Putting a wood burner in a shed

Mrs S wanted a summer house so i built one (assembled one really). She now wants a wood burner in it for the 360 days when it is not sunny and hot.

I need something relatively cheap, small and easy to install. Space is a bot of a premium. The summer house is (obviously) wooden so I would rather not set fire to it. I have the option of flue going straight up though the roof or out the back wall then up.

So, whats easy then?

I am watching with interest! I have done some research as I am building a summer house myself. I am staggered by the range of stoves from the minuscule to the mahoosive and the price range is also huge!

Clarke belly stove from Machine mart is a popular choice, just requires a bit of flue straight out the top, they’re not much more than £100 IIRC.

I did mine through the roof. Relatively difficulterer due to the bow shape of me roof but more nice looking overall I thought.

You can pick up silicone gaskets very easily online.

I found a second hand stove but if buying new, the Machine Mart Clarkes one is quite nice. A little pot belly thing. My girlfriend has one in her shed and it’s a nice little stove though you won’t really fit ‘logs’ in it.

Flue and gasket
07-27-15 Flue fitted by Kayak23[/url], on Flickr

Inside view when first fitted
inside view 2 by Kayak23[/url], on Flickr

Clarke pot belly stove at Machine Mart

Machine Mart link[/url]

I think whether you go through the wall or roof depends on a few things such as roof overhang. Generally it’ll be easier through the roof as you can often just get away with straight flue pipe.

brant ‘shedfire’ richards to the thread, brant to the thread…

I’m sure i’ve seen one placed in the corner of a summer house. As part of the installation they had clad the inside of the summerhouse part way up the wall and installed a stone hearth.

Kind of like this

Knowing how much heat my stove puts out and how are wooden mantle has been affected by the heat the above seems a pretty sensible approach.

been looking at the cheapo kits on ebay linky

The most obvious difference is the flue, I am assuming the cheap one are not double skinned.

I like the look of your kayak

Even though I’m a woodburner lover, I’d also consider a wee oil filled radiator. No, not as atmospheric, but really practical and cheap to run too.

I have one in the bike shed, even in an uninsulated wooden structure, it takes the edge off of a cold night fettling. I’d imagine it’d be ace in an insulated howf.

There are loads of people making and selling small burners in all sorts of shapes and sizes in various groups on Facebook.
They mostly go for around £150 with no flue.

Some random examples:
https://www.facebook.com/mayraypanface.reynolds?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009675247275&hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf
https://www.facebook.com/paul.thistleton.7?fref=ufi
(they all make burners)
Glastonbury burners
Pipsqueak
Bambi

Windy Smithy have been doing it for years and are a bit dearer, but have a great reputation. A lot of their designs have been ripped off.

Most of the forums I found these on are for campervans/boats

Pretty sure those cheap ones will be single wall flue. You can always run a double wall section as it exits the roof though as long as your gasket is rated for the temp it should be fine.

I built a tiled hearth around mine onto Hardiebacker board.

Yep, obviously buyer beware on all of those random ones, but I quite like the fact that it’s a cottage (with a welder) industry.
I would try and seek out a recommendation, but it might be tricky unless you trawl.

Otherwise you could play it safe and go with a good blacksmith like Windy Smithy.

+1 for Windy Smithy stoves. Charming and robust little stoves, although there’s minimal glazing, so not much of a ‘flame picture’.

Another option might be to go for a camping style wood burner, such as the Frontier ‘Outbacker’ stove, which gives you a few more options.

+1 for Windy Smithy stoves. Charming and robust little stoves, although there’s minimal glazing, so not much of a ‘flame picture’.

Agreed – I reckon a window is reasonably high on many people’s list of priorities.

We stayed in a bell tent last weekend with a stove, I realise now it was a rip off Windy Smithy Wendy, looked identical in every respect but finish was poor and it had a very small window on it. Performance was great though.

Window not too big a deal for us, it really is for heating rather than cosmetics so with Wendy might be a front runner

I put a Windy Smithy ‘Louis’ stove in my yurt, when I had it; faultless performance, but they tend to prefer thinner sticks rather than chunky logs, so do need slightly more frequent refuelling.

Has anyone used one of those Machine Mart pot belly stoves in the garden? My wife wants a little stove for the garden for extra heat whilst quaffing wine.
(In reality we live on a windy hill in West Yorkshire. It’ll get used once a year and anything not anchored down will get blown away in a gale. Although I suppose cast iron should withstand the weather with a coat of hammerite?).

I’ve got one of these in my orangery – Its crap!!

