I have also wondered why a gas stove doesn't threaten us with Carbon Monoxide, It's not vented anywhere. What is the difference between a gas stove and a small burner on a propane tank? I'm not convince that "cracking" a window would be all that effective either. Carbon Monoxide has roughly the same density as air so it mixes in instead of sinking or floating. It seems to me that you would need a cross breeze to remove all the contaminants from your shelter.

Once i have my BOL, the first move is to make the cabin/shelter and a wood-burning rocket stove with its excellent wood-gas burning efficiency, and the outside exhaust port mostly warm moist air with Carb- mono.at a minimum .

However, i have already bought a used Webasto truck cab heater for a backup heat source , using diesel as long as it's available....since i plan to have a tank for my tractors.
It's the water-circulation type (which i prefer over forced air,) because i believe it's a bit quieter.
Normally, the antifreeze water is circulated by the heater's pump , which is fine if you have a sufficient battery bank recharging, but i'm hoping that it will work alright by convection too, as long as my copper loop around the room has the right grading.(It still needs the electronic ignition), but maybe it could be replaced with BBQ /piezo ignition.?
I plan to house this unit in an insulated box thru the outside wall, accessible from both sides , and of course exhausted to the outside.
The low pressure of this pump system would allow the use of recycled automotive radiators in the loop as heat sinks, so it doesn't have to run constantly. I'm just not sure about the convection-only with the use/placement of the rads.
The right combination of these should keep an insulated room 8x12 about 10c.

http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&BillID=2556

Any partially burned fuel can produce CO. So much a concern is it that the Hawkins-Gignac Act was just passed. I believe it still needs Royal Assent but basically any new home or modified residence will need a CO detector. Most smoke/heat sensors today come with a CO detector also. One stop shopping.

Good to have portable battery operated ones and battery backup for hardwired ones in the home.

Villager, search thermosiphon for your needs.
Auto rads won't flow enough without a pump. Suggest the domestic finned pipes at least 1/2 ".

Hey Perfesser, Yup, i had planned on pure thermosiphon for my waterjacketed woodstove in cabin with loft, to heat closer to bed. It has 1" in/out-lets....also for heating water.( I have this already and want to use it till i perfect the rocket stove.)

I see what you mean with the auto rads because of the narrow fin-structure....not enuf easy flow for thermosiphon,...so i might as well use the pump and/or use the regular 3/4 finned units wherever i can, and maybe run a manifold to/thru a bank of 4 finned lengths under a large stone or cob bench to create a temp-bridging heatsink in the room.

I was hoping to tie all the systems together, using the same loop-circuit of copper, but i understand that there might be a chemical problem by mixing copper and steel in the same system.? Is that solved by a dielectric coupling?
If i want the option of using antifreeze in the heat system, i would also have to incorporate a heat-exchanger for the domestic water loop...stored in an insulated tank in the loft...for gravity-fed showers. Maybe i can find an old viessmann unit. Do you know of anything else which might work for this?
Geez, i'm probably offtopic here, but it could be an emergency if you only have one source of heat and it fails 🙂

I liked someones idea on a previous post somewhere about a backup heating source. It was getting a smallish wood stove that would stand on a fireboard and then plump the flue out a window that has a premade piece that would support the pipe passing through the window and seal off the opening. This set up could be stored someplace and all the pieces premade and tested so that if the time comes it could be set up with ease. And of course have a cord or 2 of seasoned wood on hand that would get rotated out when it gets too old.
I heat my house with wood so this is not much of a worry to me. BUT, in 1946 a largish quake rolled through here and knocked down over 75% of the chimneys. I still need to make a back up flue incase this happens.

I like where your going villager! I too collect used diesel heaters and am just about to get a Webasto model 2010. its a bit of a monster and a power pig but matched with the correct battery bank and proper charging requirements you can do alot with the hot water heating. You must circulate the glycol mix otherwise the webasto will overheat in a very short amount of time. Small 12v circ pumps don't draw much for your thermosiphon system.

I was at a remote surf camp a few years back and saw a clever hot water system that ran through a wood stove. It had a pressure tank with relief valves and worked on convection. I'm sure plans for something like this can be found on the internet.

