«Previous    Next»
Old Hot Water Heaters Make Good Wood Stoves
Old hot water heaters don't burn through or deteriorate as fast as 55-gal. drums, according to a Geyser, Montana farmer who made a "water heater" stove to heat his shop.
Bob McCray, used an old 22-in. dia.by 48-in. electric heater for the bottom firebox and an old 16 by 48-in. gas model for the upper, secondary burning chamber. The gas water heater had a flue running up through the center.
"The top heater helps get more heat from the fire before it escapes up the chimney. I left the flue in the center of it to catch more heat," says McCray. "The door is a double thickness of 14 ga. steel. I cemented a fiberglass gasket around the inside of the door to seal it. The hinges, latch and legs are made from scrap. The draft, below the door in the lower tank, is a piece of 3-in. pipe controlled by a 1/2-in. threaded bolt attached to the damper. For added heat protection, I lined part of the bottom heater with fire brick."
Smoke passes up a flue at the rear of the bottom heater to the upper tank and then out a chimney at the opposite end. McCray says he can burn logs up to 36 in. long and keep a fire burning all night. "It comfortably heats my shop, which is 40 by 30 by 10 ft. in size."
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob McCray, Box 26, Geyser, Mont. 59447.


  Click here to download page story appeared in.



  Click here to read entire issue




To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.
Order the Issue Containing This Story
1985 - Volume #9, Issue #2