How to Use a Wood Burning Stove in your Tent | CampingWorld

When camping in cooler times of the year and locations that are cold, having a warmed and comforting temperature, on chilling nights, inside of your tent is extremely desirable & campers usually rely on blankets, warm clothing & high quality sleeping bags. 

There’s this option or you can choose from a wide range of products available on the market that you can use to keep yourself warm inside your tent but here I bring the most cost effective, traditional and easy way to achieve a comfortable environment where you are staying. 

In this article I’ll be informing you about how to use a wood burning stove inside your tent, I’ll also be discussing why wood burning stove is more efficient than the other products available on the market and also the most important thing is that I’ll be informing you with the precautionary measures that you must follow if you are to use a wood burner stove or any kind of stove in that case.

So, let’s get started without any further delay!!

First of all I’m going to brief you about what a wood burner stove is in case if you don’t have an idea about it.

What Is A Wood Burning Stove?

A wood burning stove is an appliance that is made of cast iron or steel and is used to create heat by burning wood enclosed in a chamber.

They can be used anywhere provided that the area has a good ventilation system to let the gases out.

When To Use A Wood Burner Stove In Your Tent

of course to keep your tent warm inside but you have to keep in mind that wood burner stove are to be used in specific kind of tent like canvas or Poly-cotton and your tent has to have an opening for the hot flue pipe so that carbon monoxide can escape and is not trapped inside the tent. 

secondly, there  are many tents in the market which are pretty much weather resistant so keep an eye out for those, if you have a tent that has excellent capabilities to trap warmth inside of your tent then you don’t actually need any equipment to generate any heat inside.

Now let’s get to the actual point which is,

How To Use A Wood Burner Stove Inside Your Tent

So here I’ll share some important steps that you need to follow but first let’s discuss things that you’ll have to buy:

STEP 1:

Now the first thing that you’ll have to baton the wood so that you can burn it. Condor Bushlore knife is ideal as they are not too expensive and makes an ideal knife for batoning the wood

You’ll need 3 sizes (small & medium & large) of wood along with kindling.  Small wood to start the fire, medium is optional in case you want to cook & large to be used in the evening so that it will keep generating energy for longer time.

An important thing to keep in mind is that wood in winter is damp and for burning wood it needs to be dried.

STEP 2:

 First of all you have to see for a campsite with nothing near that can catch up fire. Sometimes wood burning stove shoots sparks that cause fire hazards and risk life. You don’t want that to happen. 

STEP 3: 

The metal on these stoves are thin and tend to get weaken by direct exposure of burning coal or wood so a common recommendation is to provide some sort in insulation before you put your coal or wood on the stove to avoid making the metal weak. What you can do is to put an inch of sand on the bottom of your stove. That’ll provide a sublime insulation.

STEP 4: 

Use a spark arrester on the top of vent pipe as per instructions given by the manufacturers. Sparks can cause hazards to the tent and anyone inside it. Spark arrestors can be set on the stovepipe to prevent any sparks due to burning wood or coal. 

An important point to remember is to not burn a lot of spruce, pine or larch as wood fuel since these woods produces a lot of sparks and cause fire hazards even if your stove is equipped with spark arrestors. Usually oak are preferred for stoves. 

STEP 5: 

Now place your stove inside your tent near the door and at least 2 feet away from fabric wall. Carefully ignite the fire and enjoy.

Now we’ll discuss the most important things

Precautionary Measure

Do you know that on average around 200 people become victims of carbon monoxide poisoning in the UK and are hospitalized and around 40 of the cases prove to be fatal? But this kind of situation can easily be avoided just by adopting safe techniques and following standard procedures.

Common symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include dizziness, nausea, disorientation, stomach pain; shortness of breath and affected person might feel like food poisoning.

Here are some precautions that you should consider before using a wood burner:

• Protect your stove top with spark arrestors to prevent any sort of things like tent fabric or dead branches to catch fire & cause fire hazards.

• Keep flammable items away from the stove.

• Always keep a fire extinguisher near you.

• Always wear gloves while handling the stove as it becomes very hot and you might get a nasty burn if you expose your skin directly to the stove.

• Must keep a good ventilation system so that the carbon monoxide can find a way out of the tent and doesn’t make your suffocate. Make sure that your tent has a good air circulation. 

• If you are planning to let the stove burn all night, if you are alone then DON’T, if you have more people with you  then you should all choose shifts and at one time at least one person should stay awake to be on fire duty.

• Don’t put wooden stove directly on top of the tent’s floor & also keep the stove 2 feet away from your tent’s wall.

Now in small bullet points I’ll tell you why wood stove are a good choice.

• First of all, my favorite reason is that wooden stove gives that beautiful aesthetic feeling.
•  More energy efficient
• Very affordable
• Eco-friendly
• Reliable
• Homely ambience
• Effective heat output

Conclusion

So I hope this article helps you a lot and answers most asked questions which include why should we use a wood burner stove? How can we use wood burner stove? What precautions should we take? 

Given that you follow the standard precautionary measure, and use an EPA certified burner there shouldn’t be any problem in using the wood burner stoves. In fact, they are much reliable and a very good choice in providing warmth in chilly weather and cold alpine nights.