Clear drawings to create the most efficient do-it-yourself potbelly stove. Potbelly stove for long burning: a simple design for making your own hands Drawings of a potbelly stove

Site arrangement 26.06.2020

Site arrangement

This name of the stoves is familiar to everyone. It is a small-sized structure that is designed to heat a room. Of course, she will not be able to cope with large areas, but as for garages and workshops, she will be able to provide heat. Some models also have a stove on top, which allows you to make teas or even a small meal.

This modification of stoves is easy to do with your own hands, and most importantly, they are made. Why? The fact is that such a design has several advantages:

the drawing is quite simple, so that there are no special problems with construction;
there are no special requirements for installation, so installing a potbelly stove is quite simple;
small dimensions allow you to freely place the stove in almost any room;

there are no special requirements for fuel either, so not much money will be needed for refueling;
the weight of the potbelly stove does not require any specific foundation;
rapid heating and heating of the room;
to create such a device, not so much material is required, which will save;
if the device is equipped with a hob on top, then hot tea or even a minimal lunch will always be at hand;
the chimney here has the simplest design, which allows you to place the stove even on the second floor or in the recess of the floor.

Such undeniable advantages make it possible to understand why the potbelly stove is so often installed in utility rooms. But to be truly objective, it is worth saying that this device also has its weaknesses. First, rapid cooling. The oven heats up quickly and cools down just as quickly. Therefore, to maintain a constant heat, you need a lot of fuel. Which is the second drawback. Although here you can use the material that tends to burn or smolder for a long time. Secondly, from the point of view of fire hazard, this option is not very safe. Therefore, it is important to take precautions here. But with a competent approach, the shortcomings of the potbelly stove are easy to fix in particular operation.

Despite the fact that many stoves of this design in the photographs do not look very attractive, they fully cope with their purpose - heating the room. The main thing is to properly assemble the structure and ensure safe operation.

Making a rectangular oven

From what only do not make bourgeois! The fantasy of folk craftsmen is not limited. But for those who have never taken on such a design, it is worth starting with a more simplified version - a rectangular potbelly stove. This is the most popular model, which, moreover, is quite easy to assemble.

In order to make a potbelly stove yourself, you will need to prepare the following material and tools:

plan-drawing - it marks the dimensions of each element;
metal sheets - their number depends on the desired size of the stove, the main thing is that the material is not thinner than 4 mm;
steel corners;
metal pipe (30 mm);
pipe (180 mm);
welding machine.

To create such an option, you will need to perform the following steps:

Metal sheets must first be cleaned and degreased, otherwise the welding machine will not be able to connect them reliably. To do this, you can use an ordinary soap solution or special cleaning agents.
On a sheet of metal that will serve as the front part, it is necessary to cut two holes - one will serve to collect the ash, and the other will be the door of the firebox. The size of the door should be 3-4 cm less than the width of the future potbelly stove. As for the height of the location, it is usually made 1/3 lower than the top edge. Do not forget that there will be another rectangular hole for the ash pan at the bottom. It is desirable to separate them.
To make the door, you need a slightly larger metal than the resulting window. To connect two elements, steel hinges can be used. There must be a handle on the door that will allow you to open and close the potbelly stove.
Now the metal sheets are welded together to make a rectangular box. You should start with the side walls, which are fixed to the bottom. To control the vertical and horizontal directions, it is worth using the building level during such work. Next, weld the back wall. The interior space is divided into three parts - smoke, firebox and ash pan. A grate is installed between the last two parts. 10-15 cm are measured on the side walls and corners are welded to the entire valley. Pre-prepared strips of the same sheet steel with a width of 2.5-3 cm are fixed to them. As for the length, then you need to focus on the available sizes of the potbelly stove. Distance - 5 cm. all elements are welded to two rods. Here you need to do this work as efficiently as possible, since such strips additionally perform the function of stiffeners.

The grate itself should not be welded to the walls, because when you need to clean or replace any element in the potbelly stove, you will have to disassemble the entire structure. And that's enough and just pull out the grate.
Now you need to fix two metal rods in the upper part of the side walls. They will serve as a support for the reflector. It is positioned in such a way that there is a channel in front through which the smoke will leave the potbelly stove. The reflector has to withstand the highest temperatures. Therefore, for its manufacture, it is better to choose a metal with a thickness of 1.5 cm.
Now you can proceed to the top cover. Here it is better to make a hole in advance for the future chimney. Next, cut and weld the jumper. You will need to make it even narrower, which is placed at the level of the grate. It is she who will separate the door of the grate and the ash pan.
Now handles for the door, latches and curtains are welded. As for the last elements, for reliability it is worth using a thick rod and a steel pipe.

Once the design is ready, it is installed on the legs. For such purposes, a metal pipe (diameter 8-10 cm) is perfect, which is cut into segments of 2-4 cm. A nut with a screwed bolt is welded to each end. This will provide reliable stability.
The last step is the arrangement of the chimney. Here you need a pipe 15-18cm in diameter. If we talk about the length, then it should be enough to bring the chimney out. Therefore, in order to avoid overspending material, it is worth considering the location of the potbelly stove. Since the chimney implies bends, each such angle should be equal to 45 degrees. At the lower end, a rotating shutter is equipped. The chimney itself is placed on a sleeve 15-20 cm high. For this purpose, a product with a diameter smaller than the main pipe is used. For connection use cooking.

After the product is ready, it can be installed and started to operate.

Potbelly stove from a gas cylinder

If you don’t want to fiddle with the drawing for a long time, and then still assemble the stove from separate pieces, then you can use an old gas cylinder. Its geometric shapes are perfect for such a product. This stove can then be placed in a garage or even a summer cottage.

All work on the independent manufacture of a potbelly stove has several main stages:

First, the upper part is removed, where there is a crane. In its place, a plug of the future chimney is welded. Such an element is used to block the chimney while the stove is cold.
Visually dividing the balloon into three parts, a square-shaped hole is cut out in the lowest section. It will serve to load fuel. The rest of the metal can be adapted under the door. But for starters, it is scalded around the edges to get the required size. At the same stage, hinges and a handle can be welded to the door. Optionally, it is equipped with a lock.
Several holes are cut into the bottom of the cylinder. They will serve as a grate. To make an ash pan, thinner metal is required. This element is welded in a rectangular shape. Experts recommend equipping the ash pan with a door so that the function and blowing are simultaneously performed. Now the box can be welded under the "grate".
In order for the cylinder to be in a vertical position, three supports are welded from the bottom. For such purposes, you can use a pipe or a metal corner.
The last step is the creation of the chimney. There are the same requirements as for a rectangular potbelly stove. A thick pipe is welded into the hole and bent at an angle of 45 degrees. It is advisable to bring the end of the chimney outside or provide good ventilation to the room.

Optionally, a steel reinforcement frame can be welded to such a potbelly stove, and then it will become like a hob.

A potbelly stove from a gas cylinder can also be positioned horizontally. The sequence of work here is similar to that with a vertical position, but only the door is made in the place where the valve was, and the chimney is attached from the end where the bottom of the cylinder is located.

Potbelly stove made of bricks

Here, rather, it is not the creation of the potbelly stove itself, but the disposal of the metal structure from its shortcomings, and in particular from the rapid loss of heat. To do this, it is worth simply overlaying it with a brick.

But in such a situation there is a drawback - a limited metal has the ability to quickly burn through. Therefore, you can really try to assemble a brick potbelly stove. Maybe it will seem to someone that this is a violation of the classic version, although this model will heat up. BUT! Such a stove is installed once and for all. But this option has a number of advantages:

it has an order of magnitude lower risk of fire. than the metal model;
the level of efficiency is higher than that of the classical variation;
brick potbelly stove is safety;
heat retention takes much longer than in metal stoves, so the room will be warm for a longer time if the fire goes out.

If the room has a concrete floor, then you do not need to think about the foundation for the stove. Otherwise, a solid foundation will be required.

Before laying the stove, the floor is dismantled so that a depression of 40 cm is formed. A layer of sand and gravel is laid on the bottom, which are covered with reinforcing mesh on top. Next, formwork is installed and concrete is poured. It is advisable to add crushed stone to the solution. The construction of the potbelly stove is started no earlier than 7 days after the foundation is poured. This time is enough for the base to harden.

As soon as the concrete hardens, it is covered with roofing material and sprinkled with sand. The first brick row does not require a bonding solution. When working, be sure to use the building level. A bonding solution will be required for the ends. On the second row, the blower door is fixed, and just above it, the grate is fixed.

On the fourth row, the combustion chamber is being created. The firebox door is also installed here. In order for this element to hold, a greasy clay solution and a wire are used, which serves for additional fastening. There are special holes in the oven door for this.

If a brick potbelly stove is used to heat a large room, then it is better to lay it out in 10 rows. For the base of the chimney, the brick is laid out in 2-3 rows, and then a pipe is docked to it.

In general, there is nothing complicated in such a product. But it can look much more aesthetic than a potbelly stove made of metal.

Potbelly stove from a barrel

This option is suitable for those who are not particularly concerned with aesthetics, but require only heat. This option is suitable not only for barrels, but also for pipes of very large diameter.

In order to get such a stove, you need to perform the following steps:

on the outside, two rectangular holes are cut out - the entrance to the furnace compartment and the ash pan;
The “extra” pieces of the barrel are framed with strips of metal and equipped with a handle with a latch - in the future these will be doors;

10 cm down from the furnace hole, corner brackets are welded on the inside of the barrel, on top of which a grate is laid (purchased separately or made independently);
from the outside, legs are welded to the bottom - for this you can use pipes or metal corners;
further, hinges are attached near the holes and on the doors and the elements are connected;
it is recommended to clean all the seams at the end so that the stove looks neater and less traumatic;
as soon as everything is ready, the device can be connected to the chimney, which is taken outside in advance.

This method of making a potbelly stove is also great for a pipe. Only after the grate is installed, do not forget to weld the bottom of the pipe and the upper part. And so nothing complicated!

In fact, there are many options for how you can make a potbelly stove with your own hands. Sometimes folk craftsmen come up with such masterpieces that store design devices simply cannot even stand nearby. But you need to chase not for beauty and originality, but for safety. Indeed, during the operation of the potbelly stove, carbon monoxide gases will be released, which can even poison a person. Therefore, when working in a room heated by such a device, every 30-40 minutes you need to go out into the fresh air and ventilate the space.

Making a potbelly stove is half the battle. You still have to enjoy using it. It would seem that there is no difficulty - threw firewood and warm yourself. But not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance.

Why are ready-made devices more expensive? Because the assembly engineers have provided all the conveniences. To make a homemade stove also bring pleasure, you should think about the following points:

protection - during the laying of fuel, old coals can fall out, which is quite traumatic, so you need to build a small grid in front of the combustion chamber;
since the stove is hot, it should be slightly insulated from the outside, or at least insulated the approximate surfaces - this will reduce the risk of fire;

it is advisable to cover the potbelly stove with heat-resistant paint or anti-corrosion coating - this way the product will last much longer;
handles should be attached to the body, since during the combustion of fuel, the walls of the device will become very hot;
you definitely need a draft adjuster through the wheels - this makes the work of the potbelly stove more comfortable;
if the potbelly stove is made from an old gas cylinder, then it is important to make sure that there is no dangerous substance left inside the container - otherwise there is a high risk of an explosion.

Safe operation

Homemade products are always dangerous because during their construction, a person may lose sight of any details that seem insignificant to him. But in fact, it is they who will be responsible for the injury risk of the final product. The same applies to do-it-yourself bourgeoisie.

In order for the home stove to bring only heat, you should pay attention to the following points:

the stove must stand on a refractory surface - tiles, brickwork, a metal sheet of good thickness, etc.;

if the stove is near the walls, then it is also recommended to secure them - for such purposes, you can use the same tile, refractory drywall or any other material that is not afraid of contact with high temperatures;
there should not be any flammable materials or substances near the device - the maximum allowable distance is not closer than 1.5 meters (firefighters generally recommend not to keep such items indoors);
since the potbelly stove was assembled on its own, it is not safe from the production of harmful substances, so there must be good ventilation in the room (both artificial and natural);
in the manufacture of the product, it is better to choose only high-quality material - at least, such a product will last longer, and as a maximum, it will not bring any harm to its owner.

