An avid car enthusiast spends, if not his entire life, then a significant part of it, in the garage. And he is there not only on fine summer days, but also in winter, when it becomes simply impossible to do any difficult work with fingers numb from the cold. How to solve the heating problem? A good way to protect yourself from the cold is to install a potbelly stove in your garage.
Things to remember
You should definitely be aware of some nuances, failure to comply with which can lead to dire consequences. Safety comes first! Ovens of this type are strictly prohibited from being left unattended. Moreover, such negligence is unacceptable in a garage that is filled with various flammable liquids.
Installation Features
So where will the potbelly stove settle? It can only be placed in the garage if you have equipped a special place. The oven must be placed away from the machine itself, from containers with fuels and lubricants and waste oils, and also not located near the outlet. Why? Yes, because otherwise, if there is a fire, you will have to pretend to be a brave fire fighter, trying to break through the raging wall of flame. Believe me, all this can end very, very badly.
Preparing the site
First you need to decorate the wall and the opening through which the chimney for the potbelly stove in the garage will exit with some kind of non-combustible material. Previously, asbestos was used for this purpose, but upholstered tin is quite suitable on top.
For installation, it is best to prepare a small depression, the base of which must be filled with concrete. Then the coal, even if it falls out, is guaranteed not to roll out on the floor. Don't forget to place a stand with a couple of fire extinguishers nearby. They definitely won't be redundant. A gap of at least 35 cm must be left between the wall and the stove body, otherwise unpleasant incidents may occur.
By the way, how justified is a potbelly stove in the garage from the point of view of heat transfer? Here everything depends solely on its model and the materials from which the case is made.
Which stove to buy
It all depends on your preferences. So, if you need quick heat, we recommend buying a potbelly stove made of steel. It's easy to melt, and the metal heated to red will quickly make your stay in the garage more pleasant. If you want to provide long-term heat, then it is better that the potbelly stove in the garage is made of cast iron.
It is somewhat more difficult to light up, and it consumes more fuel. But heated cast iron produces stable and powerful heat, which will maintain the optimal temperature in the room. This is especially important in extremely cold winters, which are not uncommon in our country.
Welding
Before asking yourself the question of how to weld a potbelly stove in the garage, you need to get hold of some decent metal. It is categorically not recommended to save on this: poor steel will quickly bend under the influence of temperature deformations, threatening sparks or coals spilling out through the separated seams. You need to be especially careful when welding seams in the chimney. The slightest mistake - and troubles cannot be avoided!
To heat your garage, you can easily make a wood-burning stove with your own hands. This will not take much time and will be very inexpensive, since you can use scrap materials.
Why do you need to heat non-residential premises?
State standards establish that the air temperature in the garage should not fall below +5°C. If these standards are not adhered to, the engine will not start, especially after the vehicle has been idle for a long time.
In extreme cold, even antifreeze can freeze. The number of car breakdowns due to the negative effects of hardened water is significantly increasing. Also, you will agree that it is much more comfortable to carry out vehicle repairs in a warm environment.
Advantages and disadvantages of heating with wood
By choosing solid fuel as an energy source for heating your garage, you can get the following advantages:
- low cost of firewood;
- no need to buy expensive installations and spend additional money on electricity;
- small dimensions of the stove with high productivity rates;
- the heating device can additionally be used for cooking and heating food;
- ease of manufacture and installation of wood-fired installations. There is no need to additionally equip a massive foundation.
The disadvantages include that such heating devices heat up quickly, but at the same time they also quickly release heat to the environment. To maintain the optimal temperature, you need to constantly add fresh firewood. Fuel consumption increases significantly.
Types of heating devices
To heat a garage, you can make the following types of stoves with your own hands:
- potbelly stove with a metal body;
- brick oven;
- long-burning heater.
To install a potbelly stove yourself, you need to have skills in working with a grinder and a welding machine. In this case, brickwork is much easier to produce.
Potbelly stove - manufacturing features and structural elements
Potbelly stove diagram
This is a fairly simple design, which consists of the following elements:
- loading chamber or firebox;
- grate;
- blower;
- ash pan;
- metal door;
- chimney.