Yep, off topic. I'll be brief.
I would avoid anti-freeze for a backup system. Complicated and before you know it the anti freeze will be past it's lifetime.
Try not to mix materials, copper and steel unless you isolate them , plastic fitting in between or lots of teflon tape on threads. Are the finned pipes steel?
I don't like the idea of water hanging around at 100f for any time. Heat it directly to pasteurization temps at the heat source then move to storage rather than a heat exchange tank. Heating ground water (untreated) slowly and then holding it at 100f is a recipe for bug soup if you don't use it much. You could add chlorine but it would gas off pretty fast in a vented tank. Is your water very hard? Rainwater is best - no calcium.

Thanks Perfesser....dielectric coupler is just that...a plastic/brass insert inline. I use that already to block stray emf current from the shared copper city waterline in the neighborhood.
The aluminium-finned pipes are 3/4" copper, same as in my home, radiant heating/gas boiler system...self-installed. 25yrs ago.
Yes, my intention was to heat rainwater for laundry and shower, cuz it's soft water, but also wanted to tap into well water when rain-storage is low.
What rate of usage ,in such case, do you think would minimize/avoid bug proliferation?
Also, how would you make a vented tank if it is not pressurized as a home system is? ...Simply going 2' above the highest point in the water loop ...followed by a P-trap and/or a u-turn down to a drain/receptacle?
If it is to serve both a passive/gravity system AND a well-pressurized mode, i would have to close a valve at the end of the overflow trap whenever pressure is used, right? How do you see it?
It would be mostly granite in the proposed location. Can radon be carried/transferred into the home via such water/rock exposure?
Geez, how do we move this subject to a more appropriate place???

I liked someones idea on a previous post somewhere about a backup heating source. It was getting a smallish wood stove that would stand on a fireboard and then plump the flue out a window that has a premade piece that would support the pipe passing through the window and seal off the opening. This set up could be stored someplace and all the pieces premade and tested so that if the time comes it could be set up with ease. And of course have a cord or 2 of seasoned wood on hand that would get rotated out when it gets too old.
I heat my house with wood so this is not much of a worry to me. BUT, in 1946 a largish quake rolled through here and knocked down over 75% of the chimneys. I still need to make a back up flue incase this happens.

I like where your going villager! I too collect used diesel heaters and am just about to get a Webasto model 2010. its a bit of a monster and a power pig but matched with the correct battery bank and proper charging requirements you can do alot with the hot water heating. You must circulate the glycol mix otherwise the webasto will overheat in a very short amount of time. Small 12v circ pumps don't draw much for your thermosiphon system.

I was at a remote surf camp a few years back and saw a clever hot water system that ran through a wood stove. It had a pressure tank with relief valves and worked on convection. I'm sure plans for something like this can be found on the internet.

Wookie, So, is it a fact that 12V Webastos require lubrient glycol to function....cuz they're designed for automotive use?( they can also circulate thru the rad system for warm starts, and not only for heating the cabin)
If so, what's different about a pool circulating pump except, unfortunately, for its 120V. power requirement? I believe it's optional for them?
Are you also working on a rocket stove design?

I've had my cabin all my 50 years, weekends mostly. Still carry potable water from the spring by the bucket. When you have the wood stove working it's a very dry heat, you need a 3-5 gal stainless bucket simmering on the stove all the time for moisture anyway. Rainwater when not too cold or, once the rain barrel is drained for the season, spring water. You always have a bucket of hot water if you have a wood stove burning.
If you have a tank it will need to be in a heated part of the building right from the start.
Wood heat works best in open structures, many closed rooms hinder circulation.
I do help the heat into a bedroom though so that first night is always toasty warm. The wood stove has a shroud/heat shield at the back. It will create a convection current of air, as it heats the air in the shroud and expels it at the top it sucks cool air from the bottom. I closed off the bottom and made a thing so I can attach an 8" flexible dryer duct to the intake of this shroud. Then run the flex pipe into the bedroom, right under the bed.
The key is to suck the cold air out of the room via the duct, the heat will naturally flow in to replace it. Works better than anything else I've tried including a heater right under the bed.
If you designed the place correctly from the start, with cold air returns piped to convection shrouds around a stove, all your needs to move heat to closed rooms would look after itself. I thought of running ducts under the floor and spray foaming them in but what I have works OK. Bit of a pain tripping over the duct in the night though......