The service life and quality of heat directly depends on how a person approached this issue. Therefore, it is better to spend a little, especially since a couple of sheets of metal will definitely come out cheaper than a full-fledged heater. But the room will be warm and cozy.

Read in the article

The first start of the potbelly stove

the slide gate allows you to control the draft in the potbelly stove, thereby affecting fuel consumption and temperature.

Installation completed - you can perform the first run. To do this, we put a small amount of wood chips and paper inside, kindle a fire. Next, we lay a small amount of firewood and wait until the potbelly stove warms up. Firewood must be dry (no more than 15-20% moisture), otherwise the soot from them will quickly pollute the entire stove and chimney. We make sure that the smoke goes into the chimney properly, throw in more firewood, close the firebox door and open the ash pan door (it works like a blower).

After 20-30 minutes, the temperature will rise to a comfortable level. To save fuel, close the blower - the flame will die out. This achieves temperature control. It is also possible to retrofit the chimney with a slide damper.

Assembling a stove-potbelly stove from a pipe

In this case, you can not do without a welding machine. The function of the basis of the structure will be performed by a segment of an ordinary metal pipe. Even an old barrel will do. The assembly will be carried out according to the scheme already familiar to you. Make a grate out of rods and fasten it to the body. The connection is made by welding . This potbelly stove will immediately have 2 dampers: a blower and a firebox. The model can be successfully used both for warming up various rooms, and for preparing a variety of food.

Assembling a stove-potbelly stove from a pipe

Potbelly stoves are valued precisely for the fact that they are able to warm up the room in the shortest possible time. But at the same time, there is The main disadvantage of such stoves is that after the combustion stops, they cool down as quickly as they heat up.. Metal practically does not accumulate heat.

To eliminate the above drawback, it is enough to overlay a home-made potbelly stove with refractory bricks

To eliminate the above disadvantage, it is enough to overlay a home-made potbelly stove with refractory bricks. It accumulates heat well and continues to give it to the surrounding space for a long time after the completion of the stove. However, in order for the room to warm up, the stove will have to be heated longer than without such a brick fence. But this shortcoming is easily eliminated. It is enough just to make a few ventilation holes in the brick screen. Similar systems are quite often used in baths.

The brick screen is laid out at some distance from the walls of the unit. This is a very important point. When choosing a suitable distance, you should focus on the area of \u200b\u200bthe heated room and the dimensions of the furnace itself.

A potbelly stove, enclosed by a brick screen, will consume fuel as efficiently as possible and heat the room with high quality for a very long time.

The main models of homemade bourgeois

According to its principles, a potbelly stove is practically no different from models of a special solid fuel device. This is a specific variation of a very simple fireplace category stove. There are also special models that are equipped with cooking hobs and special bath devices.

The material used to make the stove
Often a potbelly stove is made of high-quality steel, but in some cases cast iron can be used. With different types of metal, elements made of natural stone are often used. If cast iron is used, then you should count on low heat capacity parameters, it is very difficult to find it and it is not easy to cook it. Many people prefer steel for this very reason, it is much easier in the process. Moreover, the thicker the material, the longer it will last. If you plan to make a device for rare use, for example, for emergencies with a heating system, then make it from simple iron, which has a thickness of 1 mm.
In the process of manufacturing the furnace, the entire style may well be used factory. This applies to elements such as grates, necessary doors, burners and valves. Many craftsmen make them with their own hands using steel.

Body shape and material
If you want to make a potbelly stove using drawings or photos, you must use the method of cutting a metal sheet.

In addition, elements such as:
Molded profiles;
Square tube;
Special corners;
fittings;
Rod.

All this is required to make a rectangular furnace body. Due to the presence of special planes, the body will have ideal ergonomic properties. In other words, the potbelly stove will be as stable as possible, it is easy to handle and veneer. The stove can be easily and simply docked with a variety of structures, objects and details.

As a basis, various case products made of metal, boxes can be used. Often these are elements of a cylindrical shape, for example, large-diameter pipes, cans, gas cylinders.

In the process of making a furnace with your own hands, you will definitely need to use welding

If the metal is not very thick, the furnace can be made using bolts, screws and a drill. Regardless of the model chosen, it is important to use drawings as a basis for manufacturing, because. despite the relative simplicity, it is required to follow certain instructions for the implementation of the heating means.

DIY manufacturing

There are many different variations of furnaces in the garage, which can be quite simply constructed on your own from the available materials.

The most massive and well-known model of a potbelly stove is a stove made from a metal barrel. This is an extremely simple design, which is a barrel on legs with a door. Such an oven is quite well suited for waste disposal. The main advantage of such a furnace is its simple manufacture. But such a potbelly stove has several drawbacks.

The walls of the barrel are thin, and it is unlikely that it will be able to serve for a long time, since the walls can quickly burn out. Also, the disadvantage is the bulkiness of such a design, which will take up a lot of space in the room.

You can make a furnace from a metal can. There is even less work here, since the can already has a door that can be used without modification.

Another popular option for making a potbelly stove is a gas cylinder. Such cylinders have a fairly good level of heat capacity and thick walls, allowing the furnace to last for a long time. It must be remembered that the gas cylinder must be prepared in accordance with fire safety rules before proceeding with the manufacture of a potbelly stove

It is extremely important to remember that in such a cylinder there may be a residue of explosive vapors.

For fire safety purposes, it is highly recommended to fill this container with water and leave it overnight.

When making this furnace with your own hands from a cylinder, it is worth welding a blowing system to it in the lower part, and drilling several holes in the cylinder itself that are connected to this system.

Let us consider in more detail the stages of manufacturing a furnace from a gas cylinder.

When using a potbelly stove in a garage, it is extremely important to follow fire safety rules. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the right place for installing the furnace. To put the stove, a garage corner is very well suited, which is located near the walls opposite to the gates of the room.

First stage. It is best to make a preliminary drawing and calculate the dimensions of the future product. But such an oven is quite simple to manufacture, you can do without it. Next, it is worth making markup on the product. Using a felt-tip pen, the contours of future doors, a blower and a combustion system are applied to the cylinder body. The compartment with the firebox will be located approximately in the center of the structure, and the blower will be placed below. The distance between them should not exceed 100 mm. Next, a solid line is drawn in the center between the doors with a marker, and then the balloon should be cut along the marked line using a grinder.

Second phase. It is necessary to take iron rods with a diameter of approximately 14-16 mm. Then weld a lattice from them and fix the resulting structure by welding to the bottom of the cylinder. And after that the balloon is again welded into one structure.
Third stage. It is necessary to cut holes for the combustion chamber and holes with a pressurization, and then the doors are hinged on them.

Fourth stage. At the final stage, it is worthwhile to work hard on the installation of the chimney, as this is a very important part of the stove device. For these purposes, using a grinder, you need to cut off the valve on the cylinder, welding in its place a long metal pipe with a diameter of 9-10 cm. The chimney itself should be taken out of the garage through a hole in the wall or on the roof. You should not connect the chimney to the general exhaust of the room, because its draft may not be enough, the ventilation will not cope, and carbon monoxide will enter the garage.

And this is all a fairly simple instruction for making a potbelly stove on your own from a conventional gas cylinder.

Also, at the end of this work, an additional heat-resistant composition can be applied to the furnace.

If a potbelly stove is used for heating or cooking, it is very important to follow the rules for its operation. Their implementation, in addition to fire safety, will help increase its service life.

Before the first kindling, the stove must be checked and checked for tightness of all connections, assemblies, immediately correct all imperfections in order to avoid the penetration of combustion products and carbon monoxide into the garage.
For well-defined reasons, the chimney must be brought out. Its part, located inside the garage space, must be sealed.
The chimney is strictly forbidden to lead into the ventilation system. Even if the stove is installed in the basement, it must have a separate chimney.
The passages of the wall or ceiling of the chimney must be insulated with refractory non-flammable materials.

A sand box and a fire extinguisher must be kept in the garage, in accordance with fire safety regulations.
The potbelly stove is also used as a stove and for boiling water. To do this, a hob with burners is installed on it (usually it is made of a cast-iron stove) or a tank for heating water.
The potbelly stove heats up quickly, but also cools down quickly. Such a disadvantage can be partially compensated by a brick screen that accumulates heat and returns it to the room as it cools down after the potbelly stove goes out.

Direct contact of the screen and potbelly stove is prohibited. The gap between them is left at least 10 cm.

Typically, a brick screen is heavy, so it will most likely need its own foundation. Consider the stages of its manufacture.
1. Dig a hole about 50 cm deep.
2. The bottom of the pit is covered with a layer of sand (average sand consumption is 3-4 buckets), tamped.
3. The next layer is 10-15 cm of crushed stone, which is also rammed.
4. The laid layers are leveled, then poured with a layer of cement mortar.
5. Wait for the complete hardening of the cement layer. The longer the hardening time, the better (usually the time interval is more than a day or longer, this will give the foundation additional strength).
6. Then lay several layers of roofing material.
7. The screen itself is laid out in half a brick, the initial two rows are made with continuous masonry on roofing material. In the 3-4 row, it is necessary to make ventilation gaps, then again continue to lay the brick in a continuous layer.

The correct methods for cleaning a potbelly stove are mainly to remove contaminants inside the chimney, which is relatively rare. Mostly use a brush. It is quite possible to make it with your own hands from a cylinder-shaped brush by tying it to a rope.

It is best to use brushes with bristles made of plastic or iron wire. The diameter of the brush is selected in such a way that there is no significant resistance during the passage of the chimney.

Cleaning is used in order to increase the passage of the smoke flow through the pipe, to improve heat transfer. The sequence of the cleaning process:

plug the furnace hole with a rag;
make 2-3 careful movements with the brush so as not to break the tightness of the chimney (make stops if the brush moves freely);
repeat step 2 as many times as needed;
remove coals, ash and soot from the ash pan.

How to install a potbelly stove in the garage, see the following video.

Making a rectangular oven

In order to make a potbelly stove yourself, you will need to prepare the following material and tools:

plan-drawing - it marks the dimensions of each element;
metal sheets - their number depends on the desired size of the stove, the main thing is that the material is not thinner than 4 mm;
steel corners;
metal pipe (30 mm);
pipe (180 mm);
welding machine.

To create such an option, you will need to perform the following steps:

Metal sheets must first be cleaned and degreased, otherwise the welding machine will not be able to connect them reliably. To do this, you can use an ordinary soap solution or special cleaning agents.
On a sheet of metal that will serve as the front part, it is necessary to cut two holes - one will serve to collect the ash, and the other will be the door of the firebox. The size of the door should be 3-4 cm less than the width of the future potbelly stove. As for the height of the location, it is usually made 1/3 lower than the top edge. Do not forget that there will be another rectangular hole for the ash pan at the bottom. It is desirable to separate them.
To make the door, you need a slightly larger metal than the resulting window. To connect two elements, steel hinges can be used. There must be a handle on the door that will allow you to open and close the potbelly stove.
Now the metal sheets are welded together to make a rectangular box. You should start with the side walls, which are fixed to the bottom. To control the vertical and horizontal directions, it is worth using the building level during such work. Next, weld the back wall. The interior space is divided into three parts - smoke, firebox and ash pan. A grate is installed between the last two parts. 10-15 cm are measured on the side walls and corners are welded to the entire valley. Pre-prepared strips of the same sheet steel with a width of 2.5-3 cm are fixed to them. As for the length, then you need to focus on the available sizes of the potbelly stove. Distance - 5 cm. all elements are welded to two rods. Here you need to do this work as efficiently as possible, since such strips additionally perform the function of stiffeners.

The grate itself should not be welded to the walls, because when you need to clean or replace any element in the potbelly stove, you will have to disassemble the entire structure. And that's enough and just pull out the grate.

Now you need to fix two metal rods in the upper part of the side walls. They will serve as a support for the reflector. It is positioned in such a way that there is a channel in front through which the smoke will leave the potbelly stove. The reflector has to withstand the highest temperatures. Therefore, for its manufacture, it is better to choose a metal with a thickness of 1.5 cm.

