3 Things You Need to Know Before Buying a Wood-burning Stove
Do you have the experience of being unable to sleep when camping in winter, or waking up in the middle of the night in a tent? If you are considering wood heating, you should know the following points before you buy a wood-burning stove, wood fireplace plug-in, or wood stove.
There is nothing worse than spending a cold and painful night in a tent. A good camping tent heater can make your camping life more comfortable and pleasant.
There are three kinds of tent heating devices: gas-fired, electric heating, and tent firewood stove that we are mainly discussing today.
Tent firewood stove
- Camping tents and firewood stoves are the choices of many outdoor enthusiasts.
- The tent provides perfect shelter against the wind and rain, while the wood stove can provide a steady stream of heat.
- The tent firewood stove can not only be used as the heating equipment of the tent, but also as a cooking stove.
- The tent firewood stove has a variety of uses. Heating is the most basic function. It can cook, boil water, make coffee, and make delicious dishes.
- The tent firewood stove is made of three main materials: pig iron, stainless steel, and titanium.
- Pig iron furnace is heavy and has the best heat preservation performance. It has few disadvantages except that it is not convenient to carry.
Among the three materials, the titanium furnace is super light, and the melting point of titanium is higher than 1600 ℃, so there is no problem under the high temperature of wood combustion.
The firewood stove made of titanium metal has poor heat preservation capacity due to its thin metal. Compared with the stainless steel stove, you have to take care of the stove more.
Stainless steel is the best compromise among the materials for making tent stoves. Of course, it is not as light as titanium stoves, but it is far less heavy than pig iron stoves.
So, in the numerous tent stoves, how to choose the most suitable firewood stove?
You need to consider not only cost, quality, and size, but also safety.
Choosing the right firewood stove can keep your tent warm and comfortable without being bothered by the burning smoke.
Key points for selecting a tent firewood stove:
First, you need to make sure that your tent is suitable for use with firewood stoves. Your tent needs a flue, which is the most basic. Secondly, whether the tent materials (near the chimney) can withstand high temperatures must be considered, because the temperature of the chimney wall can reach 400 degrees or higher during the combustion of the tent firewood stove.
Many people ignore this, leading to the burning of tents, which is very dangerous when camping in winter.
At present, there are many tents in the market with high-temperature chimney openings. Before purchasing tents, you can ask the merchants for specific information in detail.
Generally speaking, a larger firewood stove can emit more heat, but its volume and weight will also increase, and it will consume more firewood. Be sure to adapt the volume of the firewood stove to the size of your tent.
In addition, most camping firewood stoves cannot be used in small tents. Because of safety problems, many firewood stoves need good ventilation. Some firewood stoves are specially designed for use in tents. Therefore, before purchasing, you should first understand.
When purchasing, you must also follow all the manufacturer’s safety instructions, because the tent is a confined space, and accidents may be very dangerous.
1. Durability and weight
The durability of the furnace is closely related to its weight.
A firewood stove made of stainless steel is more expensive than cast iron, but its weight is lighter than cast iron. Firewood stove made of thinner metal (iron sheet, titanium metal) is the lightest.
2. Portability
If it is self-driving camping, it may not be too sensitive to the weight of the stove, but the weight of the stove will affect its portability.
Some stoves are removable and designed for portability. This type of firewood stove is more suitable for backpackers.
However, there are other design factors that will affect the lightness of the wood stove. Some models can be disassembled and installed neatly in the stove box, and some models become very small after folding.
Usually, you have to balance portability and durability, but there are also some relatively high-end firewood stoves, which are well-designed, relatively portable, and very good in terms of durability.
3. Versatility
The function of a tent firewood stove is not only to heat the tent but also to cook and dry wet clothes.
Most tent firewood stoves also have cooking functions, but there are many differences in the convenience and comfort of the cooking operation.
Some stoves are designed with extended supports to expand the cooking area. They can heat meals, roast meat, and cook coffee at the same time.
The function is also a factor to consider when choosing a tent firewood stove, which is closely related to the activities you want to carry out camping.
Safety precautions for tent firewood stove:
No matter how much camping experience you have, you must pay attention to safety when using firewood stoves in tents. Carbon monoxide poisoning is not uncommon in camping activities.
Before you go to bed or leave the tent, you should make sure that the fire in the stove has been extinguished.
1. Avoid placing objects near the stove
Before you light a firewood stove in the tent, you must find a suitable place in the tent. You need to put it away from equipment and items, including camping supplies, equipment, and clothes.
Although these firewood stoves are relatively safe to use correctly, they can generate considerable heat, and things in direct contact with firewood stoves may be greatly damaged.
It is suggested that everything within 60cm of the firewood stove should be taken away. Alcohol, gas cans, hair gel, and other inflammable may cause a fire near the firewood stove.
2. Ventilation
When lighting the firewood stove, you may think that the tent should be sealed tightly so as to keep the heat fully. In fact, this is completely wrong and very dangerous.
Due to the complex climate conditions and changeable wind direction in the wilderness, it is easy to affect the full combustion of the firewood stove. Once the firewood cannot be fully burned, it will produce a large amount of carbon monoxide gas, which is very easy to lead to carbon monoxide poisoning, which will be life-threatening.
Generally, you need to put the firewood stove near the tent window or tent door, and leave a certain ventilation gap inside and outside the tent to allow free air circulation.
3. Attention to liquid spillage
When the firewood stove burns, the temperature is high, the heat is large, and the space in the tent is very limited. We must pay attention not to put the water cup, kettle, milk, and other liquids near the firewood stove, so as to avoid injury caused by accidentally overturning.
Once these liquids are splashed on the firewood stove, they will be instantly heated by the high temperature to become extremely hot and will release high-temperature steam, which is easy to burn the skin and cause burns.
Therefore, in the tent, your water cup must be away from the firewood stove to prevent accidents.
Camping with a tent fire stove is an interesting experience. When the temperature drops, you won’t curl up in the tent for a cold night.
A firewood stove is an efficient and cheap heating method. Before you decide to buy a firewood stove, you should give full consideration to the choice of cast iron or stainless steel, as well as the type of titanium alloy. Different varieties have their own advantages and disadvantages, and also consider whether they match the tent.
With the tent firewood stove, you can go camping all year round, even go out in more extreme weather conditions, and ensure the warmth in the tent.
When choosing a tent fire stove, safety is crucial, especially when camping with children or pets.
Of course, there are many ways to heat tents, not only firewood stoves but also gas, electricity, and even chemical methods.