All the problems in the Northeast with hurricane Sandy got me thinking about the one hole in my preps.  Heating the home after my diesel fuel (furnace) or gasoline (generator) supplie(s) run out.

Now, because of the way my house is laid out, I can't really install a wood stove, because I have no way to run a stovepipe and chimney setup.

But I would like to have something that I could "jerry-rig" in an emergency.  Like some sort of flex-pipe chimney to throw out of a window.  I would like to be able to set this thing up in my basement and have the heat rise and keep the house decently warm.

So, I am here looking for ideas.  I don't know much about these things, but I know if I was desperate, I could cut down some trees, or find some lumber to be able to burn.  The only thing I need is a wood stove (or something like it) and some way to vent.  Help!

Be very, very, very careful how you rig that stove pipe.  If it doesn't draw right, you might end up killing yourself and your family.



The idea isn't necessarily bad, but "jerry rigging" a system isn't safe.  Better to engineer a proper, removable system that you can emplace in an emergency and take back down when you're done with it.  Flex pipe is RIGHT out!


 

Google "tent wood stove". If might bf a viable option - though probably too small to heat more than 1 room.

You might be able to jury-rig a tent stove chimney into your existing furnace flu.

Doing any of this is going to be a huge fire hazard as well - depending on the layout / construction of your house and the quality of your setup / venting.

Don't kill yourself.  

I was thinking the same thing!

I remember somewhere somebody made aa stove out of a 50cal or 40mm ammo can that had pipe sections and legs and everything stored in the can.

Other than fire hazard. The biggest thing is draft with the vent. The vent has to go 2feet higher than the roof.

I was thinkin about finding the highest room. Shortest vent pipe and just living in that room. Your going to lose a lot of heat hoping it with rise

If you were hoping to heat your house with a tent heater their is not enough BTUs

I was also thinking of running the vent either thru the window or thru the roof. Both need some sort of insulator and spark arrestor at

Our local Fleet Farm sells a pellet stove that fits in a window, just like an air conditioner, of course, you still need some sort of power like a 12 volt battery or a small solar cell to run the fan...but is the basic idea adaptable in some other way...hmmmm...I wonder...

Wait... so it has to vent above the roof of the house?  That's a major obstacle to overcome.  It looks like the only viable way may be to tie into the existing chimney somehow.  Can you "T" off of the stack that goes from the oil furnace to the chimney?

ETA:  And I don't want a pellet setup.  I want to be able to burn wood that I can gather myself and not rely on a supply of something.  May as well stock up on gas and diesel if I'm going to do that.

Even B vent out of an 80% gas furnace gets uncomfortable to touch.

If you want a wood stove install one and build a chase around double wall solid fuel chimney flue.
It can be done for less than $1500 total, including the stove.
I had the wood stove, but recently replaced every inch of chimney component.  I paid about $900 and did it myself.

Check out Selkirk Supervent

Running a piece of ductwork out the window a few feet is not wise.  Cabelas sells shepherd's stoves for wall tents that are just a little nicer than the ammo can stoves mentioned above.  There is a big difference between those which are designed to cook some eggs in a big tent or ice shanty that costs less than $1000 and a back up heat source for your home that costs $100,000 or more.

I guess I have to abandon this idea.

Best idea yet.  I would use a portable kerosine heater long before any kind of "jury rigged" wood stove.  Wood heat is dangerous enough when done right.

You can build a chase around chimney flue in the second floor.  Just maintain the recommended clearances.
Or you can run it through the wall and up the side of the house.  Again, use the right supports and maintain the clearances.

We're just recommending your solution be safe and not destroy your home and possibly your life.

You mentioned a chimney.  Is there a block chimney that the oil furnace runs into?

The gases emitted from a woodburning stove are much hotter than the exhaust from a conventional furnace.

When my woodburner is running, the exhaust going up the flue is between 600 degrees and 900 degrees. It takes chimney pipe or a flue liner designed for that sort of temperature to operate one safely.

I've seen the cheap kits that use a 55 gallon drum, and flue pipe that you run out a window. They are designed for emergency use. Installing one in such a way that your house would not burn down would be very difficult.

My woodburning stove requires a minimum of 13 foot of pipe to get adequate draw, and that is assuming the flue goes straight up. If I wanted to add elbows, the minimum length of pipe increases.

It's not something you just hang out of a window after removing the glass and installing a fireproof material to close up the opening.

You should explore the options Feral suggested.

Look to the existing designs for outdoor wood fired boilers for inspiration. Such a unit could be setup on a small trailer if needed. Use flexible hydraulic hose in insulation to connect the unit to an indoor air handler A coil / blower. Power the pump and fan from a $79 HF generator. This keeps all the combustion fully isolated from the house and safe, no fire, CO, etc. in the house, only heated water / glycol solution. FYI this isn't an original idea, years ago an episode of This Old House showed a similar setup with a conventional oil or LP fired boiler and fuel supply in a trailer supplying hot water to remote air handler units as a replacement for the old "salamander" heaters without the fire and fumes in the work area.

