I knew before i moved into the yurt that the woodstove was kinda moody.... it burned hot and fast - not the way you want it to burn for a long cold winter. Then when i was casually perusing the wood stove section of a Lehmans (non electric homesteading) Mag i saw this exact stove pictured....Omgawd... the first words next to the glossy pic were "don't buy one of these cast iron stoves if you desire high quality." I laughed. and laughed. and then started to think of ways to work around it's poor quality...
While experimenting with pushing ash in the grill holes and also against the giant gap in the door, i felt like an uber genius when i thought of using a clay/ cob / -like substance to fill in the cracks and holes. I could totally get toxic stuff to fill this in.... i could use glues and pastes and fire proof fiberglass ropes, but i hate chemicals. I hate ruining my home space with chemical stuff - because what i am looking for is to make things more comfortable, easier, healthy and pleasant.
!! Screw buying some creepy VOC goop..... cause for free i got some clay from a dug up pile of dirt on Dogget Mountain, and mixed it with rice flour. Anyone who eats gluten free knows rice flour turns to something awful and cement-ish when baked...
I mixed the clay, the rice flour and water in a bowl and started filling in the spots where air was leaking too much (causing the hot fast fires)......
I mixed the clay, the rice flour and water in a bowl and started filling in the spots where air was leaking too much (causing the hot fast fires)......and so far so good. There was some slight cracking in the clay, but i kept filling in the cracks as it shrunk and dried, making sure less air could get in the stove while the door is shut.
Now i have to do the smaller cracks.... like the cooktop and all around! and this doesn't solve the issue that the manufacturer didn't even bother to make the flue/damper fit correctly either! (lame and shame!) The only solution for that is to put a second one on there.
Now i have to do the smaller cracks.... like the cooktop and all around! and this doesn't solve the issue that the manufacturer didn't even bother to make the flue/damper fit correctly either! (lame and shame!) The only solution for that is to put a second one on there.I am kinda glad about the cracks though, cause its fun to play with the clay... and i like experiments. :)))
XOoxOX
19 comments:
Good work. Another source of clay is cheap cat litter.
I haven't had that much trouble with my little stove. I've been able to fix it with a screwdriver and a little bending here and there (hammer).
It will now have a few coals and still have a little heat overnight.
Rocket mass heater
Yurts have almost no thermal mass. Build it up and spread it out.
Hmmm, I think anon is right - something sticks from that physics course - and the yurt I saw in Vietnam was up and spread out. Anyway, great work filling in the cracks!
Oven stoves, similar principal to the rocket mass heater.
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/12/tile-stoves.html
Hello
Are you not worried that thing is not going to crack completely and fall to pieces more or less? Just asking.
Hi! I'm juan-- I just finished building my yurt in Upstate NY and am spending my first winter in it. I first saw your blog a while back when I was reading about gravity fed water systems and from there I started reading about your experiences in the cabin and washing clothes and Juju and dancing etc... It's awesome you're out at a yurt now. When I saw your post about the woodstove I felt an sense of kinship and decided to drop a note and say hey since I too am trying to revive a 40-some year old wood stove that had been living in a barn until this past summer; and know how frustrating and tiring and draining it can be to figure this shit by oneself and stay warm in the process. That being said, these are words of encouragement, as the whole idyllic Thoreau experience of living intentionally and connected and quietly (sometimes) is super worth it and fun and liberating.
hazzah!
Using shitty wood stove is cheaper than the electric stove and gas stove. And it is heater than the others stove.
Hey there;
My family and I have been following your youtube channel and blog for a while now. We are Albertan big-city dwellers who dream of doing exactly as you've done, and recently bought a property in Cape Breton where we will homestead and live in yurts. You mentioned that you had some health problems in one of your videos, if it isn't too personal, herbal medicine is a specialty of mine and there are likely many medicines just growing in your local woods (especially medicinal fungi) that could really help you. Anyway, if you're interested I could share what I know about some of them. I'm a nature photographer (see my profile here: http://herrhaller.deviantart.com/) and some of the shots in my gallery are of medicinal fungi. If you ever spot these mushrooms in your area you should harvest and dry them:
http://herrhaller.deviantart.com/art/Tschaga-280443782
http://herrhaller.deviantart.com/art/Ganoderma-tsugae-203905496
http://herrhaller.deviantart.com/art/Hericium-sp-202471324
I can give you more info on identifying them if you'd like, just send me an email at lakedaimonian[at]gmail[dot]com (replace the brackets with the usual symbols).
Have a good day;
Michael.
Hey, LA gal, I hope all's going okay.
Article is very interesting,thanks for your sharing.I will visit this site.
Not a real good blog to leave us on for 4 months. Kinda makes me wonder if the wood stove modifications went the wrong way and if the yurt is still standing. Sure do hope all is well there little Miss Voodoo. Sure have been enjoying the blog so far.
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I bought one of these heat exchangers from ChimneyHeaters.com and it is Stainless Steel. The rest of the pipes in my house are Copper and some plastic. I get a tremendous amount of heat from this thing and I am worried that it will melt the copper or plastic tubing.
The heat coming out of the Chimney Heater is about 190f does anyone know if this is to hot for the copper or Plastic pipes in my House?
Come back online. I think many of us really connected with you. I loved your posts - better than TV.
I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good. This is a great article thanks for sharing this informative information
jakke
So are you going to continue this blog or are you done? I have enjoyed reading since I just found it and I hope you plan to continue. Hope you are doing okay.
Wil
I just discovered this blog around 5 this morning and read/watch many of the posts - still lots to go. But I am sad to see that it seemed to ended. It's as if I've found a really good book and read and read only to find that that there's another volume that I don't own. I hope you post again soon.
Miss ya. Wish you still get these comments. Think you've got my email. Let's catch up.
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