Now you can proceed to the top cover. Here it is better to make a hole in advance for the future chimney. Next, cut and weld the jumper. You will need to make it even narrower, which is placed at the level of the grate. It is she who will separate the door of the grate and the ash pan.
Now handles for the door, latches and curtains are welded. As for the last elements, for reliability it is worth using a thick rod and a steel pipe.

Once the design is ready, it is installed on the legs. For such purposes, a metal pipe (diameter 8-10 cm) is perfect, which is cut into segments of 2-4 cm. A nut with a screwed bolt is welded to each end. This will provide reliable stability.
The last step is the arrangement of the chimney. Here you need a pipe 15-18cm in diameter. If we talk about the length, then it should be enough to bring the chimney out. Therefore, in order to avoid overspending material, it is worth considering the location of the potbelly stove. Since the chimney implies bends, each such angle should be equal to 45 degrees. At the lower end, a rotating shutter is equipped. The chimney itself is placed on a sleeve 15-20 cm high. For this purpose, a product with a diameter smaller than the main pipe is used. For connection use cooking.

After the product is ready, it can be installed and started to operate.

Principle of operation

Let us consider in more detail the scheme of work of a home-made potbelly stove:

through the blower, combustion air is supplied to the furnace;
during the combustion process, heat is released, which heats the bricks and the walls of the furnace;
smoke, soot and combustion products are drawn out through the chimney;
regulation of combustion with obtaining the necessary heat transfer is carried out by increasing / decreasing the open gap of the blower door;
a potbelly stove is heated using various types of both liquid and solid fuels (wood, mining, diesel fuel, coal, peat).

Potbelly stove at work

The potbelly stove, which is not fueled by wood, but by used oil, has its own characteristics. It can be either a small stove for an ordinary garage or a device designed to heat large areas. In any case, all models work according to the same principle and have similar designs and the principle of operation.

Potbelly stove has 2 parts. Used oil is filled into the lower part, where it is kindled and brought to a boil.
Vapors are drawn out through a perforated pipe for oxygen access, where their initial afterburning takes place.
The vapors are completely oxidized and burned in the upper part connected to the chimney.
The temperature in the lower tank is relatively low, the upper chamber heats up to the maximum, heating the room. Its walls can even glow from the heat. Accordingly, this affects the choice of material for the manufacture of chambers.

Drawing-scheme of a potbelly stove at working out with conditional dimensions and proportions.

Let's consider the advantages of bourgeois women at work.

Unpretentiousness and "independence". It is not necessary to constantly lay firewood or perform any actions, the main requirement is the correct adjustment of the filler neck gap (10-15 mm).
Efficient heat dissipation.
No soot from the chimney, the stove does not smoke.
Relative fire safety, since fuel exhaustion is difficult to ignite, and only oil vapor burns.

Disadvantages:

noise;
characteristic smell (it is sometimes eliminated by installing a water circuit or an air heat exchanger with a pressurized fan that directs part of the air from the chimney to another room for heating);
the combustion chamber (connecting pipe with perforation) and the chimney have to be cleaned quite often;
the coked layer of burnt oil in the lower chamber is also quite problematic to remove.

When using a potbelly stove with mining fuel, it is necessary to adhere to the mandatory rules.

It is not allowed to use oil mining with gasoline or other combustible impurities.
Particulate filtration is required.
Water must not be allowed to enter the mine.
Strong drafts are not allowed.
Compliance with all fire regulations when installing the stove in the room.
Reliable ventilation is essential.

It is strictly forbidden to leave the stove unattended, to sleep with the stove running.
Do not use water for extinguishing!
Horizontal sections of the chimney hood are prohibited. Permissible chimney slope angle is 45°.
The chimney must have a length of 4 to 7 m.
It is recommended to pour mining into the furnace to a height of less than? volume of the lower chamber.
It is necessary to have a powder fire extinguisher and / or sand in the immediate vicinity of such a furnace.

How to heat a potbelly stove

The bourgeois, who invented the potbelly stove, were able to work not only with their heads, but also with their hands in the laboratory. Therefore, in order for their stove to show all its advantages, it is necessary to determine the minimum and maximum tabs for each type of fuel. Heat from an overfed / underfed potbelly stove will fly out into the pipe due to the fact that circulation does not form in the furnace. In the first case, an excess of gases simply will not leave room for it, and in the second, there will not be enough gases themselves.

Fortunately, the potbelly stove is unpretentious here too: the range of fuel mass at which efficiency is maintained is very wide. You can define it right away like this:

Prepare a bucket of fuel.
We literally lay a handful, kindle it.
We put it in a little, until the beginning of the hog glows cherry.
We look at how much is taken from the bucket, this is the minimum bookmark.
We put more, in larger portions, until 1/5-1/6 of the far part of the hog remains dark.
We look at how much is now selected, this is the maximum bookmark.

Note: it is necessary to determine on a cloudy winter day or in weak diffused lighting of the same strength.

On high-quality fuel (anthracite, pellets), the bur can heat up with a ring that changes in width and “walks” along its length. In this case, several furnaces will be needed to determine the volume / mass of bookmarks. As the fuel burns out, the ring will narrow and move towards the beginning of the hog. At the maximum tab, at the beginning of the furnace, it will take up to a third of its length at the far end, and at the minimum, it will appear in the middle of it and will be 3-4 palms wide.

Video: potbelly stove in garage heating

Option from a wood-fired receiver tank

The receiver tank is perfect for making a stove. The door for loading firewood can be omitted. From above the manhole cover leans back through which firewood will be loaded. It comes with a handle for ease of use. A hole is cut at the bottom for the intake of ashes. We advise you to study in more detail the scheme of a wood-burning stove and find answers to your questions.

This is what the water tank looks like

This option is easy to manufacture, but requires caution when using. The disadvantage of this model is the inconvenience of cleaning the ash pan

But for use in the garage or in the country - this is a great option.

Tank sections are separated by a homemade grate, which can even be made from reinforcement

Alternatively, a small do-it-yourself potbelly stove is made from sheets of steel. Below is a drawing of a simple stove made of prefabricated steel plates. The figure contains all dimensions. Two baffles will allow you to extract the maximum efficiency from the fuel, because thanks to the labyrinth inside the chamber, the combustion products slowly leave it. We also advise you to study the bricks in addition to this article.

With the help of sheet metal, you can give the stove any shape and size

The thickness of metal sheets must be at least 4 mm. A metal plate with drilled holes or even reinforcement can become a grate.

The case can be forged in a casing of 2 mm steel. This will avoid the following problems:

the hot surface of the furnace will not cause burns or accidental ignition;
the amount of infrared radiation will decrease several times;
the air gap between the casing and the surface of the stove will allow it to heat up evenly and better heat the room.

Potbelly stove in the garage pros and cons

Motorists install a homemade potbelly stove in the garage for several reasons:

the stove heats the room in winter;
on a potbelly stove you can cook food or heat a kettle;
a home-made heater with a design approach can become a decoration of the garage.

The stove-potbelly stove in comparison with other heating devices has several advantages:

A variety of fuels can be used for kindling - firewood, coal, construction waste, petroleum products, waste oil, etc.
The main advantage of a potbelly stove is the speed of heating the room. Due to its high efficiency and power, the stove will heat a garage with an area of 50-60 square meters. m. in 15-20 minutes.
The oven evenly distributes heat, regardless of where it is located.
The potbelly stove is an economical heating device. For example, heating a garage with a potbelly stove will cost several times cheaper than an electric heater.
An additional advantage of a potbelly stove in the garage is the ability to cook or heat food. Creating an oven yourself, it is enough to fix a metal hob on its upper part.
A home-made stove will cost the car enthusiast almost free if an unnecessary barrel, a sheet of metal and a pipe are lying around in the garage.

Earlier, we already wrote an article about installing a potbelly stove for heating and recommended adding it to your bookmarks.

The potbelly stove will harmoniously fit into the interior of any garage. In addition to the heating function, the heater has a "cooking mode". At the top of the potbelly stove, a hob is installed where you can heat the kettle or cook food.

The disadvantages of a potbelly stove in the garage are:

the need for a chimney in the garage;
periodic cleaning of the chimney;
the need for a constant supply of fuel;
inability to store heat.

Readers find these materials useful:

Making a miracle stove for heating with your own hands: features of the stove from a cylinder

Potbelly stove on waste oil products

The waste oil furnace is a device consisting of two chambers. In the first, the oil burns, and in the second, the gases formed along with the air.

Advice! Petroleum engine oil, diesel fuel, diesel fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, transformer or transmission oils are often used as fuel. Never burn acetone or petrol thinners.

What does such a potbelly stove look like in used oil and its main components

To weld such a furnace, the master will need no more than 2-3 hours. It is made from the following materials:

chimney pipe;
fuel tank/finished metal box;
sheet metal.

Video: review of a potbelly stove for a garage

Of the tools you will need:

welding machine;
Bulgarian;
chisel;
sledgehammer;
tape measure, marker/chalk;
a hammer;
perforator;
rivets.

Drawing of a potbelly stove "on development". The figure shows two sections, in the first one oil is supplied and burned, in the second - gases are burned together with air.

To make such an oven with your own hands, you should proceed in stages:

First, they make a drawing of a potbelly stove for the garage. The figure schematically marks all the details and blanks with dimensions.
As a fuel department, a ready-made tank or a metal box with a cut out hole for fuel supply is used. Legs are attached to the tank using a welding machine.
The upper section is made in the form of an elongated cylinder. It is connected to the lower chamber with a pipe. To do this, a small round opening is cut out in the box. All joints are checked for tightness. Holes (10 mm in diameter) are made in the pipe for entry into the secondary air channel.
The chimney is made in the upper part of the structure at an angle at a height of several meters.
The upper surface of the potbelly stove can be used as a "stove". This is the hottest place in the oven.
To kindle the stove, several liters of "working out" are poured into the chamber, a little furnace oil is added, paper is placed and set on fire. Add oil in small increments as needed.

Read the article about the construction of a mini-potbelly stove and find answers to your questions.

Advice! To make the stove last several years longer, a three-millimeter steel sheet is attached to the upper platform.

A potbelly stove with used oil is made from a metal box or tank. The upper chamber must be cylindrical.

This material is perfectly complemented by the following publications:

Review of thermofor heating stoves for home and bath - the best from Siberia

Calculation of basic parameters with drawings and dimensions

The high efficiency of a potbelly stove can only be obtained if all the main design parameters are correctly calculated.

Pipe

In this case, the diameter of this element is very important. The throughput of the chimney should be less than the performance of the furnace furnace, which is the main distinguishing feature of the potbelly stove. This will allow warm air not to immediately leave the stove, but to linger in it and heat the surrounding air.

It is very important to make an accurate calculation for her. The diameter should be 2.7 times the volume of the furnace

In this case, the diameter is determined in millimeters, and the volume of the furnace in liters. For example, the volume of the furnace part is 40 liters, which means that the diameter of the chimney should be about 106 mm.

If the stove provides for the installation of grates, then the height of the furnace is considered without taking into account the volume of this part, that is, from the top of the grate.

Screen

It is very important to make the hot gases not cool down, but completely burn out. In addition, the fuel must be burned by partial pyrolysis, which requires an extremely high temperature. A metal screen, which is located on three sides of the stove, will help to achieve a similar effect. You need to put it at a distance of 50–70 mm from the walls of the stove, so that most of the heat will return to the stove. This movement of air will give the necessary heat, and protect against fire.

The screen of a potbelly stove made of red brick is able to accumulate heat

bedding

She must be. There are two reasons for this:

part of the heat is radiated downward;
the floor on which the stove stands is heated, which means there is a risk of fire.

The litter solves two of these problems at once. It can be used as a metal sheet with an extension of 350 mm (ideally 600 mm) beyond the contour of the furnace itself. There are also more modern materials that do an excellent job with this task, for example, a sheet of asbestos or kaolin cardboard, at least 6 mm thick.

Asbestos sheet can be used for bedding under a potbelly stove

Chimney

Despite all the calculations, gases sometimes go into the chimney not completely burned out. Therefore, it must be done in a special way. The chimney consists of:

vertical part (1–1.2 m), which is recommended to be wrapped with heat-insulating material;
burs (slightly inclined part or completely horizontal), 2.5–4.5 m long, which should be 1.2 m from the ceiling, which is not protected by heat-resistant materials, from the floor - at 2.2 m.