Yeah.

Way too complicated.  With this, I would again be dependant upon gasoline for a generator.  I want to cut as much out of the equation as possible.

I bought a house in Denver in the mid 90's that had a fireplace insert in a large fireplace. I loved the fireplace, so I removed the insert and put in on the porch to be 'disposed'. That September, we got over 12" of weet snow out of the blue, all the leaves still on the trees. Powerlines were out for 4 days. The fireplace couldn't keep up, so I replaced the insert, and my house was nice and toasty until the heat was back on.

I grew up with wood stoves doing about 90% of the heating of our house.

Stoves definitely are the way to go... but you have to insure that your chiminey is above your roofline, for there to be an adequate draw. If it is just 'outside', you won't get enought pull through the chimney to insure you won't get CO and smoke backup... every year there are several families who die because they don't have a good draw on their chimney. My friend ended up in the hospitcal for CO poisoning, after lighting her stove for the first time of the year without checking to see if there was a blockage in the chimney. Bird had build a nest covering part of the outlet. She didn't notice it during the evening, but woke up wretching and was barely able to call 911 and drag her and her unconscious husband outside before she passed out. They were both flown to a hyperbaric O2 chamber in Denver for 3 days.

Wood fires are great... stoves are the best... but they have to be respected and you have to insure you take adequate precautions.

I would recommend just running a 'chimney' pipe from the main floor to the roof along the outside of the house. Close off the hole with a cap on both ends and push insulation in the 'room end'. Cover and seal the hole with drywall which can be removed in case of an emergency. Cover the hole with a picture and be done with it. Should need arrive... slap some drywall on the carpet and against the back wall as a 'heatshield', put your stove on some 2x4s and hook it up to the chimney. Keep it in consistent and plain view. You don't want a 'none purpose built' wood fire in your basement. keep it where you can watch and tend it carefully.

Block chimneys can be lined to accommodate exhaust from a modern high output wood stove.
Not too long ago they weren't lined at all.

You would likely have to separate the furnace exhaust, either into a different flue in the chimney or into its own metal chimney (which would require a new roof penetration and a chase around the proper type exhaust vent).

IN TEOTWAWKI, you would have run out of fuel oil for the furnace and wouldn't be discharging into the same flue, spoiling draft, and/or filling your house with furnace exhaust through the unused wood stove, you could probably knock a hole in the block, run single wall pipe in there, grout it all back together, and run a small wood stove for heat.
It beats building a fire in a burn barrel in the living room, but it isn't something I would even want to test.


Post up a picture if you can.

So build it as a hot air furnace, with a couple of flexible insulated ducts running to the house. Use mostly natural convection perhaps assisted by a TEG powered fan.

There's lot of videos on youtube about homemade woodstoves, many are portable.

Northern has a pellet stove that is like a window A/C unit

I wouldnt. You've got the right idea, you just are not aware of all your options, brother!

Zero-Clearance Flu Systems

You didnt tell us what sort of house you live in. Is it a stand-alone house, or a condo? Apartment? If you own your own home, you could install one of these zero-clearance flus, and roll your woodstove up to it when you need it. Even if its in a poor location such as right in the middle of a room, in a survival situation it will keep you warm and well. You could keep a stove setup on a dolly with swivel casters, covered-up and in a closet until you need it. Roll it out when SHTF and hook it up. Done. Lots of options. Even a Mother Earth waste oil burner could be put into play, and you could store enough oil to keep you warm for months, and never have to leave your house to scrounge for wood.

Plenty of options. Dont give up yet, buddy!

I'd build a portable rocket mass heater if I didn't want a permanent installation.  

Just be sure you check with the insurance company. If something happened (especially because of a home-made stove), you may loose your house and be out completely, insurance saying they won't pay.

A good friend of mine did this and kept an old single wide mobile home well heated with the stove outside.




Like Kibby said, don't give up yet.  If you do the work yourself you can add a permanent installation wood stove that will work whenever you want probably for less than $1500.
Otherwise look up the shepherd's stoves at cabelas, and figure out how you can safely tie it into your block chimney.  Understand that those little things are cookstoves though and they literally get red hot for half an hour then cool off quickly and you have to add more wood within an hour.

Thank you my friend.  It's a mid-20th century cape cod with a finished attic.

Farm Bureau insurance, do you mean "Farm Family?"  That's the same company I use, they are awesome.

I think in a SHTF / TEOTWAWKI situation that occured in the wintertime, I would huddle the family down to the basement and just keep that area warm.  The basement walls , on 3 sides are underground with the exception of the top foot, and attached on the 4th side to the garage, which, while an unheated area, is also underground completely with the exception of the garage door.  Block walls.  So I would need to keep the basement warm, at a maximum, for 3 months or so, until which time spring would come (in NYS) and we could re-evaluate our location and long term survival.

They are called Farm Bureau around here, anyway. I really like them. They have always been good to me (had a couple claims over the years).

