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Rather than create a manly bivi type solution Mrs Wingnuts wants to have the equivalent of outside central heating so that as the nights draw in we can still ask people over to have socially distanced stuff in the courtyard garden. Its reasonably protected from the wind and a fully paved about 6m square so some sort of chiminea/fire pit arrangement is what she was thinking of. Warmth and romantic flickering flames. I've never found them very successful and won't tolerate a patio heater. Ugly and will just burn the top of my head.
Any ideas, recommendations please?
Haha, we did this yesterday 🙂
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Blankets, hot tottys.
Korean style BBQ table with quilt
Sorry Japanese.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amoderngirl.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/things-i-like-about-japan-1-kotatsu/amp/
We've got a classic clay chiminea. Seems to do the job. Gives a pretty light, throws out some heat, can be used to toast marshmallows. No effort really.
So I have to dismantle the washing machine then.
Blankets, hot tottys was my go to solution but Mrs W doesn't drink! I like the Japanese table idea.
I talked to the guys at the dump the let me take apart an old washing machine there. I'm pretty sure by the end of the day they all had drums in their cars.
https://www.weber.com/GB/en/accessories/merchandise-and-outdoor-lifestyle/fireplaces/2750.html
Not cheap, in fact more expensive now than when I bought mine. But it is very well made, burns wood and gives off a good heat. Not tried a chiminea, but always thought the heat would be inferior to a proper fire pit.
You could consider some kind of infrared radiator? I was speaking to an architect friend about heating small areas of a large building (e.g. warehouse) and he said that's what lots of folk use.
Seems like some kind of voodoo microwave magic to me. You can get saunas with them too. BYOMicrowave
I like the Japanese table idea.
Traditional Spanish houses have a similar thing, but sitting on a chair rather than the floor. The table has a large panel with a big hole in it just above floor height, and you'd put a "brasero" full of hot coals in it. A blanket over the top of the table keeps the heat in. Given that was a huge fire risk, these days people like my mother in law use electric braseros.
One of the following might be quite good, anyone tried something similar?
Blankets, hot tottys.
Well, that's one way to keep warm I suppose, but I think you mean Toddy?
I’ve never found them very successful and won’t tolerate a patio heater
We have a fire pit.
Successfully contains a fire.
If she wants a fire, get a fire.
Or a chimnea type thingummy. Both seem to work ok to me.
Somehow I've ended up with two, a fire pit like this:
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and a metal chiminea like this:
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They both work fine, for reasons i don't understand, sometimes you get a roaring afterburner-like flame out of the top of the chiminea, which is fun!
What I would say about the bowl is because it's set down low and open, it's very prone to blowing smoke/ash in your face in any kind of breeze. It also whacks through wood in no time. It does give a nice effect, and you can toast stuff on it.
as wood is the only heating source in my place, i really dont like burning the same logs outside that should be in the stove.
washing machine drum gets plenty of air through, so it rips through logs with v little smoke, but the lounge doesnt feel warmer 🙁
I wish I took the drum out of our old washer now !!
We have a large pot chiminea which is good. MrsF does like burning confidential waste on it every so often, which is a blooming pain as it's smokey. Get them running hot, and you've very little smoke.
We also (shhsh you didn't hear me) got a large gas patio heater - it's been in the garage for years. Not used it in ages. Only come out if we have a garden party, but that's not happening. Last time was about 18 months ago when my son had college mates round.
The drum is the valuable bit from a washer for the scrap men
Its made of a really high grade of stainless steel
This is why it lasts well as a burner
And why you'll have to be quick if you see one by the side of the road
wish I took the drum out of our old washer now !!
Ditto - I only took one to the dump last week ☹️
Sorry, it's probably just me, but those washing machine drum burners just look like the chavviest things ever - is there a rusting car up on bricks to go with them? :d
Mexican ponchos and hot water bottles around a fire 👌
Another focused heat idea. Electric throw?
Heating the outside is never going to work*. You need the heat to go and be trapped where you want it.
* Yes I know global warming but I hope you understand my point.
Sorry, it’s probably just me, but those washing machine drum burners just look like the chavviest things ever – is there a rusting car up on bricks to go with them? :d
Yeah they do. I have one, they work and are cheap! Main qualifications for me!
https://www.solostove.com/solo-stove-yukon/
I have one of these (which was a present from my wife). It’s awesome! I suspect a washing machine drum is cheaper and nearly as good.
but those washing machine drum burners just look like the chavviest things ever – is there a rusting car up on bricks to go with them? :d
nah ill top it - i have a half valvoline 209litre steel oil drum in my garden atm.... perfect for getting rid of building waste and sitting round on a night .