The chimney must be brought outside

Photo gallery: diagrams for a potbelly stove for a garage

On the diagram you need to indicate all the exact measurements

The chimney must be led outside

Potbelly stove can be round or square

The volume of the furnace depends on the presence of grates. The scheme of the potbelly stove depends on the material used.

Potbelly stove assembly

Installation of a potbelly stove begins with its purchase or self-assembly

When choosing a purchase option, pay attention to the Soviet-style cast-iron model.

They began to be produced in 1955 and are still stored in army warehouses. We will not delve into where they came from on sale. But let's say that these are excellent stoves. Judge for yourself:

The cast-iron potbelly stove has a very impressive appearance and, due to its thickness, can last for more than a dozen years.

Thermal power - about 4-5 kW, which is enough to heat a garage up to 40 square meters. m;
Reliable cast iron - its thickness is 10 mm;
Soviet assembly - no comments here, then they knew how to make quality things;
Omnivorous - works on coal, wood, sawdust;
Suitable for installing a cauldron instead of a top lid.

The cost of the unit is in the range of 4-5 thousand rubles. The thing is really cool, but hellishly heavy, its weight is about 60 kg.

You can also assemble a potbelly stove for the garage yourself. For example, according to this scheme:

The assembly scheme of one of the simplest and yet quite effective and reliable potbelly stoves.

It is assembled from sheet steel. The recommended thickness is 4-5 mm. This is enough to keep the steel from burning through in the next few years. The statement is most relevant when using coal, which burns at a higher temperature. For assembly, it is necessary to cut the metal on the machine or with the help of a powerful grinder. Legs can be made, or you can not do it - in this case, the potbelly stove is installed on a stone base.

To assemble the furnace, additional materials will be needed - this is a metal pipe, doors and fittings for assembling the grate. The pipe is necessary to create a chimney pipe - a chimney is connected to it. You need two doors - one large, the second small. A large one is welded in front of the combustion chamber (furnace), a small one - between the bottom and the grate. If you are making legs for floor installation, take strong metal corners or fittings with a thickness of at least 15 mm.

The diameter of the chimney according to this scheme is 100 mm - this is quite enough (for this drawing). A potbelly stove is assembled using a welding machine. Welds are given special attention to withstand the heat and keep smoke out of the garage itself. When assembling the body, do not forget to install the grate and smoke ducts.

Smoke turns improve heat transfer and are a reserve for pyrolysis combustion - in this case, a tube for supplying secondary air is welded into the rear wall above the level of the first turn.

Potbelly stove from a barrel

This option is suitable for those who are not particularly concerned with aesthetics, but require only heat. This option is suitable not only for barrels, but also for pipes of very large diameter.

In order to get such a stove, you need to perform the following steps:

on the outside, two rectangular holes are cut out - the entrance to the furnace compartment and the ash pan;
The “extra” pieces of the barrel are framed with strips of metal and equipped with a handle with a latch - in the future these will be doors;

10 cm down from the furnace hole, corner brackets are welded on the inside of the barrel, on top of which a grate is laid (purchased separately or made independently);
from the outside, legs are welded to the bottom - for this you can use pipes or metal corners;
further, hinges are attached near the holes and on the doors and the elements are connected;
it is recommended to clean all the seams at the end so that the stove looks neater and less traumatic;
as soon as everything is ready, the device can be connected to the chimney, which is taken outside in advance.

This method of making a potbelly stove is also great for a pipe. Only after the grate is installed, do not forget to weld the bottom of the pipe and the upper part. And so nothing complicated!

Varieties of cast-iron potbelly stoves

A cast-iron potbelly stove for a summer residence is the easiest option for heating a country house. But when you start choosing a stove, your eyes start to run wide. There are dozens and hundreds of types of cast-iron stoves on sale. Therefore, now we will try to understand all this diversity.

Differences in form and design

Cast iron stoves for country houses are made in a variety of form factors. For example, they may be rectangular or barrel-shaped. In some units, the bodies are elongated horizontally, while in others, vertically. The choice of the appropriate option is carried out depending on the operating conditions - if there is free space, you can get by with the horizontal option. If there is not enough space in the country, it is better to look at the vertical unit.

There are also design differences. We have already said that cast iron stoves are extremely simple. But many do not like this simplicity. Especially for such people, designer stoves with beautiful cases with monograms and drawings were created. They look really impressive, so they will become a worthy decoration of your interior.

loading door

People often go to the dacha for rest - they want to take a break from the bustle of the city and be in silence

Therefore, they pay special attention to the arrangement of their country houses. In order to make the country interior more interesting and cozy, you can decorate it with a cast-iron potbelly stove with a fireplace door.

In most cases, the doors are made deaf - they serve exclusively for loading fuel. In some models, they play not only the main, but also a decorative role.

When choosing a cast-iron potbelly stove with a fireplace door, make sure that it is equipped with a “clean glass” system. Otherwise, you will have to constantly clean the glass in your oven from soot.

hob

Equipping their dacha, people often build one-room houses, doing without kitchen facilities. Cooking under such conditions is difficult. But if you buy a cast-iron potbelly stove with a hob, then the problem will be solved - at least in the heating season, when it's cold outside. Here you can put a kettle or a pot of soup, you can even cook something in a pan.

The hob is a great addition to cast iron potbelly stoves. But you need to be careful. The thing is that if you accidentally spill cold water on cast iron, the stove may burst. When heated, cast iron becomes more brittle, so strong impacts and sudden temperature changes lead to its destruction.

pyrolysis ovens

A cast-iron potbelly stove for a summer residence can work using pyrolysis technology. This scheme allows you to slightly increase heat transfer and efficiency. Firewood burns here in an oxygen-poor atmosphere, releasing pyrolysis products that are burned in an afterburner. The design of such cast-iron potbelly stoves is more complex, but it allows you to increase the efficiency by about 5-10%. An additional plus is the increase in the burning time of the cast-iron stove.

Long-term combustion in cast-iron stoves of the potbelly stove type is also realized in another way - with the help of large combustion chambers. The larger the chamber, the more firewood fits into it. And 10-12 kg of firewood will burn obviously longer than the unfortunate 1.5-2 kg. Thanks to this, the operation of the stoves is greatly facilitated - this is most important at night, when you want to sleep, and not deal with laying firewood.

Safe operation

In order for the home stove to bring only heat, you should pay attention to the following points:

the stove must stand on a refractory surface - tiles, brickwork, a metal sheet of good thickness, etc.;

if the stove is near the walls, then it is also recommended to secure them - for such purposes, you can use the same tile, refractory drywall or any other material that is not afraid of contact with high temperatures;
there should not be any flammable materials or substances near the device - the maximum allowable distance is not closer than 1.5 meters (firefighters generally recommend not to keep such items indoors);
since the potbelly stove was assembled on its own, it is not safe from the production of harmful substances, so there must be good ventilation in the room (both artificial and natural);
in the manufacture of the product, it is better to choose only high-quality material - at least, such a product will last longer, and as a maximum, it will not bring any harm to its owner.

protection - during the laying of fuel, old coals can fall out, which is quite traumatic, so you need to build a small grid in front of the combustion chamber;
since the stove is hot, it should be slightly insulated from the outside, or at least insulated the approximate surfaces - this will reduce the risk of fire;

it is advisable to cover the potbelly stove with heat-resistant paint or anti-corrosion coating - this way the product will last much longer;
handles should be attached to the body, since during the combustion of fuel, the walls of the device will become very hot;
you definitely need a draft adjuster through the wheels - this makes the work of the potbelly stove more comfortable;
if the potbelly stove is made from an old gas cylinder, then it is important to make sure that there is no dangerous substance left inside the container - otherwise there is a high risk of an explosion.

Pros and cons of bourgeoisie

Heating garages with the help of bourgeois stoves is fully justified. Electric heating leads to high energy costs, given the large amount of heat loss. The same applies to heating with diesel fuel and liquefied gas. It remains to heat the garage with the help of a potbelly stove. This simple oven can run on wood, coal, fuel briquettes and other fuels. . It is omnivorous and does not require permission to install and operate.

Consider the positive qualities of bourgeois women:

The potbelly stove has a very reasonable efficiency indicator - it varies between 70-80%, which depends on its design and the type of fuel used.

Suitable for heating garages and any other technical premises;
They give a large amount of heat, which depends on the type of fuel used - using firewood with a high calorific value, you will achieve a good heat;
Quick warm-up - we remove the ash left from the last kindling, load fresh firewood, wait 15-20 minutes. After this time, the garage will become noticeably warmer. After 30-40 minutes, the temperature will reach a comfortable limit (do not raise it above + 23-24 degrees);
Easy installation - you need to mount it on a non-combustible base and connect the chimney;
Possibility of modernization - the potbelly stove can be easily converted to liquid and gas burners. There are also certain methods for increasing efficiency - we will touch on these points in the review.

Disadvantages:

Not the most presentable appearance, but in a garage and other technical room it does not matter in the slightest;
An incorrectly assembled potbelly stove may turn out to be too voracious and inefficient - 40-50% of the heat will fly out;
It is necessary to install a high chimney - proper draft is ensured by installing a chimney up to 4-5 meters in height.

In addition, potbelly stoves need regular cleaning. It is one thing to remove the accumulated coals and ash, and another thing to remove the resin from the pipe. The problem with resins is solved by installing a chimney from a pipe with a diameter of at least 100 mm (and preferably 120 mm).

Potbelly stove modernization

Installing a potbelly stove in the garage will give warmth and comfort. But the efficiency of this furnace can be increased by 10-15%. Here is a list of technical solutions:

Installing a brick shirt from the back and sides - we have already talked about this. The thickness is half a brick;
Installing a chimney with a long horizontal section - it will save some of the heat flying into the chimney. We put the stove in one corner, stretch the chimney to the other, and then bring it upstairs;
We sheathe the walls with steel sheets - they will reflect infrared radiation back into the room;
Installing a steel jacket around the stove - we surround the potbelly stove with steel sheets located at a distance of 40-50 mm from its walls. This solution forms a convector that circulates air around the garage.

The manufacture of potbelly stoves.

I bought 12 meters of a profile pipe to fit into the car, asked me to cut it into 6 pieces of 2 meters each.

I immediately bought cast-iron grates 270 x 270 mm.

I cut the pipes into pieces 50 cm long and began to cook the side walls.

I decided to bend the back wall.

Here are the approximate dimensions of the firebox:

height 50 cm,
length 55-60 cm,
width 40 cm.

I set the side walls in parallel, measured the diagonals, sawed 4 identical rods and welded them. They will keep horizontal partitions

Then I cut out the lower partition from 4 mm sheet steel. It is shifted forward, behind the stove there is a passage of gases 33 x 12 cm.

The upper second baffle has the same size for the passage of gases, but it is already shifted back. At the back there is a small gap to reduce aerodynamic drag.

These partitions are removable, they will be reinforced with a corner a little. They are easily taken out through the firebox.

The next step is to make the top cover. I made the shape in such a way as to increase the passage of gases, and reduce the aerodynamic resistance at the inlet to the pipe.
A tube with holes will be located in the chamber above the furnace, through which warm secondary air will be supplied for afterburning.

I found in the garage a piece of a square profile pipe 100 x 100 mm, the flue at the outlet of the furnace will be square at the beginning.
This makes it even easier to make a shutter. We need an axle (I used a long bolt), a spring to fix the damper, the damper itself and a handle with a counterweight.

The damper is 4 mm thick.

Then I welded the pipe to the top of the potbelly stove, made a smooth transition for gases.

Made a tube for secondary air.
The bottom line is that hot air is supplied to the area behind the furnace, and the combustion of flue gases occurs. Theoretically, this gives an increase in temperature in the second chamber.
So that the tube does not burn out, I protected it with a corner. The nozzle itself was flattened and welded for greater strength.

Well, I screwed up the phone.

I also sawed the reinforcement and made an insert from a thick-walled pipe. I welded a pipe on one side, the other end is free. This is done for the thermal expansion of the reinforcement.

