natural gas will be.
Wood is what I have close by for the cutting.

 

[NHCraigT]

Lots around here now. There weren't many of them in early fall.

FWIW - I picked up a $1200.00 one off Craig's list. Paid $150.00 for it, from a guy in town.
Stores have plenty of them in my area.


__________________________________________________
Will "You" be ready....when the biological refuse comes in contact with the rotating oscillator?

 

[sportzkardnutt]

I'm going the barrel route. I have my drum, drum kit for door, legs & ventilation plus another piece for a stove top to cook. Total cost: $100

My neighbor is going to help me make it and I'll stash it under the house until I need it.

I like your idea of cutting it in half and using an end for a cooking surface. Do you solder the other half's end to it for a bottom?
Or would it be feasible to sit it in something like a sand pit? Could one use cement/cinder blocks as a base and fill w/ sand where the barrel would go and the wood/coal would sit on top of the sand to burn?
I think this is what you are talking about:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/matthews78.html

But I still would like to know if you can't put the other end on, can you feasibly use sand as a base inside a house.

I live west of Charlotte and there are no wood stoves in my area.

 

[elgin]

I like your idea of cutting it in half and using an end for a cooking surface. Do you solder the other half's end to it for a bottom?
Or would it be feasible to sit it in something like a sand pit? Could one use cement/cinder blocks as a base and fill w/ sand where the barrel would go and the wood/coal would sit on top of the sand to burn?

No, it doesn't have a bottom. The open end just sets on a sand pit (or dirt floor). Cinder blocks filled with sand sounds like a good idea too.

Thanks for the link.

 

[heehaw]

Right now all I have is two fireplaces and not a stove. I will definitely look into getting one. My uncle has one and has cut his gas bill by $100 bucks a month!

And I just like the feel of a wood stove/fireplace more than a gas furnace.

 

[rncmomx2]

I'm going the barrel route. I have my drum, drum kit for door, legs & ventilation plus another piece for a stove top to cook. Total cost: $100

My neighbor is going to help me make it and I'll stash it under the house until I need it.

I like your idea of cutting it in half and using an end for a cooking surface. Do you solder the other half's end to it for a bottom?
Or would it be feasible to sit it in something like a sand pit? Could one use cement/cinder blocks as a base and fill w/ sand where the barrel would go and the wood/coal would sit on top of the sand to burn?
I think this is what you are talking about:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/matthews78.html

But I still would like to know if you can't put the other end on, can you feasibly use sand as a base inside a house.

I live west of Charlotte and there are no wood stoves in my area.

Look on Greensboros Craigslist, there are a few on there now for $150.00.

 

[Pixelguy]

Here's the story: Stoves are not manufactured in the United States anymore,

Not true. Here is one of many I have found on-line that make their wood stoves in the USA:

http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/about

 

[elgin]

VCGTV

I guess what I should have said was that there are no foundries left in the U.S. casting cast iron stove parts. (according to what I was told by my dealer). HearthStone manufactures soapstone stoves with some cast iron parts. Maybe some of their components are imported?

I fear that my original post was not very clear. Most of the replies to my post have missed the point I was trying to make - which is:

1) Many popular models of stoves are in short supply.

2) If the world goes to hell before next winter and electric distribution lines,or gas lines, or fuel oil supplies are disrupted the supply of wood stoves will dry up overnight.

3)If the above happens and you find yourself without a source of heat, a drum stove could be improvised to provide a temporary solution.


We probably can't think of everything which needs to added to our preps. And maybe we won't have time or money to buy everything we need before we need them.

When the days comes when we are no longer able to go to the corner store and buy what we need, we will have to build it ourselves. I just thought that an item such as a drum stove would be handy to have in the back of your head in case the need arises.

Elgin

 

[Dogmeat]

Hmmm, I have a Vermont Castings stove bought years ago, this is an excerpt from their website regarding where they are made:

"With headquarters in Paris, Kentucky, and several North American manufacturing facilities, MHSC has a heritage of quality and innovation.
-and-
"One of our most familiar brands is Vermont Castings™. MHSC is the only North American manufacturer with both the foundry and enameling under one roof assuring that manufacturing is carefully coordinated for utmost quality. Our foundry is equipped with the industry's most sophisticated equipment controlling all aspects of the casting process."

