Hot Water From Your Small Wood Stove
If you’re living off-grid in a tiny home, shepherd’s hut, or cabin, having a reliable hot water supply is essential. One efficient solution is to use a boiler to create hot water from your small wood stove. By installing a stainless steel side boiler inside your stove, you can heat water directly from the firebox, providing hot water for showers and washing without relying on electricity or gas.
Opting for a side boiler – how does it work?
We have designed a side boiler for both The Hobbit Stove and The Little Range Cookstove to harness hot water from your small wood stove. It can be installed on either side of the stove of the Hobbit but only on the right side of The Range.
The boiler is manufactured from 3mm thick 304 grade stainless steel, made up of all welded construction and has two 1 inch BSP stainless steel water connections. The side boiler transfers approximately 1kW of heat away from the stove and can power a 1kW radiator or two 0.5kW radiators, making it suitable for heating water for taps, radiators, or a non-pressurised shower system. It can be used to thermosiphon heat to your taps and radiators, or a non-pressurised shower system. See here for a boiler fitting guide, and here for a radiator installation guide.
Creating a wood stove powered shower
In a practical example, which you will see in the video below, we set up a system using two old copper tea urns and two pumps to hold the hot water from the small stove. The first urn, connected to the side boiler, holds about 35 litres (7 gallons) of water. A small 12V pump circulates the water until it reaches the desired temperature, such as 42.8°C for a comfortable shower. Fish tank thermometers monitor the temperatures of both urns.
