Best wood stove for me?

[Al_Smith]

I have a plate steel glass front Lopi that dates back to the mid 80's  an insert with a blower .It does well .Built solid as a battle ship ,heavy plate fire brick lined .
Those barrel stoves are  a throw back to the making of the AlCan highway during WW2 .Made out of "tundra daisies " , discarded oil drums which were plentiful .I think you could heat a barn with the doors left opened with a double barrel .Lots of heat .I've made several using the "Stotz kits" which I haven't seen in a while .Those were air tight .

[Bandmill Bandit]

There are quite a few of the Double barrel stoves in use in this country but  they are made from 24 to 30 inch waste pipe from pipe line installs and the several I have seen are built to be pretty air tight. You get a 4 footer of those heated up it takes a week to cool off. 

A friend did one out of 36 inch pipe 5 feet long with a water jacket and a thermally controlled damper system and uses it to heat his house and shop. It burns for up to 3 plus days when full. I think the pipe wall is 1/2 inch.   

[Al_Smith]

There is a local pallet works that have a variation of a double barrel  stove,several as a matter fact .Large circular things about 4 feet in diameter made of rolled plate steel and about 6 feet long .My bud Ron who owns a fab shop made them .
Ron is my go to guy if I need any aluminum welding as I don't have the to  means myself 
 .He's not real bright on electrical stuff but has my phone number .
I might add that pallet works also has a rubber tired reclaim saw they use to cut down old pallets to make light weights from the salvaged oak lumber .Using abrasive blades it goes right through the old nails slick as anything .With all the scrap lumber their heating bill is basically cost free .

[doc henderson]

my brother used to build roads and work outside.  they made an outdoor version of a two barrel stove.  they welded two together top to bottom like a tall chimney.  they cut the bottom out of the top can,  welded some exhaust tube through the can at an angle about a foot up from the bottom to let in air.  they would add 15 gallons of waste oil in the bottom and throw a lit rag into the mess.  when it got going it was like a rocket stove with air swirling around the bottom, flames out the top. and red hot metal melting snow in all directions for 50 feet.  do not try this at home.

[Al_Smith]

I once made a stove for a buddy who was a masonry contractor to heat sand in winter for mortar .Two barrels welded end for end .
He burned old  ties which were cut in pieces when they were replaced .Surprisingly once they got going they didn't smoke that bad .
Those old sleepers which were oak would coal up real nice and hold fire over night .
Over the week end the fire would go out when it wasn't tended .He just filled the stove and dumped a gallon of kerosene down the flue and toss in a burning rag .It didn't take long before it was burning real toasty .

[Bandmill Bandit]

The double barrel stoves I've seen locally are stacked horizontally on top of each other with a piece of 6 to 12 inch pipe (depending on barrel/fire box size) welded vertically between them at the end opposite the loading door, the chimney in the top barrel above the door with the water jacket in the top chamber when they have a water Jacket. They work very well.   

[Al_Smith]

The relatively thin sheet steel of a common oil drum radiates heat well plus there is a lot of surface area in a drum .I've heard of but never have myself lined the bottom with fire brick .I suppose after many years of usage they could burn out but I've never seen it myself .
If you think about it a double with the potential of 250,000 BTU /hr is a lot of heat .As a gauge on that  my slightly over 2100 sg ft house has a heat lose of slightly over 30,000 btu per hour .I'd have to leave the doors open and sit around in my underwear .Geeze would that be a sight to make eyes sore .   

[John Mc]

The relatively thin sheet steel of a common oil drum radiates heat well plus there is a lot of surface area in a drum .I've heard of but never have myself lined the bottom with fire brick .I suppose after many years of usage they could burn out but I've never seen it myself .
If you think about it a double with the potential of 250,000 BTU /hr is a lot of heat .As a gauge on that  my slightly over 2100 sg ft house has a heat lose of slightly over 30,000 btu per hour .I'd have to leave the doors open and sit around in my underwear .Geeze would that be a sight to make eyes sore .  

I was kind of wondering how we got off on this tangent. The OP was asking about heating 1500 sq ft. I can't imagine using a double drum stove for that.

[Al_Smith]

Use smaller drums perhaps 

[thecfarm]

open a window.

[doc henderson]

whole house fan works when we get it a little to warm.  

[Al_Smith]

Quite frankly I have been known to open a door on occasion .Some times they can get away from you .I don't even light the fire until it gets below 30 .

[doc henderson]

we get excited for the first fire in the fall.  it feels good in the living room but all the bedrooms are upstairs, and then it is too warm to sleep.  heat set at 55 in the shop, so I get a fire in the am to take the chill off.  I would say we spanned the gamut on barrel stoves, and would recommend a well controlled stove for the OP.  

[Al_Smith]

Alright already barrel is out .Vermont castings makes a nice side loader about the right sized for the application  .Weather it's worth 1200 bucks might be another subject of conversation .Just "Goggle " it .

[Old Greenhorn]

Whats the model name, they have several? They make good stoves.

[Al_Smith]

Aspen C3

[rubberfish]

80° at my house all winter.  

I am never coming to visit you. Unless I get to sit outside and look in a window. 

[Al_Smith]

If you have low humidity 80 probably wouldn't feel that hot .

[doc henderson]

as a side note.  we have a trilevel house. the stove in on the mid main level.  the beds are up the stairs and easy to heat with the stove.  in fact in the eve. we keep the doors closed so it does not get too warm.  we do not use the down stairs as much, and it will stay 60 degrees if running the stove.  we have a natural gas boiler with pex in the floor radiant heat.  the up stairs has a water to air exchanger with forced air heat.  we try to use the stove in the winter with the coiler as a back up.  I installed a fan behind the stove in the med level that goes through the wall and come out in the hallway in the lower  level so in  a power outage we can heat out 4500 sq. foot home with our stove.  ice storms are the usual reason we would have power out for a week.  "be prepared" @Old Greenhorn  .  we can run our boiler with very little elect. current.  we have to power the pump and logic board.  we can use an inverter or generator.

[Old Greenhorn]

Aspen C3

That's a nice design. In the 80's I heated my shop with an Atlanta casting stove of similar shape and size except it was made from 5/16 plate. I'd like to get that stove going again.