Not meaning to argue, but I knew my stove was made in the USA when I bought it. On the topic of using woodstoves, it's definitely in my survival plan, have used it as such for it's emergerncy purpose several times when the power has gone out and I had no heat supply. Mine is in the basement, and that keeps the mess down there, and most of the heat. Sure is nice walking around barefoot in the winter with 80 degree floors that have no carpeting. When the power went out several years ago in the winter, I found out that it took a while for the stove in the basement to get heat upstairs, since my stove was not fired up at the time. Now I fire it up before every ice or wind storm to have it ready. I wish I had the time to keep a large store of firewood handy, but I have enough for at least a month at any one time. My estimates from usage show that if I had to burn 24x7 in a normal winter where I live, I would need about 3 cords of firewood to get thru winter months. I have a chainsaw and plenty of gas, gas mix, and chain lube in stock to cut whatever I need for any winter around here if I needed to.

 

[Farnorthdan]

I installed a fireplace insert last fall (Pendleton) and must say it is the bomb. The insert has a built in blower that really pushes the heat. For the size of the insert, its amazing how many square feet it will heat.

Dec/Jan it was minus 30f for weeks on end and the insert was able to keep my 2000sqft house at or above 70f.

I will admit I paid a lot for the stove but think it was money well spent. Now if I have to go off the grid, at least I wont freeze to death....:


DS

 

[NHCraigT]

Wood Stove shortage - Having to order one and wait: The issue with buying new wood buring stoves this time of the year is that it's essentially the end of the season for the industry.

Example: I was in Home Depot and Lowes about 4 weeks ago, looking for Wood Burning Stove "glass cleaner". The stove section was considerably reduced in size and selection of related accessories.
A clerk looked into the cleaner for me. He came back and stated that their inventory of all wood stoves/fireplace/pellet stove related items was be purposely run low, due to the end of the season.

This may also be the case with Dedicated Wood/Pellet Stove stores. They may be reducing their inventory, and ordering items, rather than storing them.

- My 2 cents.



__________________________________________________
Will "You" be ready....when the biological refuse comes in contact with the rotating oscillator?

 

[kam]

had my logburner 17yrs now , best thing i ever bought , guy in workshop next to mine just had his delivered been waiting since last september (told delivery in 3-4 wks )! ! ! ! looking to pick up another one but may just build one , poss with an oven .

 

[Raider Bill]

Do not get a Englander wood stove, Junk with NO customer support...........

 

[almac]

its pretty silly in my local area.
apparently putting a wood stove or fireplace in any new construction is against the law now. however i frequently see wood stoves in home depot and rona for sale...

peace
al

 

[rncmomx2]

its pretty silly in my local area.
apparently putting a wood stove or fireplace in any new construction is against the law now. however i frequently see wood stoves in home depot and rona for sale...

peace
al

What they don't know won't hurt them LOL:

 

[soup]

I don't know alot about wood stoves but would very much like to put one in my house for heating. Does anyone know much about installing the pipe? What kind of floor do you need to put the stove on and how far away does it need to be from a wall? A link to a good website would be helpful. i have looked for one but most just want to sell stoves and I have not found much for installing.

 

[bugout bob]

Managed to get ahold of my stove last fall just as the supply was drying up. There is currently a 5-6 month wait to get a good stove(ie Pacific Energy or Napoleon). If you're desperate, you can sill get some cheapy models, but be prepared to need twice as much wood to get the same BTU's.

 

[bugout bob]

Check out www.burnitsmart.org
Canadian website. Some useful info.
As for flooring- it has be a noncombustible. I used porcelain tile. Whatever is rcommended for coverage in front of the stove door-double it. There's always a stray ember that's gonna mess up your flooring- not to mention cause a fire hazard. Some newer model zero-clearance stoves need very little room. Mine is 4 inches from the side walls with no shielding.

 

[Littlemiss9419]

Wood stoves are great. My brother has a friend that deals in scrap metal and if you don't mind doing a little work on your stove then scrap is a good idea. You may have to clean out a little rust or remove a dent or two but that's the way it goes in the world of scrap.

Sometimes you can find them on Craig's List.