Design for home made charcoal heater

[bendyone]

Thinking about making a small charcoal heater. Anyone got any plans or ideas?
General idea is a square section about 150mm x 350mm tall. opening door at the top to put the fuel in and one at the bottom with a removable ash tray and adjustable vent. Flue size around 38mm so I can use standard copper pipe.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Recent thread, couple of weeks back - worth a search

 

[Poignard]

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220597

If you look through the above thread, and find the post by Gordonmc dated 27.11.09, there is a link to a picture of one I used to own before I sold it to him.

I was a very simple thing but it used to heat my 28-foot boat very effectively.

 

[snowleopard]

Don't forget charcoal generates a lot of CO. If you get the design wrong and flue gases leak into the cabin you're a dead man! Worth getting professional advice.

 

[Croak]

One of the problems with having a solid fuel heater is that you have to have plenty of room ventilation. Now that means loads of draughts, something you don't want when heating a cabin.

I have never come across a solid fuel burner with an external "inlet flue", but I suppose they must exist.

 

[Poignard]

Solid Fuel Heaters

1. Here is a free design by Paul Fay which might suit you:

http://www.faymarine.com/plansite/fire_design.htm


2. If you decided to buy one, there is a new range offered by Force 10 which has had good reports.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217949

 

[bendyone]

I have never come across a solid fuel burner with an external "inlet flue", but I suppose they must exist.

Now there's a good idea, I wonder how much of a draw you would need / get to allow for this. Where I am considering having the heater ( in the wheelhouse) I could have about 400mm of pipe to the bottom of the heater going outside. I guess providing the doors on the heater were well sealed it might be possible - with a regulator in the inlet pipe to control the burn rate.

 

[chrisedwards]

One of the problems with having a solid fuel heater is that you have to have plenty of room ventilation. Now that means loads of draughts, something you don't want when heating a cabin.

I have never come across a solid fuel burner with an external "inlet flue", but I suppose they must exist.

I have a Bengco charcoal heater on my 30 ft boat - worth googling. Overnight the vent is just cracked open - it will then last the night - for at least 8 hours. the inlet "hole" is so tiny that it cannot need that much ventilation. I often have it running for three or four days nonstop. When really cold the vent is fully open and I will get three hours of glorious heat radiated to all parts of the boat.
last night the outside temperature was -4 yet the cabin was 13 and that was with a quarter of a turn on the vent.

 

[prv]

I have never come across a solid fuel burner with an external "inlet flue", but I suppose they must exist.

Now there's a good idea, I wonder how much of a draw you would need / get to allow for this. Where I am considering having the heater ( in the wheelhouse) I could have about 400mm of pipe to the bottom of the heater going outside. I guess providing the doors on the heater were well sealed it might be possible - with a regulator in the inlet pipe to control the burn rate.

I'm sure I read about a yacht whose heater inlet was piped from the bilge, with air ultimately being drawn in via the engine compartment and its inlets.

Pete

 

[electrosys]

One of the problems with having a solid fuel heater is that you have to have plenty of room ventilation. Now that means loads of draughts, something you don't want when heating a cabin.

I have never come across a solid fuel burner with an external "inlet flue", but I suppose they must exist.

The techno term for which is a 'balanced flue' ....
Wouldn't be difficult to arrange - two pipes poking out of the cabin, instead of two, or you could even arrange for them to be co-axial to each other. The exhaust always being the higher of the two.

 

[Poignard]

When I owned the one mentioned above permanent cabin ventilation was through a hit-or-miss vent in the companionway door and three vents in the coachroof, plus sundry draughts.

It produced so much heat that it wasn't long after lighting it that we had to partly open the forehatch to bring the cabin temperature down to a bearable level.

The only reason I got rid of it was because lighting and refueling it was a dirty business, but if you want simplicity with plenty of heat I'd recommend a charcoal heater every time.

 

[webcraft]

Force10

.
Force 10 never replied to any emails, couldn't get through on the phone and the website is permanently down.

- W

 

[bromleybysea]

I had a charcoal stove. It was a pain to light, made the cabin filthy, and it always worried me that it might kill me. I invested in a CO alarm which gave a read-out of CO levels ppm. I ended up replacing both the heater and the cooker.

 

[chrisedwards]

I had a charcoal stove. It was a pain to light, made the cabin filthy, and it always worried me that it might kill me. I invested in a CO alarm which gave a read-out of CO levels ppm. I ended up replacing both the heater and the cooker.

Sounds like a poor design. The Bengco never puts smoke into the cabin. It lights in two minutes from the meths wick. Heat adjustment from one fill ranges from three to eight hours. It takes two minutes max to fill (I use a home designed portable "shute"). It can be left on day and night safely. A flare container of charcoal lasts 2 - 3 days. The bottom ash tray needs emptying every 24 hours. Always use lumpwood; the briquets are a cheap alternative which deposit far more ash. It is a joy to use.

still have a CO alarm on board however but I did when I hade a reflecks.