To make the installation, use thick metal 4 mm thick. When attaching the chimney pipe to the upper wall of the combustion chamber, it must be strengthened. This place is considered the weakest; metal most often burns out here.
Use a strong metal mesh as a grate. You can take a ready-made one or make it yourself from a corner or wire. Make many small holes in the grate to remove ash.
Step-by-step instructions for making a potbelly stove from a steel pipe
- Use a steel pipe with a diameter of 0.4-0.5 m and a length of 1 m, to which you need to weld the legs.
- From a steel sheet, cut two circles of the same diameter as the pipe.
- In one circle, make a door for the firebox and a hole for the ash pan.
- The length of the grate is equal to the length of the potbelly stove, and the maximum width is equal to the diameter. It is best to use a metal mesh with a width slightly smaller than the diameter of the housing. Insert it into the pipe and weld it to the walls.
- Weld metal circles to the pipe. Monitor the quality of the seam to ensure the stove is sealed.
- Near the hole in the circle, attach hinges onto which you will place the doors.
- On the housing cover closer to the rear wall, make a hole with a diameter of 100 mm for the chimney pipe.
The following wood-burning stove design for a garage is suitable if you do not have a metal pipe. It’s very easy to make it yourself using scrap metal.
Manufacturing technology:
Brick stove
To install a brick oven for a garage with your own hands, you will need to additionally fill a small slab foundation 200 mm deep. Line the combustion chamber completely with refractory bricks.
On the front wall of the structure, leave a window for the door and vent. Using pieces of brick, make small protrusions at the bottom of the heater for installing a grate.
To install the cover, place the fittings on the walls. Lay 1-2 rows of bricks on top.
You can also use a metal sheet to arrange the top wall. Place it on the stove, then cover the cracks with fireclay clay. At the top of the device, provide a hole for the chimney.
Design of long-burning furnaces
Thanks to the presence of a special damper, homemade stoves of this type are very effective, since the wood does not burn, but smolders for a long time. With the help of vents you can control the intensity of the flame and the power of the heating device.
Schematic representation of a long-burning furnace
To make a garage heating installation with your own hands, you need to use a metal tank with a volume of 200 liters. In its upper part, make a hole for the chimney with a diameter of 150 mm. Also provide a hole for the pipeline through which fresh air will flow into the barrel.
For the weight, cut a circle of metal that matches the diameter of the barrel. Weld channels to it. Also make a hole with a diameter of 100 mm, where you insert a small piece of pipe. Place such a load in a barrel under the lid. Make two holes in the body of the heater to supply fuel and remove ash. Additionally equip each of them with doors.
Making a heating device with your own hands is quite simple, using simple materials - a metal sheet or barrel, corners, pipes, bricks.
Video: Super potbelly stove for the garage
Often, a full-fledged heating system is not installed in the garage. This is due to the relatively rare use of the premises and its small area. But for long-term work in the cold season, it is recommended to make a garage oven from metal, which is quite possible with your own hands. Design drawings and specifications may vary depending on heating requirements.
Homemade stove for the garage: parameters and operating conditions
It is important to initially determine the location of the structure. It should not take up much space, and during operation it should not interfere with free movement around the garage or the performance of certain operations. Most often, a corner location of the stove is chosen.
The manufacture and installation of the furnace is carried out according to the following conditions:
- Mandatory installation of a chimney. Its height must be at least 3 meters.
- Fuel selection. The best option is to use firewood, coal or diesel fuel. Electric stoves or those running on bottled gas are much less common.
- Preparing the base for installing the boiler, installing heat-resistant materials on the walls.
Before starting this work, you need to choose the optimal stove design for the garage. The choice depends on the volume of the heated area, the presence of a hob and the overall budget. As an example, you can consider the drawings of the most suitable homemade products.
Scheme of a simple “potbelly stove”
This is the best option to save space. Structurally, the furnace consists of a cylindrical or cubic body, divided into a combustion chamber and an ash pan. It can be made from barrels. The thickness of the steel must be at least 1.5 mm. The socket for the chimney pipe is located at the rear of the structure to connect the vertical pipe.
