Among the wide variety of metal stoves, the slow-burning stove has gained particular popularity. Another name that can be found is a long-burning stove. It is quite economical and easy to operate, suitable for garages and small country houses, as well as for large private houses with permanent residence. On the market you can find a wide variety of such ovens, but many prefer to make them on their own. In this article, we will learn what a slow-burning stove is, what varieties it has and how to make it yourself.
Design features
This heater has the following features:
- Volumetric firebox and a large door for loading firewood. This makes it convenient to stack firewood in large batches.
- Field division into two parts. One of them is designed for smoldering firewood, the other for burning gas. It is thanks to this featurethe device is referred to as the “catalytic slow-burning oven.”
- The presence of the so-called "tooth" - a fender of the flame from the chimney. It is a plate welded on top of the firebox. The task of the "tooth" is to prevent the flame from entering the pipe.
Differences from a simple stove
The heating function of a simple stove is to heat the body of the stove and then release heat into the room. Combustion in it takes place quite intensively. If the oven is metal, it is uncomfortable. The fuel does not burn completely, it must be constantly added, and the temperature in the room either drops or rises. Slow burning furnace is more convenient.
A simple stove is kindled from below. The flame in it can spread up and to the side. It develops rapidly and gains a maximum value, as a result of which the firewood quickly burns out and a lot of coal remains. The power of the flame in a standard stove is due to the fact that there is a constant flow of air from below. In a long-burning stove, the opposite is true - firewood is ignited from above, and the fire spreads downwards. Air enters only to the place of fire. The result is a slow burning of firewood in a stove, which would even be more correctly called smoldering. Less heat is released, and the air temperature in the room remains at the same level.
In addition to logs, pyrolysis gas burns in a long-burning stove. It is formed during the smoldering of firewood and moves to the second combustion chamber, where it mixes with air. As a result, final combustion products contain almost no substances harmful to humans, efficiencyrising and heating costs falling.
Strengths and weaknesses
Before the slow-burning stove will be in normal operation, it must be kindled to raise the temperature of the room to the desired level. Then you can reduce the draft and switch the stove to slow burning. At the same time, the air temperature in the room will be kept at the same level.
So, consider the advantages of such stoves:
- High efficiency - 80-85%.
- Small size.
- If there is no electricity and gas in the room, this stove is the only heating option.
- Absolute energy independence.
- Ease of use. Loading the fuel, you just need to adjust the level of traction. One load is enough for 5-6 hours of full heating.
- Combustion products are practically harmless.
- Heaters of a similar design are suitable for rooms of different sizes and uses.
Not without flaws either:
- The chimney should be as high and straight as possible.
- Damp firewood is not suitable for burning in this mode.
- Due to the fact that the smoke enters the chimney at a slow speed, deposits accumulate in it.
Do-it-yourself slow-burning oven
Now consider the process of making the stove yourself. The main difference between a long-burning furnace is two combustion chambers that are connected simplygrate or grate. In the loading area, firewood smolders. This process takes place with small amounts of oxygen. After smoldering, firewood decomposes into coke and pyrolysis gas. The gas is sent to the second chamber, where it is burned. By-products go up the chimney.
To make a simple oven of this type, you will need:
- Sheet metal 3-4 mm thick.
- Metal corners.
- Steel reinforcement.
- Chimney pipe (steel or cast iron).
- Bulgarian.
- Welding machine.
- Measuring tools.
Production
The stove is divided into three zones: a firewood loading area with a grate from below, an ash collector, a gas combustion area separated by a flame deflector from the pipe.
First you need to cut out 4 legs from a metal corner, about a meter long, and crossbars (their length depends on the size of the furnace that you plan to get). Next, from the crossbars, you need to weld the frame of the stove, on which sheets of metal will be attached. Then the legs are welded to the frame.
To increase the heat transfer of the stove and extend its service life, do not take too thin metal for the walls. Sheets of metal are cut to the size of the frame and welded to it. On the front wall, you need to make a hole for two doors (one for loading, and the other for the ash pan).
Even before the final assembly on the front, it is necessary to weld the curtains and bolts for the doors. Next, you need to make the doors themselves and attach them. In order for the gap between the doors and the wall to be minimal, it will be usefulweld tires. On one of the side surfaces you need to make an air distributor. To do this, it is necessary to make a hole in the wall, and also weld a circle with a pipe and a damper to it. This is necessary to control the flow rate. In order for the firewood to smolder and not burn, the hole should not be more than 20 mm in diameter.