I made a tight hatch for removing ash, I reinforced the walls of the ash pan with a corner. The lid is inserted very easily, the gap was set using thick paper.

I made 4 holes in the hatch and fixed the lower part of the carburetor with dampers. They will regulate the air supply very accurately.

I made the front wall, cut out a window under the firebox door and reinforced it with a frame.

Next, I made a door from a cut-out piece of the front wall, corners and a sheet of metal. Outside there are holes in the lower part, inside too, but already on top. So the door is cool! Of course, the design is not very successful, you need to fix the inner sheet on the studs, and not scald around the perimeter. It heats up more, expands and bends the door outward. I'll fix it!

Made 4 legs. 3 of them are adjustable in height.

He welded the legs into place, made a mechanism for locking the door. A piece of power steering plate, fittings, ball.
I also made stops for the door, it is on a hinge.

I make an air circuit to make forced airflow. I bought a 0.5 mm sheet of tin, fixed it with self-tapping screws and rivets.

The fence will be from below, and will be fed along the corrugation along the garage.

In the garage, there were started cans of thermal paint, I decided to use it.

Fired up the oven. I must say right away with the paint I got excited, 400 degrees are written on the can, but Fahrenheit. Paint faded and smelled.

Homemade potbelly stove from an old can

Work on the independent manufacture of potbelly stoves begins with the choice of the type of construction. The stove can have a round and rectangular section. Even an old can for water, milk and other liquids is suitable for assembling such a unit.

Homemade potbelly stove from an old can

No expensive materials and hard-to-reach tools are required. Everything you need can be found in the barn or purchased at the hardware store.

Finishing a homemade potbelly stove

Tools and materials for assembling a potbelly stove

Can.
Metal bar with a diameter of 0.6 mm.
A hammer.
Chisel.
Smoke exhaust pipe.
File.

To assemble some models of potbelly stoves, you will need a welding machine, but with a strong desire, everything can be done without the use of welding. The advantage of using a welding machine is that it can provide higher reliability and structural rigidity. Recommendations for any specific sizes are not given, because. in the case of home-made potbelly stoves, everything is selected individually. When choosing the dimensions of additional units, be guided by the dimensions of the main tank.

Potbelly stove from a can

First of all, you need to prepare a blower. Take your can and make a hole in it. It should be arranged just below the level of the neck. The sawn hole should be shaped into a regular rectangle. To do this, take a file and carefully sand the edges of the resulting connector.

The next hole must be prepared in the bottom of the can. It must be of such a diameter that in the future the pipe for the removal of combustion products enters it with sufficiently great effort. Determining the right size is extremely simple. Prepare markings at the location of the chimney. Mark a hole about 15-20 mm smaller than the diameter of the chimney. Next, you will need to arm yourself with a chisel and an ordinary hammer. With these simple tools, you can knock out the desired hole. In the end, it remains only to align it with a file.

Take the flue pipe and try to drive it into the prepared socket. If the chimney does not pass, you will have to work with a file for some more time. However, there is no need to be too zealous either. The chimney, as already noted, must enter the connector with sufficiently large efforts.

Take a metal rod with a diameter of 0.6 mm and try to bend it with a snake. In the future, you will use this snake as a grate. The prepared grate must be bent so that it can be properly positioned in the neck. In the end, it remains only to align the grate in the container, and the homemade stove will be ready.

Experts recommend installing such stoves on special stands. This is more reliable and safe. In addition, the design of a home-made potbelly stove can be improved by installing a damper on the blower. It will allow you to adjust the intensity of traction, fuel consumption and heating level.

Thus, an elementary potbelly stove can be assembled even from an old can. No expensive special devices are required for such work. At the end, it remains only to place the stove in a suitable place and connect the chimney. A homemade stove will provide high-quality room heating until you decide to install a more functional and productive system.

A homemade stove will provide high-quality room heating until you decide to install a more functional and productive system.

Development and improvements

The "bourgeois" potbelly stove was designed most of all for dry firewood or peat: it was born when the belyaks squeezed Soviet Russia from all sides. All coal-mining areas and forests suitable for development were in the hands of the enemy. Only later, when the Soviet Union was already on its feet, the potbelly stove was adapted for other types of solid fuel.

To do this, we had to do very little: add a grate and horizontal partitions to the furnace, forming smoke channels. At the front bend of the channel, the pressure in the presence of traction will always be below atmospheric, which was not provided by the original potbelly stove. Therefore, it became possible to equip the stove with a burner there, turning it into a heating and cooking stove. If the pipe is brought out at least 1.5 m above the roof ridge and equipped with an aerodynamic fungus-umbrella, then, without fear of intoxication, such a potbelly stove can also be made a two-burner. A drawing of an improved potbelly stove is shown on the left pos. rice.

Improved potbelly stoves

With the development of heat engineering, slow-burning stoves, very economical and easy to use, became more and more widespread. The potbelly stove turned out to be suitable for this mode of the furnace: it turned out to be enough to remove the grate, returning to the blind hearth, and supply the blower with an air throttle that regulates the combustion mode and heat output. On the right pos. rice. a potbelly stove with a convenient and technologically advanced air regulator by V. Loginov is shown.

About grate and blower

To turn a potbelly stove from an ordinary stove into a slow one, the grate must be removed. Slow combustion is ensured by supplying air to the fuel from above, so that the smoldering mass itself sucks in as much as it needs. When air is supplied from below through the grate, either the upper layer of fuel will decay, and the bottom will remain intact, or, if the fuel is breathable and dry, combustion will turn into a fiery one. Remember the chores with barbecue on the grill: you have to blow on the coals, then extinguish the flared ones.

Therefore, the grate in a multi-mode potbelly stove should not be made of a single piece of steel sheet, because you can’t pull it out through the firebox door, but a type-setting of separate cast-iron grates. They can be supported by steel corners welded from the inside to the walls of the furnace or (better) pieces of reinforcing bars 10-15 mm in diameter.

But in any case, the blower should be made round, as in Loginov's stove, and equipped with an M60x1 pipe mounted on screws or rivets. From welding, the thread will lead completely, and taps, as you know, do not pass large threads, only on the machine.

A potbelly stove with a round threaded blower becomes truly universal:

The blower is completely open - potbelly stove, coal, peat briquettes, pellets.
Loginov's throttle is screwed onto the blower, the grates are removed - a slow-burning potbelly stove on sawdust, wood chips, paper / cardboard waste and other waste fuel.
The grates are installed, the outlet pipe of the gasifier is introduced into the blower (see below) - a potbelly stove on working out, dark heating oil.

Water

The rooms in bourgeois apartments (those who were draped lived in mansions) were, according to current ideas, very large. Therefore, in the stationary combustion regime, the IR from the screen played a significant role in their heating. In the current housing, convection heating is sufficient, thermal radiation will only overheat the walls, increasing heat loss to the outside.

An excess of IR rays is best used by surrounding the potbelly stove instead of a screen with a U-shaped hot water boiler. It will not knock down the combustion mode in the stove, because. IR is reflected by the inner surface layer of the screen metal, and its reflectivity is almost independent of the surface temperature.

The share of IR from the screen to the outside is 1/5-1/7 part of its thermal power for a potbelly stove, so a water potbelly stove will provide only hot water with a storage tank. But for a summer residence or a rural house, this is already a godsend.

How to install

Experts with experience recommend placing a potbelly stove approximately in the corners of the room, and bringing the chimney to the other side. Using this placement, you can achieve maximum heat transfer of the furnace. To prevent heat from escaping with smoke, the pipe should be stretched at an angle that is 30 degrees. You should also try to avoid straight sections of the pipe located horizontally.

To place a potbelly stove in the garage, a system of fresh air ventilation and good exhaust is required.

Never put the stove close to the car. The potbelly stove should be at a distance of 1.5 or even 2 meters from him. Also, any flammable objects and compositions must be moved from the potbelly stove to an approximate similar distance.

Brick walls should be installed on the sides and in front of the furnace. This not only provides protection against inadvertent touches to a hot structure, but also ensures the accumulation of heat that the stove gives, which allows you to quite significantly increase the efficiency level of the potbelly stove.

If the walls of the garage are made of wood, then there should be about 100 cm of free distance between them and the stove itself. The wooden walls themselves must be covered with asbestos sheets, overlaid with bricks, or protected by some other fire-resistant means.

It is extremely important to place a sheet of iron up to two cm thick at the base of the potbelly stove or pour a concrete screed, which will help to avoid the spread of fire if sparks, coals, and so on fall out of the stove. .

The potbelly stove should be used only in rooms where good supply ventilation is provided. The main factor of fire is oxygen. Therefore, fresh air must enter the garage in good volumes, otherwise the fire simply will not flare up, and there will be a minimum of heat from such a furnace. Sometimes it is enough for this purpose to leave a not very wide gap between the garage door and the ground. If there is no such gap, then you must either make it yourself, or make a supply ventilation system.

In no case should flammable materials be left near the potbelly stove.

If there is wood, containers with gasoline and oils near the burning stove, their ignition can lead to extremely negative consequences.

We select the design of the stove

Since there are enough drawings of ordinary potbelly stoves on the Internet, we will offer a choice of 4 original designs, one of which will certainly suit your conditions:

Two-way wood and charcoal stove, welded from sheet metal.
Vertical heater from a gas cylinder with an air or water circuit.
Long-burning pyrolysis stove from a cylinder or pipe installed horizontally.
Dropper for the development of automotive and other oils.

Unit with two chimneys

Note. The heating furnace can also be built from ceramic bricks, which is described in this topic. Such a heat source will fit well into the interior of the cottage, but is inconvenient for a garage due to the size of the brick building, long warm-up and lack of mobility.

Wood burning heater with air chamber at the top

If you spend a little time in the garage (1-3 hours a day), then you will need a quick heating of the room, and it will be provided by a vertical wood-burning stove with an air heat exchanger (option No. 2), shown in the photo. Thanks to the fan that drives air through the upper chamber, it acts like a heat gun.
The same second option will fit for large boxes (standard garage dimensions are 6 x 3 m). Then the air chamber turns into a water circuit connected to the heating registers.
For permanent heating of a standard garage, option No. 1 is suitable - an efficient two-way wood-burning stove, or No. 3 - a long-burning unit. The choice depends on the material you have: the first is made from a propane tank, the second is made from 4 mm thick sheet iron.
For those who plan to burn used oils for heating, it is recommended to weld a drip-type stove from a round pipe (option No. 4). If desired and skill, you can upgrade it - convert it into a boiler by making a water jacket.

Double chamber pyrolysis oven

Reference. Of the popular garage homemade products, it is worth mentioning 2 more designs: the famous stove - Bubafonya upper burning potbelly stove and a small heater made of rims. The manufacture of the first is described in detail, the second is shown in the video:

Which stove is better cast iron or metal

A cast iron potbelly stove has many advantages over an iron one. Thin-walled steel heats up quickly and easily transfers internal heat to the outside. As soon as the fuel burns out, it cools down very quickly.

Cast iron potbelly stove is durable

Unlike steel, thick cast iron has a fairly high heat capacity, but lower thermal conductivity. In other words, it slowly heats up, accumulates heat in itself and, due to its heat capacity, after the combustion of all the fuel, it gives off heat for some time.

In addition, the cast-iron walls reflect part of the heat back into the combustion chamber. This creates ideal conditions for long burning and complete combustion of any type of fuel.

In a steel furnace, to obtain the same conditions, additional heat-reflecting screens have to be mounted. And cast iron does not need screens by definition.

Sometimes situations arise when it is necessary, without significant material costs, to heat a small-sized room (garage, workshop or warehouse) as efficiently and quickly as possible. An excellent solution to the problem will be a compact do-it-yourself potbelly stove, the creation of which requires ingenuity, desire, tools and metal.

A simple potbelly stove can be built from materials that are at hand. You can use an ordinary can or a thick-walled barrel. Long-term practice has shown that very thick metal (over 8 mm) is too difficult to warm up. Thus, the efficiency is reduced and most of the heat is not used for heating.

If the metal is too thin, under the influence of high temperatures it will begin to deform and quickly lose its original shape. The best of the options is the walls of about 3-4 mm.