For the 10 mins it draws properly and puts out heat, the other 30mins of a smoke filled room is just not worth it.

(In reality we live on a windy hill in West Yorkshire. It’ll get used once a year and anything not anchored down will get blown away in a gale. Although I suppose cast iron should withstand the weather with a coat of hammerite?).

Sounds great…

ElShallmo – get a fire bowl. Much better heat output for outdoors. Weber do a good one with a lid that doubles as a heat reflector.

Has anyone used one of those Machine Mart pot belly stoves in the garden? My wife wants a little stove for the garden for extra heat whilst quaffing wine.

chimenea might be better for that

ElShalimo – Member
Has anyone used one of those Machine Mart pot belly stoves in the garden?

For the garden you’re probably better off with something that’s a bit more open such as this from Argos.

They’re actually fairly weighty. I have one on my allotment. Been there a couple of years.

Thanks everyone

I’ve got one of these in my orangery – Its crap!!

For the 10 mins it draws properly and puts out heat, the other 30mins of a smoke filled room is just not worth it.

POSTED 50 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

I use one of these in my rent and it’s great. No problem with draw, it gets hot and doesn’t smoke the tent out.

Latch the door if you want more draw.

Only downside is you need to have the right sized wood to fit in it and it cools quickly as it’s not cast iron.

An aside on the subject of tent stoves: ensure that the chimney sections are joined ‘Female’ end up/ ‘Male’ end down. Many designs aren’t, and that leads to tarry liquids leaking out of the joints and staining / stinking the place out. Just saying. Sorry to go off piste.

An aside on the subject of tent stoves: ensure that the chimney sections are joined ‘Female’ end up/ ‘Male’ end down. Many designs aren’t, and that leads to tarry liquids leaking out of the joints and staining / stinking the place out. Just saying. Sorry to go off piste.

Interesting point. I’ve built a couple for yurts and have designed the joints the opposite way round to minimise the chance of smoke leaks. I have had the problem you mentioned once, but properly weather sealing the flue/roof and not burning damp wood, or burning too cool, should stop that happening.

burning too cool

I haven’t had the liquid problem mentioned, but I do know that burning too cool in a tent is likely due to wanting to eek out the longest burn times possible so you can stay asleep.
I’ve had 6 hours out of mine so far, but the flue definitely getting gradually covered in tar as a result (over about 10-15 burns).

If I get approval for a workshop at the bottom of the garden I’ll put in a stove that can burn sawdust. I’m planning on putting it in a corner with heat resistant panels…one thing I’m concerned about is it not burning down my wood built, wood filled workshop while it burns out.

@Kayak, were you on that sheds programme presented by the guy who thinks everything is ‘incredible’?

Guilty 😀

Build thread

Flue should always be installed socket upwards.

Kayak – not sure your flue meets the minimum clearance to combustible materials, be careful.

Remember you will still need ventilation and a CO alarm for a stove.

Quick question – Do the flues have to be ‘brushed’ a la chimneys?? Ta 🙂

McHamish I have built a timber framed workshop at the back of our house for my commercial woodworking. I put an Oakfire sawdust burning stove in – works a treat. Just make sure you follow installation guide and allow the safe distances around the stove and flue.

That said, no one will insure my shed now…

Also, on the garden stove idea I’ve been using the drum out of an old washing machine as a portable firepit. Works a treat.

Do the flues have to be ‘brushed’ a la chimneys??

HETAS recommend twice a year for domestic installations.

Personally, I’ve never found it necessary for my workshop stove – I give the flue a whack with a mallet every now and then to knock down any clinker, and sweep out the 90° bend where it accumulates and that’s about it.

bodgy – Member
Do the flues have to be ‘brushed’ a la chimneys??
HETAS recommend twice a year for domestic installations.

Personally, I’ve never found it necessary for my workshop stove – I give the flue a whack with a mallet every now and then to knock down any clinker, and sweep out the 90° bend where it accumulates and that’s about it.

Thanks bodgy 🙂

Also, on the garden stove idea I’ve been using the drum out of an old washing machine as a portable firepit. Works a treat.

The motorbike club my brother’s a member of use one welded to an old steel car wheel, works very well apparently.

Try Fireplace Products if your looking for wood burning stoves[/url] lots of choice available, perhaps something with a small foot print put that is tall would be better suited to a smaller space? So you can place larger logs inside with a nice size window, the La Nordica Super Junior[/url] is quite nice and has a cooking plate on top. Providing you use twinwall double insulated flue off the top and properly insulate around the fire you should be okay with regards to distances to combustibles. Hope it helps.