On the inner surface of the side walls, it is worthwhile to make fasteners for the partition between the two compartments of the stove in advance. A lattice of reinforcement or a grate can act as a partition. On the lid of the stove, you need to cut a hole for the chimney and install a flame deflector.
Safe operation
The surface on which the slow-burning stove for the home is placed must be perfectly flat and horizontal. Some kind of refractory material must be applied to the floor and walls near the heating device. The metal chimney pipe must be treated with a non-combustible compound, and non-combustible thermal insulation should be placed between the pipe and the wall.
Before you fire up the stove for the first time, you need to check its tightness. For this, a material is placed in the furnace, which, when burned, emits a lot of smoke. If you find a seam through which smoke seeps, this problem must be fixed.
Cleaning
In order for the stove to work smoothly, the chimney must be periodically cleaned, and ash must be selected from the ash pan. If the system has hard-to-reach places for cleaning, it is recommended to burn aspen in it at the beginning of the season. She has the ability to clean the walls of the chimney. This isthe simplest version of the stove is a slow-burning potbelly stove. But there are also more technological and aesthetic types. They will be discussed below.
Water circuit
A slow-burning stove with a water circuit, unlike a simple stove, can heat several rooms at once. In addition to high heating efficiency, such stoves, as a rule, have an interesting modern design that can be matched to the interior of the house. This is another feature that distinguishes them from products that are placed in garages, basements, boiler rooms or, in extreme cases, in small, rarely visited cottages. With the right choice, a slow-burning wood-burning stove with a water circuit can become a true decoration of the interior and an alternative to a fireplace. Especially popular are models whose firebox has a transparent front wall. The visual effect plays an important role here. After all, fire creates a cozy peaceful atmosphere in the house. It turns out not just a stove, but a kind of slow-burning stove-fireplace.
Thanks to the use of a system of pipes and radiators, the stove warms up the whole house perfectly. At the same time, it allows you to significantly save on firewood, not to mention saving gas and electricity. If you do not regularly heat the stove in severe frosts, then it is very likely that the water in the pipes will freeze. Therefore, experts suggest adding special additives to the water when using a slow-burning stove for summer cottages. They will raise the crystallization temperature of the water.
Automaticfirewood loading
The most technological slow-burning stove is the stove with automatic wood loading. It, as the name implies, allows you to warm up the house without the constant participation of a person. And she can do this for several days.
The principle of operation of such a stove is both simple and complex. Due to the fact that firewood is fed into the firebox automatically, constant burning is ensured. The difficulty lies in the fact that the supply of firewood must be organized accordingly. For these purposes, special racks are installed inside the stove, on which firewood is stacked. In order for a new portion of firewood to be fed into the furnace when the temperature drops, a heat sensor is needed.
Another important nuance is a new approach to sawing wood. If firewood is usually sawn into stumps, and then chopped with an ax, then here it is necessary to cut the tree into round “pancakes”. This shape is needed so that the fuel enters the furnace as conveniently as possible. Prepared wooden circles are placed in the oven with an edge on an inclined rack. When the sensor is triggered, they roll to the right place. Self-manufacturing of such a furnace is quite problematic, since the process requires the most accurate calculations, as well as compliance with all sorts of requirements.
Wood heating benefits
When choosing a boiler to heat their home, people compare the strengths and weaknesses of certain options. Having considered several types of slow-burning wood-burning stoves, let's get acquainted with the advantages of wood-burning heating in general. Compared withother types of heating, it has quite a few strengths:
- Sustainability. A wood-burning stove does not harm the environment, and in this regard, it simply has no equal. When burned, wood emits no more carbon dioxide than when it rots in its natural environment. And compared to the damage that other types of fuel cause to the environment, this is just a trifle.
- Economy. Unfortunately, many people think first of all about financial benefits, and then about the environment. But in this regard, wood stoves have succeeded. Firewood costs less than other fuels.
- This unit can be used not only for the purpose of heating housing, but also for cooking. This is especially true for those whose home is far from the gas pipeline.
- For all the efficiency of wood heating, it is not difficult at all. If everything is done correctly, the stove, even without radiators, will warm the house well.
- Stove draft creates heat exchange between the street and the house, thereby achieving an optimal temperature level and normalizing humidity
- Wood-burning boiler gives off a pleasant aroma, creates a cozy atmosphere and reminds us of our roots.
Conclusion
Today we learned what slow burning stoves are. Of course, this is a promising option for heating residential premises, because recently the issue of preserving the environment and saving fuel has become especially relevant, and the design of the catalytic stove allows it to get rid of the shortcomings of other, outdated types of wood-burning stoves.