Introductory video on the operation of the furnace

Rectangular potbelly stove with reflector

Deciding the question of what shape and size the finished potbelly stove should take, everyone should independently. A person with engineering education and skills can take any, even the simplest design, and make the desired changes to it, aimed at improvements.

Drawing of a rectangular potbelly stove:

A simple and multifunctional do-it-yourself potbelly stove is made from the following materials:

Sketches and a simple design drawing showing all major dimensions
Sheet metal (its quantity depends on the desired dimensions of the furnace)
Steel corners (thickness 4-5 mm)
Metal tube 25-30 mm
Pipe 180 mm
Welding machine
Working hand and electric tools

The furnace body will be made in the form of a rectangle with steel sheets that are butt-welded together. It is necessary to cut blanks under five main planes (bottom, top, side and back walls). On the front panel there will be a blower and a door for the furnace, so it will be possible to resolve the issue with it later.

First, the side surfaces are welded to the bottom. It is necessary to ensure that they are located strictly vertically, using a level or square, and joined at a right angle. Having grabbed in 2-3 places, once again we are convinced of the correctness of their location and we finish welding.

After the back wall is welded. All internal space must be divided into three parts:

smoke circulation
Firebox
Ash pan

The last two must be separated by a grate, on which solid fuel (peat, firewood) will be laid. It is done as follows:

From the inside, on the sides at a certain height (10-15 cm), corners are welded to the entire length
For the grate, it is necessary to prepare strips of 25-30 mm wide from thick sheet steel and a length corresponding to the width of the potbelly stove

The distance between the plates is about 5 cm
The strips are welded to two metal rods with a diameter of 15-20 mm as reliably as possible, since they have one more role to play - stiffeners

There is no need to weld the grille to the inner corners. If necessary (cleaning the potbelly stove, repair), it can be easily obtained. After some time, some plates may burn out and need to be replaced. There are many more reasons to leave the grille removable.

In the next step, it is necessary to weld two metal rods on top, on which the reflector will be located. The latter is a metal sheet that separates the chimney and the firebox. The reflector is removable.

It is necessary to position the reflector so that a channel is formed in front, allowing the smoke to escape. It will warm up inside the most, so it is made of very thick metal (12-16 mm).

It's time to start the final stages of work. First, the potbelly stove is welded. It will not be superfluous to provide a hole for the chimney in advance. Then the upper jumper is cut out and welded, then a narrower one, placed at the level of the grate and separating the doors of the grate and the ash pan.

Don't worry too much about the size of the doors. The main thing is that through them it was convenient to lay firewood and remove ashes with ashes. The door for the firebox is made, as a rule, almost the entire width, so that you can remove the reflector and the grate, for the ash pan - narrower.

Having collected everything together, it is time to think about how to install the finished structure on the legs. They are recommended to be made from a metal tube 2-3 cm in diameter and 8-10 cm in length with a nut welded on the end and a bolt screwed in. This will allow you to adjust the height. To many, this step may seem strange, but during the installation process everything will become clear.

It's time to think about a chimney, which will be made of a pipe with a diameter of 15-18 cm. At the same time, it should be brought out through a hole in the wall. Bends are made at an angle of 45 degrees, there should not be any sections located horizontally.

At the lower end of the chimney, a rotating damper must be provided. For it, a circle is cut out of sheet metal, with a diameter slightly smaller than that of a pipe, in which a hole is drilled for a handle for rotation. The latter can be made from a metal bar.

It is necessary to place the chimney pipe on a sleeve 15-20 cm high. It is made from a product with a diameter slightly smaller than the chimney pipe and is welded along the hole to the top cover. It's time to install a potbelly stove, adjust the height and that's it - you can heat the room.

A simple potbelly stove from a can

The simplest do-it-yourself potbelly stove is made from an ordinary can. There is no need to talk about the durability of such a design, but it is quickly built, easy to install and gives enough heat.

All work consists in mounting the legs, arranging the outlet pipe and some cosmetic operations. For work you need:

can
Chimney pipe
Wire for grate
Welding machine
Tools

Getting Started

We install the can horizontally and mark where the blower will be, having the shape of a rectangle or sickle. Put it under the lid
A hole is cut in the wall or bottom of the can equal to the diameter of the chimney pipe
To make a grate, you need to stock up on steel wire. It is bent, carried inside through the lid and gently unbent so that the zigzag is in the desired position, while it remains convenient to lay chips, firewood, etc.
The can must be fixed on the legs, which are cut out of tubes or corners and welded
The chimney is welded

A reflector can be mounted on the outside of the tank, due to which less heat will escape. Having welded handles from the sides, the structure can be transferred to any other place.

Pros and cons of homemade bourgeois

Among the many advantages of such a nondescript but useful installation are:

Full autonomy and energy independence
Work on any solid fuel, including plant residues - this saves a lot of money
Versatility of the design, which can not only be installed in various rooms, but also used for cooking
A simple design that you can build yourself from the materials available in the garage
There is no need to build a monolithic foundation and install a capital chimney

But despite the significant and numerous advantages, a number of minuses of the bourgeoisie can be distinguished:

The high thermal conductivity of the metal leads to rapid fuel burnout and furnace cooling.
If the wall thickness is insufficient, they will soon begin to burn out and the furnace will fail.
It is necessary to watch the combustion process and throw firewood in time, control the draft
Resinous and damp logs cause hard-to-remove soot in the chimney

Video - another option for making a furnace

In custody

A homemade potbelly stove is a reliable and efficient assistant in a cold workroom or your own garage. Its manufacture is not difficult, and to start work there is no need for large material investments.

Workshops and other household premises are forced to look for simple and cheap ways to heat them. In the era of inexpensive electricity, there were no problems with this - it was possible to use an elementary heater assembled from a piece of asbestos pipe and a nichrome spiral. Today, the operation of even an economical IR heater will cost a pretty penny, and it’s better not to remember the voracious handicraft equipment at all.

The way out of this situation lies on the surface - it is enough to make a potbelly stove with your own hands. Craftsmen have developed more than a dozen simple and efficient designs designed for the use of liquid or solid fuels. If your choice is a heater that runs on wood or wood waste, then there is no better design than a potbelly stove for long burning.

Secrets of long-term operation of solid fuel units

The whole secret of long-term burning of a potbelly stove is hidden in the way fuel is put into it. Firewood in such a stove is ignited from above, so there is no danger of simultaneous ignition of all logs placed in the fuel chamber.

Despite the unpretentious appearance, a home-made long-burning potbelly stove successfully competes with many factory-made wood-burning stoves.

Additionally, this is facilitated by the method of air supply. The oxygen necessary for combustion is supplied only to the top layer of the fuel. Such solutions make it possible to increase the size of the bookmark as much as the dimensions of the furnace allow. Of course, the time of continuous operation of such units increases tenfold.

The secret of long burning stoves is an efficient way to burn fuel

The pyrolytic decomposition of solid fuel, which occurs at high temperature and lack of oxygen, allows to further increase the duration of one heating cycle. At the same time, firewood does not burn, but smolders, simultaneously forming a large amount of volatile hydrocarbon compounds. Pyrolysis gases burn under the roof of the furnace with the release of a large amount of heat. Thus, smoldering contributes to the lengthening of the continuous burning period, and pyrolysis makes it possible to increase the efficiency of the heat generator many times over.

Another option for long-burning stoves is Bubafonya. You can make it yourself at home. Our next article provides a diagram and step-by-step installation instructions:.

The device and principle of operation of a potbelly stove for long burning

The methods described above for increasing the time of continuous operation of the furnace have been successfully implemented in the design of the potbelly stove, which we offer for manufacturing. The unit consists of only a few parts and is distinguished by its extraordinary simplicity, which, however, does not prevent it from successfully competing with more complex heating devices.

Firewood is laid in the body, which is most often made in the form of a cylinder. From above, the fuel is pressed by an air distribution device in the form of a hollow rod with a piston (a heavy metal disk, in the center of which there is a hole for air supply). Support vanes (blades) are welded to the bottom of the steel pancake, the width of which determines the height of the gap between the fuel and the piston. In other words, the volume of the combustion chamber depends on the size of the blades. A pipe is welded to the back of the disk, through which air enters the furnace. To regulate its amount, the channel can be completely or partially blocked using a sliding damper.

The device and principle of operation of a potbelly stove for long burning

A pipe for connecting a chimney is cut into the upper part of the potbelly stove body. To ensure normal traction, the height of the pipe must be at least 4 m. From above, the unit is closed with a lid, which has an opening for the air distribution device.

Primary air is supplied directly under the piston, which divides the working space into two chambers. Precise dosing of oxygen makes it possible to reduce the intensity of the flame, facilitating the transition to the gas generation mode. At the same time, thermal energy is released not only by burning fuel, but also by pyrolysis gases, which are actively afterburned under the cover. Secondary oxygen for their oxidation is supplied through a special window in the upper part of the furnace, and in the simplest case - through the gap between the air supply pipe and the top cover. After the top layer of firewood burns out, the metal disc lowers under its own weight, providing oxygen access to the new fuel horizon.

The products of combustion are removed from the furnace through a chimney cut into the upper part of the body. In order to further increase heat transfer, the chimney is connected to the heater through a small horizontal transition, which plays the role of an air heat exchanger.

What you need for work: tools and materials

This model of a "long-playing" stove can be made in just a few hours. All that is needed for this is a great desire and the correct organization of the workflow. You will also need to thoroughly understand the design of the unit and prepare everything you need in advance.

Of the tools you will need:

welding machine - a small, lightweight inverter with the ability to adjust the current strength up to 200 A is best suited for these purposes;
angle grinder (colloquially a grinder or "grinder");
cutting and grinding discs designed for metal work;
drilling machine or electric drill;
set of drills;
hammer with a medium-sized striker;
blowtorch;
chisel;
sledgehammer;
tape measure and metal ruler;
core (device designed for applying marks to facilitate drilling);
scriber for marking on metal surfaces.

As for the materials, there is no need to follow the list exactly. The beauty of homemade structures lies precisely in the fact that any iron that can be found in the backyard or in the corners of the garage (workshop) will do for them.

For the manufacture of the furnace body, any overall container is suitable, for example, an unnecessary metal barrel

So, the list of necessary materials:

steel pipes with a diameter of 80 to 250 mm, which will be needed for the manufacture of an air supply riser and a chimney;
a suitable metal container with a diameter of 300 to 600 mm with a wall thickness of at least 2.5 mm (you can use a gas cylinder that has served its time, a fuel barrel or a pipe length of at least 120 cm);
a metal sheet with a thickness of at least 4-5 mm, from which the air distribution piston will be made;
strong metal hinges that will be needed to fasten the furnace and ash doors;
asbestos cord (it is needed to seal the loading window and other operational openings);
corners with a shelf from 50 mm, channels and profile pipes - for the manufacture of air distributor blades, support legs and other structural elements;
a round metal pancake with a thickness of at least 5 mm and a diameter of 120–150 mm (you can take any suitable gear or sprocket from automotive equipment);

If the heater is planned to be equipped with a water jacket, then additionally prepare sheet steel with a thickness of at least 2 mm and pipes for connecting the liquid circuit to the heating main (hot water supply).

Branch pipes are also used when assembling a potbelly stove with a water circuit. Step by step instructions are given in our article:

How to design a potbelly stove for long burning: diagrams and drawings

Any suitable container can be taken as the outer casing of the pyrolysis burning potbelly stove. The use of waste materials will make it possible to obtain a heater with almost zero cost. The only thing that needs to be done is to design all other structural elements in accordance with the dimensions of the selected case. This will make it possible to build not only a cheap, but also a productive, economical furnace.

To determine the dimensions and parameters that affect the performance and thermal efficiency of the potbelly stove, you can use a special scheme. To make a calculation, starting from the dimensions of the found container, it is necessary to measure its diameter (D) and height (H). These will be the external parameters of the heater.