 

I was thinking the same thing.  Have a wood stove in the pole barn.  Was thinking if I could move it to the basement and rig a flu out the basement window, I could keep everything from freezing.  Watching with great interest.

Here are some options I'd think about:

1) For immediate heating, hit up Craigslist for used Kerosene heaters.  Plenty to be had barely used for $40-$60
http://geo.craigslist.org/iso/us/ny
2) Have a professional install a fireplace in your basement. Estimates are usually going to be free.
3) Have a professional install a wood stove / heater in the basement
4) Where is your furnace located?  What type of furnace is it?  You -MIGHT be able to jury-rig a wood stove's exhaust into your current furnace's exhaust flue / furnace vent. Then again, it might kill you.  http://www.ehow.com/how_12186482_connect-wood-stove-preexisting-flue.html



http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/installing_a_woodstove

There are options out there - it all depends on your skill level & budget.

I think I'd make a Tepee or other temporary shelter in the back yard, build a stove in it, and sleep / cook there before I'd try to shoehorn a wood stove in with DIY temporary rigged parts.

I have seen a wood/coal stove tied into the same chimney.  While not code (as in if you house catches fire, kiss the insurance good bye) it can be done and will work given a number of precautions.

Do NOT fire up the wood/coal furnace if there is any possibility of the oil burner firing up.  Turn the furnace off at the breaker and leave it off until the fire is out in the stove and no smoke is being created.   Be absolutely certain that there is no creosote or other deposits in the chimney.  When ready to fire off the oil burner, observe VERY carefully and insure that the oil furnace exhaust is in fact going up the chimney and not into the house.  Close off the inlet into the chimney from the stove so as not to lose any draft thru the opening.

Bear in mind that firewood needs to be seasoned (dried) for one year if it is cut and split, two or more years otherwise.  Unseasoned wood will not burn, and if you can get it to ignite, it will just smolder and not heat the house.   When I heated with wood, I used a couple of cords a season.  That is a LOT of wood, like about 3 to 4 fullsized pickup trucks full.  To put this in perspective, figure about one overflowing wheelbarrow full every 24 hours.

I have since switched to coal.

HTH.

Ops

If your interested in wood heat I would highly suggest having something professional installed... Most prior posts hit the nail on the head.

The words "jury-rigged" "wood stove" "house" don't go together...  Can you jury rig a wood stove in a wall tent? Sure... I would never try it in a house.

Wood heat is dangerous enough when done right so don't skimp!  I heat our house 75% with wood and I am always nervous...

You might try building one of these. Rocket mass heater.
They give a complete burn of the wood and are very efficient. I want to build one even though I live in a rental. He has one design that is kinda portable.

My great-grandparents lived for years (decades) in what they called the "dug-out" which had started as the basement to their home.  After the second tornado took their home they never rebuilt anything but outbuildings above the surface.

It was a mighty nice place with all of the amenities.  But short on windows.

I've been thinking about something along these same lines.  Back in '08 we had an ice storm and I was out of power for a week.  Something like this would have been perfect. I live on 200 acres with lots of woods so cutting, splitting, and storing wood is no problem.  I have a full blown machine/welding shop in my backyard so fabrication isn't a problem.  My house is on a concrete slab with about a 5' high foundation on the side where I'd put a portable stove.  

I've been thinking I could fab up a system where I open the window and slide this in made from sheet metal where the chimney could go through.  I'd put the stove on rollers so I could sit it on the back porch with the fork lift and roll it into the dining room where this would go in an emergency such as we had in '08.  

I must say that I did not realize how critical the chimney was in order for it to create a draw.  I thought I could just run chimney pipe outside and voila!  

Am I understaning correctly that I must run a pipe long enough to reach above my roof line?  I hope not!

MS Paint to show what I mean.

Click Me

You guys who are on the fence about installing a wood stove ... it can be done in a permanent fashion and pass code and insurance inspection for less than $1500 and even less than that if you go with a small stove.  For a standard installation all the components you need can be purchased at Mendards, Lowes, Home Depot, or TSC, or other places.

No, not 2 foot above the roof. It has to go 2 foot above the PEAK of the roof. Else you will get very hot smoke blown back into the house. Don't ask me how I know

its apparent that some of you do not use a wood stove in your home.



do not jury rig the thing. do not try to fab up some chimney. the chimney is the most important part of the system, it is responsible for the draft. without a proper draft, your stove wont burn at the proper temperatures and may overfire. overfiring is what happens when too much air is feeding the fire and you can not control the stove at that point. the result of many overfirings is a chimney fire, and your jury rigged chimney wont be able to handle it. a house fire will result and your home will burn down in the middle of the night while you are sleeping or perhaps while you are outside doing chores and you didnt notice it. not enough draft will create creosote buildup in the chimney and eventually that will lead to a chimney fire that your crappy chimney wont be able to handle. either.



You own homes, have jobs and are not stupid people. Do it right.

here is a diagram about the height of the chmney above the roof.