Oil to Wood Burner

[roberto123]

Hi All

 

First time narrow boat owner and just a quick heating question. 

 

I've got an oil burning stove for heat, would much prefer a wood burner. Is it possible to convert oil to wood and if so how easy/difficult is it?

 

Thanks 

[ditchcrawler]

20 minutes ago, roberto123 said:

Hi All

 

First time narrow boat owner and just a quick heating question. 

 

I've got an oil burning stove for heat, would much prefer a wood burner. Is it possible to convert oil to wood and if so how easy/difficult is it?

 

Thanks 

When you say oil burner do you mean a thing that looks like a multifuel stove that runs on diesel or do you mean something like a Eberspaecher 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

17 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

When you say oil burner do you mean a thing that looks like a multifuel stove that runs on diesel or do you mean something like a Eberspaecher 

And if  a multifuel stove oil-a-like, what make/model.

Oh and welcome to the forum.

[magnetman]

I think it would be better to change the fire rather than alter it.

 

It may look like a wood burner but there will be extra gubbins and bits missing which may be a tricky issue to resolve for a number of different reasons.

[matty40s]

We have seen several boats with existing Bubble diesel stoves, and at least one Lockgate Morso Squirrel used as multi fuel stoves. They just do it. Dont care. What's the difference etc....

Might be a bit hairy if the diesel isnt turned off or ran out though!! 

[magnetman]

9 minutes ago, matty40s said:

We have seen several boats with existing Bubble diesel stoves, and at least one Lockgate Morso Squirrel used as multi fuel stoves. They just do it. Dont care. What's the difference etc....

Might be a bit hairy if the diesel isnt turned off or ran out though!! 

How does one get the ash out ?

[roberto123]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

When you say oil burner do you mean a thing that looks like a multifuel stove that runs on diesel or do you mean something like a Eberspaecher 

Yeah, like a multi stove that runs on diesel. I've got radiators too so this is just in addition, for extra coziness.

[roberto123]

46 minutes ago, matty40s said:

We have seen several boats with existing Bubble diesel stoves, and at least one Lockgate Morso Squirrel used as multi fuel stoves. They just do it. Dont care. What's the difference etc....

Might be a bit hairy if the diesel isnt turned off or ran out though!! 

Ok, so as long as it's diesel free you think just go for it. Might need to devise a way of removing the ash, add a grate of some description I suppose.

[roberto123]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

And if  a multifuel stove oil-a-like, what make/model.

Oh and welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the welcome, I'm back at the boat tomorrow so will check, but it is a stove kinda thing.

[roberto123]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

When you say oil burner do you mean a thing that looks like a multifuel stove that runs on diesel or do you mean something like a Eberspaecher 

Hi, yes like a multi stove but diesel. I'll try and get a pic tomorrow if that helps.

[matty40s]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

How does one get the ash out ?

Brush, shovel....the people who do this dont care that it is a diesel stove, or dont know....

[rusty69]

We have a lockgate squirrel conversion. I seem to recall the grate and frame were removed and a hole cut in the base to take the burner kit. I'm not sure it would be easy to convert back to solid fuel without major surgery. 

 

However, op may have a, different stove. Pictures may help, or at least the make model of stove in question. 

Edited February 2 by rusty69

[Jen-in-Wellies]

If the oil burning stove is in reasonable condition, then selling it and buying a solid fuel version would probably be the cheapest and almost certainly the cheapest route to take. Especially if it is an oil burner conversion of a solid fuel stove that's still available, which should be a straight swap.

[roberto123]

Yeah, I had considered that. Thanks for your input 😁

[Ex Brummie]

The Bubbles and Lockgate have pot burners with holes in them for combustion. They do not produce ash, so there is nothing beneath them to collect any ash if it was small enough to fall through. If the pot were to be removed and replaced with some form of grate, then there is no provision for enclosed ash collection.

What is your problem with the oil stove? With the cost of the right fuels these days, the delivery and storage of the same, there is no real advantage whereas the minimal maintenance oil stoves need along with the superior cleanliness gives them an advantage.

[magnetman]

to be fair there is a big advantage if one has access to free firewood it has not been banned yet.

[GUMPY]

As said elsewhere burning wood is not good for the environment.

Burning HVO or e-Coal is just about acceptable as they have less emissions 🤔 

[Crewcut]

There's a lot to be said for allowing some time to see how you get on with what's already there/how the boat is already set up before you start messing with things. If you're new to all this you'll have enough to think about without creating work where there's really no need, especially so if things are working as they should. Down the line if you really want to you can make some changes. Personally if it were me I would view the diesel stove as a bonus & use it as intended. Unless, as somebody else said, you have access to free wood or something, even then it still has to be stored and ash disposed of...

 

Good luck with your new boat...😃

[magnetman]

2 hours ago, GUMPY said:

As said elsewhere burning wood is not good for the environment.

Burning HVO or e-Coal is just about acceptable as they have less emissions 🤔 

Someone must have had fun working it all out taking into account extraction and transport for the manufactured stuff compared with trees. 

 

Having said that I do disagree with cutting living trees. 

 

 

 

Edited February 2 by magnetman

[roberto123]

54 minutes ago, Crewcut said:

There's a lot to be said for allowing some time to see how you get on with what's already there/how the boat is already set up before you start messing with things. If you're new to all this you'll have enough to think about without creating work where there's really no need, especially so if things are working as they should. Down the line if you really want to you can make some changes. Personally if it were me I would view the diesel stove as a bonus & use it as intended. Unless, as somebody else said, you have access to free wood or something, even then it still has to be stored and ash disposed of...

 

Good luck with your new boat...😃

You make a valid point and as we're heading into spring I hopefully won't need it much as there's radiators on the boat too. It was more the romanticism of the log burner and I thought that's what the boat had originally. Thanks for the safe advice 😁

[GUMPY]

41 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Someone must have had fun working it all out taking into account extraction and transport for the manufactured stuff compared with trees. 

 

Having said that I do disagree with cutting living trees. 

 

 

 

It's not so much to do with CO2 it's the PM2.5 emissions that make wood such a bad fuel compared to just about everything else.

[magnetman]

surely the effect of pm2.5 would depend on population density. 

 

I'm sure a lot of people quite like the smell of wood smoke on a cool evening and are quite prepared to take the risk of dying horribly. 

 

 

[agg221]

Photos of the current stove would help next time you are at the boat. Not just the stove, but also what's around it.

 

Oil stoves do not create ash and some do not get hot at the base or sides - they work by convection. That means the hearth can often be a lot simpler, ie less heat resistant because it is safe to do so. The BSS only looks for signs of scorching, it doesn't specify exactly how the hearth must be built. That means if you have a purpose-built hearth for the oil stove it may need uprating to take a wood burning stove which can transmit significant heat to the surroundings. If the stove is small and the space is tight, you may need to consider how you would rearrange things to fit this in (on the other hand if it's a large corner of the cabin it may not be a problem. Worth a look.

 

Alec

[peterboat]

On 02/02/2024 at 14:20, GUMPY said:

As said elsewhere burning wood is not good for the environment.

Burning HVO or e-Coal is just about acceptable as they have less emissions 🤔 

I disagree with HVO you are helping burn the rainforests around the world! So probably creating eve5more emissions than burning say kerosene 

[GUMPY]

39 minutes ago, peterboat said:

I disagree with HVO you are helping burn the rainforests around the world! So probably creating eve5more emissions than burning say kerosene 

Depends on the feedstock for the HVO.

If it's waste product then it's fine.