Simple Barrel Stove Heats His House

Simple Barrel Stove Heats His House BUILDINGS Miscellaneous Joseph Dreifus found a simple way to heat his house He set up a barrel stove outside and built an aluminum housing around it to gather heat off the stove Insulated flexible heat ducts carry the heat inside “I’ve used it for 6 years and it works great ” says Dreifus “It runs from November 1st through April 1st ” Initially Dreifus used two barrels The smoke from the lower firebox barrel was directed into the second barrel before exiting the chimney Although more heat was captured so was creosote which dripped back into the barrel from the cooler smoke “It gave off a terrible stink so I took the second barrel off ” says Dreifus He built the furnace housing using metal studs for the wall frames The walls are made from aluminum recycled from an old pickup topper He used cement board for the floor and sandwiched fiberglass insulation between the walls Heat is pumped to the house through insulated flexible tubing that attaches to a plenum on the side of the furnace A squirrel cage fan from an old air conditioner mounts between the plenum and the barrel stove to pull and push air through the system “I had trouble finding a diode to turn the fan on and off but finally found one at a place that sells cast iron stoves ” says Dreifus “When the temperature hits 85 degrees the fan shuts off When it drops below it goes back on ” Dreifus packs the firebox twice a day with scrap wood mostly from oak and pecan trees in his yard He has a gas furnace inside the house that kicks in if the house temperature drops below 65 degrees “I bought the stove kit at Northern Tool for $40 ” says Dreifus Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Joseph E Dreifus 18360 24th St Live Oak Fla 32060 ph 386 362-2018

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