The scheme for calculating a potbelly stove for long burning will help to adjust the parameters of parts depending on the size of the base

Complete Calculation Method:

The ratio of diameter (D) and height (H) of potbelly stoves should be within 1:3(5). In a stove that is too narrow and high, the afterburning zone of the combustion products will be stretched in height, which means that some of the gases will not be able to ignite in time and simply go into the pipe. If you build a low and wide unit, then the surface combustion will be too uneven. Air is supplied to the middle part of the bookmark, so the fuel there will burn out much faster than at the edges. This will lead to the formation of a depression in the center of the bookmark and the piston hanging on unburned residues near the walls. At the same time, there can be no talk of any normal operation, and even more so of pyrolysis combustion.
The durability of the heater depends on the thickness of the metal (Δ) required for the manufacture of the housing. A container with walls of 4–5 mm is best suited for these purposes.
When calculating the air distributor, it is important to correctly determine not only the diameter, but also the thickness of the piston. The massive part will heat up and actively heat the air entering the combustion zone, which will have a positive effect on the performance of the stove. In addition, a thin disk will not be pressed tightly against the top plane of the bookmark, and this will lead to an increase in the air gap and uneconomical fuel consumption. A piston that is too heavy, on the contrary, will tend to reduce the gap. Excessive compaction of the fuel can lead to complete attenuation of the potbelly stove. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the weight of a metal pancake depends not only on its thickness, but also on its diameter. Therefore, the larger the piston, the thinner the metal is taken for its manufacture.
The table for calculating the thickness of the piston will help you find the optimal ratio of the diameter and thickness of the piston pancake
The gap between the fuel bookmark and the air distribution disc is determined by the height of the fins (blades) of the piston. For their calculation, there are also ready-made tables. If the dimensions of the structure do not fit into their framework, then the calculation of the blades is carried out by the method of proportions.
Table for determining the parameters of the blades is suitable for standard furnaces
The efficiency of air supply to the combustion zone depends on the configuration of the fins of the air distribution plate. You should not follow the simplest path, welding straight sections of corners or shaped pipes to the piston. It is better to bend the blades in a semicircle and weld them in the form of a turbine. The air flow in this case will not be laminar, but turbulent, so the smoldering of the fuel, and hence the gas release, will be more intense. The advantage of figured blades is also that the flow of pyrolysis gases will be more actively pushed to the periphery, accelerating the gas circulation.
When calculating the chimney, the formula S = 1.75P is used, where P is the heat output of the heater in kW / h. The resulting value is rounded up, adjusting the numbers to the diameter of the pipes that are available.
At the entrance to the chimney, a butterfly valve is installed, which is called a gate valve. It will be needed to regulate the traction force.
The cross section of the pipe for supplying air d should be 2 times smaller than the diameter of the chimney. In order to redirect its flow to the blades, a diffuser is installed on the air supply channel. For this purpose, you can use a disc Ø120–150 mm with a hole in the center Ø15–20 mm or any suitable part from automotive or agricultural machinery.
A gap δ must be left between the opening in the loading hatch and the air supply pipe, which should be no more than 2.5 mm. It is needed to supply secondary oxygen to the afterburning zone. Here one must be especially careful and not exceed the recommended values, otherwise the excess air will “siphon” towards the chimney, simultaneously pulling pyrolysis gases into the pipe. For the same purposes, it is not necessary to refuse to install the collar. Its size L is taken equal to 80 × δ, but not higher than 200 mm.
The length of the air supply pipe is calculated based on the fact that with the disc completely lowered, it should rise above the collar to a height of q=L+150.

Of course, it is not necessary to observe the dimensions of all parts of the furnace. Without consequences, they can be rounded in any direction. As for the gaps and vias, the correct operation of the heater depends on their size. These parameters must fully comply with the calculated values.

There is no need to install a furnace door for a potbelly stove with a diameter of 450 mm or more, since it is easy to load the unit with firewood through the top. If a gas cylinder is used as a hull, then difficulties during its operation await not so much during the laying of fuel, but when cleaning the potbelly stove from ash. So that a long, narrow container does not cause inconvenience during operation, you will need to install an ash pan door.

In order not to equip the opening for cleaning the oven, you can use a disc with sides, which is lowered to the bottom. A steel bar welded to its center will allow you to easily pull out the ash container. The metal rod does not interfere with the operation of the potbelly stove at all - after installing the ash pan on the bottom, it is passed through the air supply pipe.

Schemes and drawings allow you to accurately determine all the design parameters of the heater and build a productive potbelly stove from any suitable container. It is not necessary to strictly adhere to the dimensions - it is enough to observe the ratios between all the components of the structure.

Photo gallery: diagrams and drawings of a potbelly stove for long burning

Drawing of a pyrolysis potbelly stove with a water circuit Drawing of a potbelly stove with a convection casing Simple stove for firewood and sawdust

How to build a potbelly stove of long burning from a metal barrel

It can be built in just a few hours, and the material for work will be a used metal barrel from fuel and lubricants, a thick metal sheet and various pieces of pipes, angles and channels. Of course, such a cheap option has certain disadvantages associated with a small wall thickness - both the heat capacity of the structure and its service life suffer from this. Nevertheless, the use of such an overall body has its advantages:

the volume will allow the stove to work up to 12 hours on one tab;
even if over time the walls of the barrel burn out, the body of the potbelly stove can be quickly replaced;
the section of the loading opening will allow you to easily heat and maintain the stove, so you can do without arranging the loading and ash windows.

Step-by-step work will avoid mistakes and facilitate the manufacture of a heating unit, which can be useful for both a beginner and an experienced home master.

Preparatory work

For the construction of a simple wood-fired heat generator, any steel barrel from chemicals, fuels and lubricants, etc. is suitable. If there are small dents on its surface, then they must be leveled with a hammer and a sledgehammer, which is attached from the back. This work must be done carefully and accurately, otherwise, during operation, the air distribution piston will hang over the firewood, which will lead to a disruption in the normal operation of the unit.

If the walls of the barrel are covered with residues of petroleum products, glue or paint, then they are burned with a gas burner or a blowtorch. After that, all surfaces are cleaned with a hard metal brush. Of course, with full confidence in the integrity of the walls, you can do without firing and scraping the walls, but if the container has been stored in the open for a long time, then there is no better way to prepare it.

It is best to cut blanks from a thick metal sheet using a plasma cutter.

Since the piston and blades are made of thick metal, it will be quite difficult to cut them with a grinder. It is better to use the services of a car service for this or contact the production. As a rule, there you can find an experienced welder working with a flame or plasma torch. He will be able to cut the necessary details in a few minutes, and all that remains for you is to knock down drops of molten metal on an emery wheel.

The next stage of the preparatory work is the selection and proper arrangement of the place for mounting the potbelly stove. When installing it, it is necessary to ensure that several prerequisites are met:

The subfloor must be a level, level surface. Regardless of how the stove will rest on the floor - with legs or the bottom of the body, the base of the platform is protected with non-combustible materials. It is best if it is fireclay bricks, but asbestos fiber boards or metal sheets can also be used. Of course, the last two options are only suitable for laying on non-combustible surfaces.
The potbelly stove should be installed away from places where fuels, lubricants and flammable materials are stored. It is not allowed to install a wood-fired heat generator under attachments, shelves, etc.
When choosing a place, be sure to take into account how the chimney will be arranged. If its entire vertical part runs outside the building, then part of the chimney is laid horizontally. Otherwise, the lion's share of the heat will simply be thrown into the air. If the pipe passes indoors, then the potbelly stove is installed in any way.
It should be understood that lengthening the horizontal section of the chimney by more than 400–500 mm is fraught with a decrease in thrust, which will eventually lead to a drop in the efficiency of the potbelly stove.

Like any other wood-burning heat generator with an open flame, a long-burning potbelly stove burns a considerable amount of oxygen during operation. At the initial stage, it is necessary to think over how the air flow will be carried out. Without a quality ventilation system, the operation of the oven can be unsafe.

Step-by-step instructions for making a potbelly stove with your own hands

All the main work on the manufacture of this type of furnace consists of several stages:

The barrel is placed on a hard, flat surface and the lid is cut off from it. To do this, it is best to use a grinder, cutting through the weld at the point of attachment to the body. This will allow you to carefully separate the upper part, resulting in a cylindrical body with a factory sealed edge. The cut off part does not need to be thrown away - after a little refinement it will serve as the upper hatch of the potbelly stove.
The lid from the barrel should be cut off as carefully as possible.
The upper section of the barrel must be slightly bent inwards, reducing its diameter by 2-3 cm. To do this, it is convenient to use a sledgehammer and a hammer, the striker of which is substituted from the inside, below the bend line.
The upper cut of the container is folded inward
The workpiece intended for the manufacture of the lid is placed on a metal plate, after which its side is bent outward with powerful blows of a sledgehammer. Such flaring is necessary in order for the part to fit snugly against the body. This method is not ideal in terms of aesthetics. Perfectionists can be advised to cut off the edging of the lid so that the part penetrates tightly into the cylindrical body. After that, a metal disk of the same diameter as the barrel itself must be welded onto the workpiece. A flat, flat surface will subsequently serve as a stove for heating water or food. Instead of a stopper, which is equipped with most barrels for storing fuel and lubricants, you can install a sliding gate. It will allow you to precisely control the amount of secondary air supplied to the afterburning zone.
A hole for the air supply pipe is cut in the center of the cover. Its diameter should be 1–2.5 mm larger, otherwise there will not be enough air in the secondary combustion zone. Of course, if the upper part of the potbelly stove is equipped with an additional damper, then the pairing of parts can be made as tight as possible.
Before cutting a hole, the lid must be prepared
Mount the collar. To do this, a strip 50–100 mm wide is cut out of a metal sheet, with which the hole made is scalded along the contour.
For the manufacture of the piston, a steel sheet is taken with a thickness that corresponds to the calculated values. If you want to get the cheapest heater possible, but the necessary material is not at hand, then you can cut off the bottom from another barrel. Since the thickness of the resulting workpiece will not provide the required rigidity and sufficient mass of the piston, small transformations must be done with the part. First, the metal edging that runs along its perimeter is folded inward until the metal pancake freely enters the furnace casing. It is impossible to cut off the side in any case - it will serve as an external stiffener. Secondly, to increase the mass of the piston, an additional load is welded to its upper plane. You can take any flat parts as it - gears, sprockets, pulleys, etc. The main thing is that they can provide the calculated weight of the air distribution device. An additional plus in this case will be the increased heat capacity of the piston.
The manufacture of the pressure circle depends on what material was taken as the basis
A hole is cut in the pressing disk, equal to the outer diameter of the air supply pipe. After that, the blades needed to distribute oxygen over the entire surface of the fuel bookmark must be welded to the lower part of the piston. The width of these parts will form the height of the working area, and this has a huge impact on both the performance of the potbelly stove and its efficiency. In the manufacture of the piston, it is best not to deviate from the calculated parameters even by a millimeter.
A pipe for air supply is welded to the pressure plate. To do this, the metal disk is placed with the blades down on a flat surface, and the installation accuracy is controlled by level or plumb - the parts must be connected in strictly perpendicular planes.
The air supply pipe must be level
From the side of the air ducts in the center of the piston, it is necessary to weld a divider. If this part is cut out of a metal sheet, then drilling with a diameter of up to 20 mm is performed in the center of the workpiece.
The upper section of the air supply pipe is equipped with a damper to adjust the amount of primary air. It is better if this node is equipped with some kind of latch.
An opening is cut in the upper quarter of the cylindrical body for mounting the outlet pipe. This part is put in place and boiled with a continuous seam.
From the outside of the bottom, a support frame is mounted with legs made of suitable pipe sections or corners.
Installation of a branch pipe for connecting a chimney takes place at the top of the barrel
For the manufacture of the chimney, pipes with a length of 0.4–0.5 m and 4–5 m are used, which are connected through an angular transition of an increased diameter. A ball valve is inserted into the lower part of the chimney to remove condensate. The junction points are carefully sealed with asbestos or basalt sealant.
To eliminate temperature differences that lead to condensation, the chimney is equipped with an external casing, and the resulting space between its walls is filled with mineral insulation. In addition, the top of the chimney is protected from precipitation with a metal cap.

After installation in a permanent place, the stove is connected to the chimney and filled with fuel. Long-burning potbelly stoves are tested after the piston and top cover are installed.

