Using newspapers to heat the shop

I use it to heat the toilet seat! LOL, it burns too quickly even if rolled into a log, makes a great fire starter though

Did you wrap it into a tight cylinder and bind it with wire? There are, or used to be, manual rollers for newspapers and magazines that worked that way. It would roll them and then you put two wire wraps on the roll. I think that Brookstone used to sell them.

They said the rolls burned almost like wood but I never saw them in operation.

-- Ed Huntress

my parents bought one of those. no, they didn't work as advertised on tv. it was very hard to keep them lit.

I use newspaper to light the woodstove at work. Lots of ash in newspaper, and the shiney parts like store ads are nearly useless as they have so much clay in the paper. I have seen woodstoves converted to burn waste oil, but you have to have a steady source.

I see the same thing. I can light a wad of it, close the door and have it go out! Before widespread recycling a thick stack of papers on top of two logs with 0.15" of whistling draft feeding in from below would burn quite a while in my wood stove but now the voluminous ash chokes the fire.

Newsprint still burns better than office paper, though.

I burned a lot of classified documents when I was in the Army. We had a perforated oil drum rotated by a crank to tumble bundles of paper. Single sheets may burn well but even back then it was really hard to burn a thick pile of paper.

Jim Wilkins

i use pallet cuttings, you can buy them buy the ton at the local pallet recyler, very sweet price too, i heated my garage 30 x 40 x 15 all winter last year for 285.00 and the time it takes to feed the stove

i am thinking about making an automatic feeder

I burn newspapers in the woodstove that is in the family room. Not as the main fuel, but to avoid having to carry the newspapers to the recycling center. And maybe saving a bit on how much wood that I burn. Don't try burning the glossy advertisements. The way I do it is to lay the newspapers flat in the woodstove and then put the kindling and wood on top of the newspaper. Dan

I've not tried it. However, I suspect it will work better if you have an air inducer fan. Blowing a gentle stream of fresh air into the firebox, at the pile of news papers.

A friend of mine used to burn a mix of used oil, and kerosene. He'd run a tube from a bucket on a shelf, and drip it into the firebox. The oil would splash onto a deflector, and help to vaporize it. He quit with this setup when a couple friends of his had fires when the oil fire "got away from them". Needs some sort of shutoff valve, several feet away from the firebox.

Knew another fellow who burned used crankcase oil with a fuel oil gun. He'd start it on kerosene, and valve it over to used oil. Had to preheat the oil, a couple loops of tubing around the barrel that was used as a firebox.

I made some logs out of rolled news paper, one time. Put them end up in a bucket, adn pour in some used motor oil. I wasn't there to see it, but I'm told they burned OK.

I have a shop heater consisting of a 55-gallon drum on it's side. chimney on one end, door and adjustable damper on the other.

In the normal course of shop work anything made of paper, wood or cardboard goes into small cardboard boxes and gets packed pretty firmly. The resultant package get used oil added to it. It burns quite well, even hotter than I like if I get too ambitious with it (big box, lots of oil). this gets rid of waste paper, newsprint, boxes, and oil. it burns hot enough that it doesn't smoke.

it's side.

other.

wood or

pretty firmly.

quite well,

(big box, lots of

oil. it

I do the same thing, Rex! That barrell stove may not be the most efficient but sure feels good at -20F....;>) In twenty years I've not had to clean the chimney, it's always burned out heh heh ........ Phil Kangas

Our N Texas winters don't hold a candle to yours, but that stove sure knocks the chill off. I've been meaning to convert it to a true oil burner, but I have enough other projects stacked up, and too little shop time.

GMTA

(Great Minds think Alike)