- A gas cylinder can be used as a housing. It is first cleared of paint, holes are made for the doors, and a grate is installed.
- When making a metal case yourself, 1.5 mm thick steel is used, the connection is made by welding.
- The intensity of fuel combustion is regulated by changing the position of the ash pan door. This way the traction is controlled.
- Additionally, you can install a cutter - a shelf at 2/3 of the height of the combustion chamber. This contributes to economical consumption of burned fuel.
The advantage of this design is the ease of manufacture and the possibility of installing a hob. The disadvantage is high fuel consumption.
Long burning mini-boiler
For long-lasting garage heating, it is recommended to consider long-burning. The essence of its work is to use wood gases as fuel. They arise as a result of smoldering firewood. Unlike the option described above, a long-burning metal garage stove has a large chamber for loading fuel, a pressure system consisting of a telescopic pipe and a flat base. This block is located at the top of the structure.
After loading the fuel, it is ignited from below. Restricting the flow of oxygen provokes the process of smoldering. The resulting gas enters the afterburner chamber, where it is enriched with oxygen and ignites.
Features of the design:
- you can use a barrel or gas cylinder as a body;
- to enrich the gas with oxygen, install a low-power fan;
- the pipe for connecting the chimney is located horizontally;
- low temperature in the chimney pipe can cause condensation, so it is recommended to use sandwich structures.
The average operating time on one load of fuel can be 8-12 hours. This depends on the volume of the furnace and the speed of air supply to the afterburning chamber.
Waste oil garage oven
The principle is to use fuel vapor. To make it, you can also take a small gas cylinder. At the bottom there is a fuel container. The vapors rise through a pipe with holes, and a fire occurs there.
It is not recommended to use this model for a garage. This is due to the high probability of gas contamination in the room, since combustion products partially enter the garage before entering the chimney. There may also be problems with fuel storage.
When choosing a stove design for a garage, you should take into account the complexity of its maintenance and frequency of use. But the determining factors are the cost of the design and the complexity of its manufacture.
The garage has a small area and ceiling height, and it is also not advisable to spend a lot of money on heating.
Accordingly, there are specific requirements for the heating structure:
- Small size. Usually, the garage does not have an abundance of free space, so few people are able to afford a monumental stove.
- Fastest heating possible. A lot of time to workout is an unaffordable luxury today.
- Normal air temperature must be maintained for a long time absolutely autonomously.
- Cheap and easy to manufacture. It would be good if the structure was made from scrap materials.
- Release of harmful substances is not allowed while working. You can get burned very quickly in a small closed garage.
- Fire safety. Typically, car owners keep a small supply of fuel, oil and other chemicals. All this applies to highly flammable materials.
Such simple requirements narrow the number of possible heating options. Let's consider those that easily fit into all the criteria.
Potbelly stove - simple and practical
The simplest, therefore the most common type of garage stove for our country. For production, barrels, large-diameter pipes, and simple structures made of welded metal sheets are used.
Advantages:
- Quick start of heat transfer. On average, no more than 10 minutes are spent on kindling. After this time, the space begins to heat up.
- High efficiency. Improved models (ash pan, afterburning system, etc.) boast 85%. But even the simplest representatives allow achieving not much less efficiency.
- Uniform heating. Moreover, this useful quality does not depend on the location of the device. A fireplace, for example, can become useless if the installation location is chosen incorrectly.
- Fuel versatility. Any solid type of fuel (sawdust, coal, boards, waste) burns in a potbelly stove.
- Relatively low price, especially when compared with masonry.
- Easy to use. We lit firewood, loaded enough of it, closed the lid and forgot about the heating unit until the next time.
- Can be used as a hob. A sheet of cast iron on top will make it possible to make tea, heat up lunch, even cook fish soup or other delicacies.
Flaws:
- There is practically no heat accumulation. cools down quickly, stopping heating.
- High chimney. For normal traction, a pipe height of at least 4 meters is recommended.
- Regular chimney cleaning. A small pipe diameter requires cleaning work weekly, a large pipe diameter – once every 2 months.
Manufacturing procedure
The progress of work when using sheet steel or a gas cylinder (large diameter pipes) is somewhat different, so we will consider these 2 designs separately.