Potbelly stove of long burning is ready for work

How to properly operate the oven

Only dry wood is suitable for use in pyrolysis heating furnaces. This is due to the fact that when burning wet fuel, a lot of water vapor is released, which reduces the temperature in the working area. Of course, in this case, the effective combustion of pyrolysis gases is out of the question. In addition, there are other unpleasant moments associated with incomplete combustion of volatile components. First, cooling in the chimney, they fall on its walls in the form of tar, creosote and other hard-to-remove substances. Secondly, the content of hazardous chemical compounds at the outlet of the chimney exceeds all permissible standards, which negatively affects the environment and human health. And, on the contrary, when well-dried wood is burned, the exhaust gases consist mainly of carbon dioxide and water vapor, and the operation of the potbelly stove from the outside can only be judged by a small movement of heated air at the upper cut of the chimney.

Before laying the fuel, the piston is removed and set aside, and the space inside the stove is filled with firewood. It should be remembered that the heat output and the duration of the heater’s operation depend on the packing density, so all the gaps between logs should be covered with chips, chips, wood husks, etc. A rag soaked in kerosene or diesel fuel is placed on top, an air distribution piston is installed and the unit is closed lid.

For ignition, you can use a rag moistened with a flammable liquid.

The ignition of the stove is carried out with the damper of the air supply pipe fully open, throwing a burning rag into it, which is pre-soaked with barbecue liquid or other similar. After the firewood flares up, the air supply is reduced.

In order to make the operation of the potbelly stove safe, follow a few simple rules:

If flammable substances (gasoline, kerosene, thinner, special products for wood stoves) are used to light firewood, then it is necessary to install a piston and close the stove with a lid before throwing a lit match.
It is not recommended to use plastic, rubber, polystyrene and other household waste as fuel for two reasons. Firstly, this is due to the release of extremely toxic substances that cannot be burned even in the process of pyrolytic decomposition. Secondly, during high-temperature oxidation of such materials, a huge amount of soot is released, which means that you will have to clean the chimney several times a month.

Often, in order to make the potbelly stove more presentable, its body is primed and painted in the desired color. It should be understood that during the operation of the furnace, the paint will fade, so it is better to use only protective compounds designed to work at high temperatures.

Despite the fact that pyrolysis decomposition contributes to the most complete combustion of the fuel, a small amount of soot and ash is still formed during the operation of the furnace. To remove carbon deposits, you can use a metal scraper and brush. As for the ash, it is most convenient to clean the potbelly stove from the barrel with an iron scoop with a short handle. In this case, it is not necessary to remove all the ashes. A layer of ash 2-3 cm thick will work as thermal insulation, preventing the bottom of the heater from burning out.

Video: how a homemade potbelly stove for long burning works

Such a productive and economical heating device as a potbelly stove of long burning will allow you to successfully heat any technical and domestic premises. Thanks to a simple, undemanding design, you can build a stove with your own hands, spending only a few hours on it. Accurate calculation, accuracy in work and attention during operation - these are all the terms necessary to obtain comfortable, cozy, and most importantly, safe heat.

Thanks to my versatile hobbies, I write on various topics, but my favorite ones are engineering, technology and construction. Perhaps because I know many nuances in these areas, not only theoretically, as a result of studying at a technical university and graduate school, but also from the practical side, since I try to do everything with my own hands.

Despite the presence of a large number of new types of heating devices used for space heating, traditional stoves "potbelly stoves" are gradually becoming a thing of the past. But in some cases, it is these voracious and massive heat sources that are not suitable for heating houses where people temporarily live.

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Why upgrade?

The potbelly stove is a very simple heating device, although today it is also deeply modernized. Such a stove, which has become a favorite solution for heating small country houses, can have not only a single-chamber, but also a two-chamber design. A modernized potbelly stove is able to provide heat even at home, where residents live permanently.

The simplicity of design and manufacture makes it affordable to purchase and operate. In addition, a significant advantage for the construction of such a structure is the absence of a foundation. But, despite such a number of positive properties, the potbelly stove also has significant drawbacks:

Its efficiency is quite small, the simplicity of the design carries a inherent disadvantage - a huge part of the heat from the potbelly stove "flies into the chimney".
To work with such a stove, strict safety requirements are required, since falling combustion elements can damage nearby rooms and even lead to a fire.
To heat a room with a potbelly stove, a significant amount of fuel cells is required, which is due to the fact that this type of heating is used only for a short time.

But this is not a reason to lose heart, our "kulibins" over the years have found a few simple, but. In this article, we will consider exactly the modernization of the design of the stove itself.

Ways to upgrade

The design features of the furnace do not allow for major changes, of course, unless you decide to make a small home nuclear reactor out of it, but all the proposed improvements are aimed at only one thing - heat preservation. During operation, the oven easily loses heat through the pipe, the thinness of the walls quickly transfers it, but does not allow it to be stored for a long time. The straight-through furnace consumes a large amount of fuel, and its properties are aimed at the consumption of charcoal raw materials.

To modernize and increase the efficiency is to obtain the greatest amount of heat with the same fuel combustion.

There are four basic and simple methods for upgrading a potbelly stove, the use of which will significantly reduce heat loss:

Attachment of 2 tanks welded together from a washing machine.
Ash pan manufacturing.
Mesh with stones.

Let's consider them in more detail.

Washing machine tanks

Many have noticed that during the burning of the furnace, sheaves of sparks often fly out of the chimney. This means that the fuel did not completely burn out and left the working chamber, taking with it most of the thermal energy. So, one of the first ways to improve a potbelly stove is to create a working chamber where small coals will burn out and heat will linger.

A common way of such an improvement is the installation of two tanks from washing machines welded together, which will be a kind of car muffler.

Materials and tools

For the manufacture of this structure, we need:

Instruction

For the correct attachment of 2 tanks welded together from a washing machine, you must follow a simple guide:

First you need to weld together two tanks from washing machines so that after welding they form a single container, resembling a large balloon.
After welding, clean the welds and bring the single tank to its presentation.
The next step is to make one hole at the opposite ends of the tank, the same size as the diameter of the outlet pipes of the furnace. Clean out the holes carefully.
Insert into these holes along the elbow of the outlet pipe, but so that the pipes inside the tank are at different levels, as if overlapping each other.
One connection of the pipe with the tank is hermetically welded and cleaned. Make the second hole in such a way that it fits snugly around the pipe, which will be directly inserted into the potbelly stove. The second hole does not need to be welded, as it will then come in handy for removing carbon deposits inside the tank.

Modernization with washing machine tanks

Such a simple improvement will allow you to save a large amount of heat, which used to fly away just into the pipe.

Ash pan manufacturing

An ashpit is a grate near a potbelly stove, on which fuel will subsequently be placed to heat the room.

A good ash pan provides the combustion chamber with a sufficient amount of air (that is, oxygen), and also gives good draft, thereby ensuring better combustion. In most cases, ash pans in potbelly stoves leave "much to be desired", so upgrading the ash pan will help improve the performance of the potbelly stove.

An effective ash pan must be made of heat-resistant material and have a door that prevents smoke from entering the room. Improving the ash pan will help to make a semblance of a fireplace out of an ordinary potbelly stove.

Materials and tools

a metal sheet,
rebar,
welding machine,
metal tool,
blower door.

Instruction

Making an ash pan on your own will require certain skills from you, and the manufacture must be according to the instructions:

This design will give the best and uniform work of the potbelly stove.

Grid with stones

Modernization of the potbelly stove with a grid of stones is one of the most common improvements. Almost everyone was in the bath and steamed in the steam room. There you saw a set of stones that warm the air in the steam room.

The principle of this modernization method is similar. It is necessary to sheathe the potbelly stove with stones, which continue to store heat for a long time. At the same time, it is worth remembering that galvanized material should not be used for manufacturing, since toxic fumes enter the air when heated.

Materials and tools

For this event we need:

a set of good stones (you can use high-quality clay bricks), preferably medium-sized, similar to those that you came across in the steam room.
dense metal network, you can use a chain-link network.
if you plan on doing it the grown-up way, then you will need fittings and a welding machine.

Instruction

Implementing this enhancement is simple:

You can also fill the cavities between the stones with clean clay, which will also help to keep warm.

Precautionary measures

It is strictly forbidden to use combustible materials and metals with a low melting point to create this improvement. Also, this structure should provide free maintenance of the potbelly stove, not block access to the furnace, to the ash pan, not interfere with the removal and replacement of outlet pipes.

Increasing the number of pipe bends

Increasing the bends of the chimney potbelly stove

The tank at the outlet of the washing machines will retain a certain amount of heat, but it will not be able to retain all the heat. A large amount of heat will continue to fly out into the pipe.

Therefore, one of the improvements that provide additional heat storage is to increase the length of the outlet pipe. A long pipe that runs through the room, but with good exhaust, ensures the transfer of heat from its surface, which was previously lost.

Materials and tools

several knees that can be easily placed indoors after the potbelly stove,
brackets for fixing pipe bends,
welding machine and metal processing tool.

Instruction

First you need to mark the place of laying the pipe. It can run with a large number of curves and zigzags, thus ensuring maximum heat retention, while not forgetting the loss of draft.
After marking the place for laying the pipe, it is necessary to install the pipe mounting brackets. Particular attention should be paid to the joints of the pipe bends and corners. Brackets must be made of heat-resistant materials.
Lay pipes to ensure a tight hermetic connection, if necessary, modify the elbows to ensure that the pipe is laid along the marked route.
Rigidly fix the elbows in the brackets, check the working draft (set fire to the newspaper in front of the pipe), check the tightness of the connections, connect the inlet elbow to the furnace.

Conclusion

Potbelly stove is one of the most reliable and common assistants for summer residents, and for owners of garages or utility rooms, change houses. Moreover, it can not only be purchased, but also made by hand. The manufacture does not require any complex and hard-to-reach materials, as well as very specific skills.

To improve the potbelly stove, we considered several types of modifications: attaching 2 tanks welded together from a washing machine; production of an ash pan; mesh with stones; increase in the number of pipe bends. These improvements will increase heat retention, improve oven performance.

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Clear drawings to create the most efficient do-it-yourself potbelly stove. Potbelly stove for long burning: a simple design for making your own hands Drawings of a potbelly stove

Making a rectangular oven

Potbelly stove from a gas cylinder

Potbelly stove made of bricks

Potbelly stove from a barrel

Safe operation

The first start of the potbelly stove

Assembling a stove-potbelly stove from a pipe

The main models of homemade bourgeois

DIY manufacturing

Making a rectangular oven

Principle of operation

Potbelly stove at work

How to heat a potbelly stove

Video: potbelly stove in garage heating

Option from a wood-fired receiver tank

Potbelly stove in the garage pros and cons

Readers find these materials useful:

Potbelly stove on waste oil products

This material is perfectly complemented by the following publications:

Calculation of basic parameters with drawings and dimensions

Pipe

Screen

bedding

Chimney

Photo gallery: diagrams for a potbelly stove for a garage

Potbelly stove assembly

Potbelly stove from a barrel

Varieties of cast-iron potbelly stoves

Differences in form and design

loading door

hob

pyrolysis ovens

Safe operation

Pros and cons of bourgeoisie

Potbelly stove modernization

The manufacture of potbelly stoves.

Homemade potbelly stove from an old can

Tools and materials for assembling a potbelly stove

Development and improvements

About grate and blower

Water

How to install

We select the design of the stove

Which stove is better cast iron or metal

Introductory video on the operation of the furnace

Rectangular potbelly stove with reflector

A simple potbelly stove from a can

Video - another option for making a furnace

Secrets of long-term operation of solid fuel units

The device and principle of operation of a potbelly stove for long burning

What you need for work: tools and materials

How to design a potbelly stove for long burning: diagrams and drawings

Photo gallery: diagrams and drawings of a potbelly stove for long burning

How to build a potbelly stove of long burning from a metal barrel

Preparatory work

Step-by-step instructions for making a potbelly stove with your own hands

How to properly operate the oven

Video: how a homemade potbelly stove for long burning works

Why upgrade?

Ways to upgrade

Washing machine tanks

Materials and tools

Instruction

Ash pan manufacturing

Materials and tools

Instruction

Grid with stones

Materials and tools

Instruction

Precautionary measures

Increasing the number of pipe bends

Materials and tools

Instruction

Conclusion

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