bl1300
Posted a lot
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Oct 26, 2012 16:54:59 GMT
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I'm soon to be moving out into the sticks its all very good as I will be on site with the cars  . But the farm is very remote and all the heating is provided by a log burner. Now ive been thinking the best way to keep the fire going over night, it has to as it provides heat for the radiators and we have an 89 year old in the house, would be to chuck on some anthracite. But I'm trying to think of alternatives and one came to mind charcoal. Currently the fire is kept burning all through the winter by wood scavenged from the land and as a result the heating and hot water are free provided we continue to use wood of which there is a plentiful supply. So does any one know how to make a charcoal kiln? I'm also looking to make a log burner for the workshop as well and would appreciate the help with that as well thanks. |
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Current fleet.
1967 DAF 44
1974 VW Beetle 1303s
1975 Triumph Spitfire MkIV
1988 VW LT45 Beavertail
1998 Volvo V70 2.5
1959 Fordson Dexta
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Oct 26, 2012 17:03:40 GMT
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GOOGLE or Youtube.....??
Everything you need to know and some you don't.
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MrSpeedy
East Midlands
www.vintagediesels.co.uk
Posts: 4,789 
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Oct 26, 2012 17:23:28 GMT
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You'll do best with some good old fashioned proper coal. Not thos processed smokeless wibblepoo, but proper lumpy dirty wet coal.
I have an open fire and whilst wood (mostly scrap pallets tbh) is superb at throwing out large amounts of Btu's, coal is THE best thing at keeping in overnight.
In my 'rents old house they had a solid fuel Rayburn (I currently have an oil fired one) upon which they burned coal exclusively. About a ton a year IIRC for heating, cooking and hot water.
If you burn wood a lot, you'll find the fire grate/basket will burn out quite frequently.
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Oct 26, 2012 17:26:16 GMT
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Don't you have to worry about Carbon Monoxide with burning Charcoal??
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bl1300
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,678
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Oct 26, 2012 17:56:07 GMT
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The burner system in the house is brand new and the flue is designed for burning logs. Ive mocked up a quick drawing of my proposed charcoal kiln.  The wood to become charcoal is placed in the drum around the fire box and flue and the lid is sealed on. A fire is then lit in the fire box. As the wood heats up it will start producing flamable wood gas which is piped straight back to the burners air intake and burnt. I keep it burning untill no more wood gas is produced at which point it is left to cool and the end result should be charcoal. So I need to hunt in the scrappy for an old drum a small gas bottle and some lengths of largish bore exhaust pipe for the flue and intake. The plan is this should be fairly smoke free. |
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Current fleet.
1967 DAF 44
1974 VW Beetle 1303s
1975 Triumph Spitfire MkIV
1988 VW LT45 Beavertail
1998 Volvo V70 2.5
1959 Fordson Dexta
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Oct 26, 2012 18:22:43 GMT
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i've made it in the past and the burner was fwcking huge,
twas a 24hr job making a batch too.
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bl1300
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,678
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Oct 26, 2012 18:40:43 GMT
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how did you do it Guz? Mine plan is for the kiln to made of an oil drum. Ive seen a few videos of them on youtube now and they seem to be effective. Even if it proves impracticle for the heating it will still be a fun project to make.
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Current fleet.
1967 DAF 44
1974 VW Beetle 1303s
1975 Triumph Spitfire MkIV
1988 VW LT45 Beavertail
1998 Volvo V70 2.5
1959 Fordson Dexta
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Oct 26, 2012 19:23:21 GMT
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While the charcoal is a nice project it would probably be easier just to stack the fire up with wood last thing at night then shut all the dampers down on it. Coal won't burn properly on a real log burner as it needs a different grate with air flow under it - logs burn best in a layer of their own ash. If its a proper old build property you'll find after a few days with the fire in all the chimney breast will be toasty warm anyway and will stay that way for hours after the fire is out, just put the people who need to stay warmist in the upstairs room that the chimney runs through. You won't (in my experiance anyway) get a conventional fire to stay in overnight at a sufficiently high enough heat to keep the rads hot all night - I spent 10 winters trying, best I could come up with was with my big parkray burning proper coal (singles at the time as they were the cheapest) at night I made sure we had a good hot fire in then I really banked it up with brown coal slack that we used to fetch out of an open seam on the side of a railway cutting (basically i'de be putting about 1/2 a sack on) - leaving the draft control/ thermostat to a lowish heat would see the rads staying warm to the touch (40 to 50 degrees at a guess) till to following morning, when I'de rake the fire through and stack it back up with singles again. What people forget is that in houses which were built before central heating was wide spread it was possible to keep them warm. You'll probably find you have a fireplace in most of the upstairs bedrooms, use them if you can its amazing how much heat they through out and how quickly they'll heat the room + there's nothing more romantic in the bedroom on a cold night than an open fire..... Also because i'm tight if I had land I would be checking the depth of any available coal seams  to supplement the wood with. I don't know how much woodland you can scavenge in but you're going to be amazed how much wood you need - you can soon find yourself running out of trees. |
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Last Edit: Oct 26, 2012 19:29:30 GMT by dodgerover
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Oct 26, 2012 19:38:29 GMT
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lived in old somerset cottage and burned logs and anything for two years which equals free heating but finding endless supplies of wood can be time consuming
having said that lost two stone sawing wood every day
grates did burn out but sourced replacements from boot fairs or bolted them back together
real good life stuff
great fun and lots of my community did the same so you felt you werent doing anything odd
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bl1300
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,678
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Oct 26, 2012 19:45:46 GMT
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The 3 neighbouring hill farms are supplying us with all the wood they find on their farms as well all in all that accounts for about 2000 acres. We also have 5 acres of mature oak woodland. There are two houses on the property the one that is lived in was built in the 1840s but accross the courtyard is a house dating to 1642 which is an absolute timewarp. The last people to live in it built the new house in the 1840s and moved into it. No one has lived in that house since so it is as it was when they left. No heating, no running water or electricity. We are looking to bring this property back into use as a support living lodge for disabled brother in order that he can have some independance. Its a fantastic place and I am really lucky that our familys are merging so we can all live there although I will be living in a static caravan as the house is just too small to happily house 5 people.