Sheet steel
Basic steps:
- Cutting a sheet of metal, with a thickness of at least 5 millimeters into rectangles of the required size (the dimensions of the product are selected depending on the area of the room - the larger the garage, the larger the unit).
- The walls of the device are welded(side, back). After this, the cover is attached by welding.
- The grille is attached. In this case, you can use welded reinforcement with a diameter of 16 millimeters, or a sheet of metal with drilled holes with a diameter of no more than 20 millimeters.
Installation method - welding to the walls, or laying on a pre-attached channel:
- The front wall is being prepared. Holes are cut for storing fuel and an ash pan.
- Prepared sheet welded to the other three.
- The bottom is attached.
- According to the selected drawing, a hole for the pipe is cut on the lid or side.
- Prepared chimney is installed in its place.
It is important to consider that the longer the chimney, the greater the efficiency. The exhaust gas will heat the space as it escapes outside.
Gas cylinder
The thickness of the metal allows you to use the cylinder that has exhausted its life. Manufacturing:
- Marking is being done. The outline of the future door for loading firewood and a hole in the middle of the cylinder for installing an ash mesh are outlined. You don’t have to cut the second hole, but simply drill holes in this area, which is easier.
- Marked areas cut or drilled. At the same time, a place for the pipe is being prepared.
- The grate is being made.
- The grille is welded, under it there is a grate with a door (allows you to conveniently get rid of ash and regulate the intensity of combustion).
- The oven door is welded(the simplest and most affordable option is store-bought).
- The chimney pipe is being installed, with a diameter of 100 millimeters.
Waste oil furnace
This type of fuel is usually available in large quantities at service stations and large garage cooperatives. Most often, the drained oil is simply disposed of, but it can be used to heat the garage well in winter.
The positive points include:
- Oil combustion does not entail the formation of soot and fumes.
- The principle of direct air heating is used. Therefore, the power of the device is comparable to electrical appliances at low operating costs (from half a liter per hour).
- Fire safety. The oil itself does not ignite; its vapors participate in the combustion.
- Simplicity and durability designs.
But there is a negative:
- Nessesary to use filtered lubricating fluid, which is difficult to do yourself. On the market, such processing is found at a price of about 10 rubles per liter.
- At sub-zero temperatures the mining will freeze, so you need either an uninterrupted source of oil or a warm room for storing supplies.
Manufacturing progress
Most often, sheet metal is used, so let’s look at the production stages in detail:
- A strip is cut, 11.5 centimeters wide with a metal thickness of 4 millimeters. Using special equipment, the material is bent to form a circle with a diameter of about 35 centimeters. We weld the ends. The result was a fuel tank pipe.
- A circle is formed from the same metal with a diameter of 0.35 meters is a cover. We weld the pipe and the cover together.
- Steel is taken, 6 millimeters thick, from which a strip 60 millimeters wide is made. Similarly, we obtain a pipe with a diameter of 35.5 centimeters.
- From a sheet of six a circle-lid is cut out (diameter is the same 35 and a half). In the middle we cut a hole with a radius of 5 centimeters (for the chimney), to the right a hole with a diameter of 4 centimeters is made (a place for pouring oil). We weld the parts and get the upper part of the container.
- We connect the upper and lower parts without welding(we put it on, it should be tight). The result was a tank for working off.
- The pipe is being prepared with a diameter of 10 centimeters and a height of 36 centimeters. Holes are drilled in it in 6 rows (8 pieces in a row), with a diameter of 1 centimeter.
- The pipe is welded into the container lid(a hole for this was made earlier).
- The upper container is made of metal 6 millimeters thick and 35 centimeters in diameter. The height is 18 centimeters. On the top and bottom lids we make holes with a diameter of 10 centimeters near the edge of the circle. When welding a finished tank, the holes are located on opposite edges.
- We weld a plate inside the upper tank. It should not touch the top cover and be about 30 centimeters long. This way, the hot gas will linger in the container before exiting, heating it;
- Putting the structure together electric welding. We insert a vertical chimney 4 meters high.