What you want is something that will heat up and hold a lot of heat and then throw this out as infrared radiation, which will feel warmer than just a fire. This is one of the reasons a log burner is better than an open fire.
My experience of the washing machine things is apart from looking shite is that they have no thermal mass, and so a lot of the heat just goes up with the flames and they are not very good at keeping you warm.
So I would go for a Chiminea.
I have an old gas bottle , turned into a burner. The only issue is that trying to heat up the whole of the SE of England on a cool evening is a little bit fruitless.
Warm clothing seems to be way more effective ....
put a bloody jumper on
In Sweden many years ago...
I sat in a roofed picnic area, with stone benches and a big fire place at the end. The fire was actually a rocket stove, with heating down each bench. We sat in -7 in early winter, toasty warm bahookie's, sorting a fish BBQ from what we caught that day...
AHH yes! A rocket mass heater / stove. Perfect, and very stw!
RIGHT. I feel I need to step in on the defence of the humble washing-machine drum 😃
I think they're brilliant! They look great - shiny high-grade steel that takes on funky colours due to the heat. It's those ugly chimineas made from the lowest-grade pig iron that look chav-tastic! They scream "I wish I had a log-burner but my crappy new build doesn't have a proper fireplace, so this cheap junk flown all the way from China will have to do 😭" I LOVE the re-used aspect of the washing machine drum! Cheap & eco-friendly. STW of old would've been all over that! Maybe if you had to take out a finance agreement first they'd be more popular. 😂
As for the prized plum 🤡 wibbling on about "thermal mass"... IT'S A FIRE. IT WILL KEEP YOU WARM. Humans have been using open fires for a MILLION YEARS for that EXACT PURPOSE 😂🤣😂 🔥🔥🔥
It also happens to be a great design due to the deep pit & all the holes. Don't even get me started on that ash-spewing wok someone posted earlier that they actually paid money for 😃 If I have a fire outside I want something that is primal and everyone can gaze hypnotically into, not some crappy closed stove that we all huddle around like some twee Victorian Christmas card scene. 🤮
Proper fire pit, being used properly: 😉
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ash-spewing wok
😂 i just want to clarify that i didn't buy/choose either of them!
One of the best defence rants ever. 👏👏
You've sold 50 grand's worth of poncho's? Good work.
Could perhaps add to the thermal mass of the washing-machine drum burners (so that they'll give off heat for longer after the fire has died back) by part filling with some bricks/cobbles ?
I think you mean Toddy?
i hope not, Totty would be much healthier
As for the prized plum 🤡 wibbling on about “thermal mass”… IT’S A FIRE. IT WILL KEEP YOU WARM. Humans have been using open fires for a MILLION YEARS for that EXACT PURPOSE 😂🤣😂 🔥🔥🔥
Tbh perhaps alot of it is about not burning through a week's worth of wood in about 45 minutes.
I know I'll get strung up for this, but apart from killing the planet (but surely no worse than having a gas bbq) what's wrong with a patio heater? You can have the gas really low and they still kick out plenty of warmth. You also don't smell like 20 B&H when you go to bed.
You also don’t smell like 20 B&H when you go to bed.
What the hell you burning?
RIGHT. I feel I need to step in on the defence of the humble washing-machine drum 😃
Would have been disappointed if someone hadn't 😃😂
Newspaper and old damp wood the last time the fire pit came out. It went well in the end apart from the massive round patch of burnt grass that took a year grow back.
I'd happily burn Mrs's Wingnuts car Fooman but its an Audi TT but being a convertible the isn't the natural ash filter provided by the roof that your suggestion demonstrates.
Not having much thatch on top I've always found patio heaters create a sunburn effect on my bonce.
Anyway I've picked up a freebee hotpoint off Gumtree and brought it home. Mrs W has been impressed by the pictures of romantic flames flickering and non doubt I'll keep warm finding all the wood it'll need to producing them.
romantic flames flickering ....I’ll keep warm finding all the wood
Back to the hot totty again 😉?
but I think you mean Toddy?
No, I think it was right the first time...
We have a fire pit but to be honest we rarely use it as you come in stinking of smoke thinking you better get a shower before going to bed! And that is with normally the dry seasoned wood we use in the house. We’ve seriously been considering swapping it to a chiminea for that reason.
Love all the totty suggestions!