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Current fleet.
1967 DAF 44
1974 VW Beetle 1303s
1975 Triumph Spitfire MkIV
1988 VW LT45 Beavertail
1998 Volvo V70 2.5
1959 Fordson Dexta
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dazcapri
North East
Enter your message here...
Posts: 1,059
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Oct 26, 2012 19:47:19 GMT
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there's a program on bbc4 Wednesday nights called Tales of the Wild Wood on there this week they showed some guys drying wood out, it might worth a look at that to give you some ideas mate edited to add have a look at www.woodsmithstore.co.uk they sell kilns. Also have a look at www.offgridsteve.co.uk the guy on there lives in a Ford Cargo horsebox you might find some interesting things on there as well as useful links |
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Last Edit: Oct 26, 2012 19:56:20 GMT by dazcapri
Mk3 Capri LS
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i didn't construct the kit, it was about 8' across and
it was all down to having a controlled slow burn, get
it wrong or don't attend to it and you just end up with ash.
we're talking 20 years ago so the memory aint that good tbh.
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Oct 27, 2012 12:30:03 GMT
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Charcoal won't stay in all night. Think about how it burns on a BBQ - even good lumpwood doesn't really last more than a few hours.
Coal is by far your best bet for keeping a fire in all night - it contains a lot more energy for the same volume, so tends to last longer when damped down. Not as cheap as the wood, but if you're only using it overnight you shouldn't need huge amounts of it.
Optimusprime - you have to worry about CO when burning any fuel: a CO alarm in the room with the fire would be a good idea.
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From a green perspective, coal is frowned on as it's releasing carbon that's been trapped for centuries or more, whilst charcoal, wood etc is a short carbon cycle so just releasing what it's taken on board in the last few years and assuming managed forests etc will be taken back in.
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Oct 29, 2012 10:04:49 GMT
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What about making a wood gas generator, storing in LPG tanks and then running a small burner at night. Sounds simple in the one sentence above but might be possible. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas_generatorPaul H |
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Oct 29, 2012 15:39:51 GMT
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Off the wall, I assume you have access to plenty of waste engine oil, why not make a waste oil burner for night time use?
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bl1300
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,678
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Oct 29, 2012 19:22:03 GMT
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^ As a self employed mechanic I'm possitively swimming in the stuff. That is a fantastic idea that I will most certiainly be looking into
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Current fleet.
1967 DAF 44
1974 VW Beetle 1303s
1975 Triumph Spitfire MkIV
1988 VW LT45 Beavertail
1998 Volvo V70 2.5
1959 Fordson Dexta
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Oct 29, 2012 20:02:53 GMT
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Mention to your insurers you are contemplating a waste oil burner and see their reaction ! They hate them as one of the most common causes of garage / workshop fires and would probably demand a big hike in premium. That is for a commercial waste oil burner - homemade and they will probably cancel the policy. I'm not jokeing as they have such a poor reputation with underwriters.
Paul H
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bl1300
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,678
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Oct 29, 2012 20:52:22 GMT
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better forget that idea then my insurance premiums are expensive enough as it is. £4k a year on insurances hurts!
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Current fleet.
1967 DAF 44
1974 VW Beetle 1303s
1975 Triumph Spitfire MkIV
1988 VW LT45 Beavertail
1998 Volvo V70 2.5
1959 Fordson Dexta
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Oct 29, 2012 21:55:23 GMT
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How about a waste oil burner located seperately from the main house/ garage then, all you would have to do would be pipe cool water in and toasty hot water out, can't see any problem with insurance if it is far enough away from the main building not to set it alight if there is any problem.
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. But the farm is very remote and all the heating is provided by a log burner. Now ive been thinking the best way to keep the fire going over night, it has to as it provides heat for the radiators and we have an 89 year old in the house, would be to chuck on some anthracite. But I'm trying to think of alternatives and one came to mind charcoal. 
to supplement the wood with. I don't know how much woodland you can scavenge in but you're going to be amazed how much wood you need - you can soon find yourself running out of trees.