Brick oven
If you need to create a durable, reliable structure that will perfectly cope with heating a garage, then you cannot find a better material than brick. Manufacturing will require some skills, but you can do it yourself.
Advantages:
- High heat capacity. To maintain a comfortable temperature around the clock, it is enough to light the stove 2 times a day.
- Does not affect air humidity, unlike other options considered.
- High fire protection characteristics.
- Safety. The outer wall does not heat up to a high temperature, so there will be no accidental burns.
- Huge service life.
But there are arguments against:
- High inertia. It is not possible to warm up the garage quickly; the brick takes several hours to gain temperature.
- Relatively high cost.
- Complexity of creation, danger to life if laid incorrectly.
Step-by-step instruction
row laying scheme
For work, we stock up on refractory bricks and clay, cement, and fine sifted sand. Let's consider the simplest option with dimensions of two bricks on all sides.
How to make masonry:
- First 2 rows spread horizontally over the entire oven area. It turns out to be some kind of basis.
- From 3 to 6 row the bricks lie flat around the perimeter, leaving a recess for the door. This is how the furnace is laid out. The 6th row should lie on top of the door, securing it.
- 7 row placed in such a way that there is a hole inside the size of a brick.
- 8 row again flat around the perimeter, creating an extension of the interior space.
- 9 row– brick with an edge along the inner perimeter.
- 10 row– along the inner perimeter, but flat. A narrowing is created.
- Subsequent rows go with the same alternation, creating alternate narrowing and expansion.
- In front of the chimney entrance, we narrow the furnace, bringing the internal space to the diameter of the pipe.
- The chimney is inserted, the gap is covered with clay and insulated with mineral wool.
Before starting operation, burn some paper inside, checking the traction.
Long burning stove
Another type of stove that deserves close attention. Its advantages:
- Low fuel consumption.
- The versatility of the oven. You can load almost anything into the firebox, from firewood with sawdust to leaves and all sorts of debris.
- Long constant heating(one load allows heating from 12 to 24 hours).
But there are also significant disadvantages:
- Official ban adopted on a stove of this type from firefighters. Therefore, if something happens, you will have to forget about insurance or other similar payments.
- It is almost impossible to forcibly extinguish smoldering fuel., so the unit will work autonomously for a very long time, whether you want it or not.
- Solid fuel must be dry. This means that you will have to allocate space in the garage for firewood.
Manufacturing instructions
The design is in many ways reminiscent of a potbelly stove, and the easiest way to make a stove is from a barrel. Work order:
- Top edge of the barrel cut with a grinder.
- At a height of 25-30 centimeters from the bottom a grate is installed to get rid of ash.
- Welding a metal lid(at least steel four) with a 100 mm hole in the middle for the air duct.
- A hole is cut on the side surface of the barrel (10-12 centimeters) for the chimney.
- A metal circle is cut out equal to the diameter of the barrel with a hole matching in size and location with a similar one on the lid. This is how a press is made.
- A hole is cut for the ash pan lid. This device is inserted.
- Pipe damper installed air supply. The intensity of smoldering is regulated by the flow of incoming oxygen.
- Chimney being installed at least 5 meters long.
Which oven should you choose?
There is no definite answer here, it all depends on the goals and time spent in the garage.
Conditional classification:
- Go indoors for a few hours from time to time.(usually on weekends). In this case, a potbelly stove would be optimal. An open flame from burning oil vapors in a small garage can be dangerous, because there is a car nearby and a highly flammable liquid. Typically, a service station uses a furnace for mining. So a potbelly stove is the best choice.
- The garage is your everything. A person may be retired, use the premises for primary or additional work, or even keep small livestock (rabbits, broilers). In this case, you need to spare no expense and create a brick structure. In this case, a long-term effect is obtained at the lowest cost. A long-burning furnace is suitable for these purposes; its production is cheaper. But fire safety in this case will suffer somewhat.
- Chimney o The core of the base should be made of thick steel, and closer to the end even tin will do.
- Brick oven laying Still, it is better to entrust it to a professional stove maker. Errors in construction will lead to loss of money, and possibly health.
- Welding seams must be airtight, otherwise disaster is not far away.
- Metal can be painted to improve appearance. But only with heat-resistant paint.