Wood stoves in ice fishing tent

[sureshot]

Planning on putting a wood stove in my new ice tent, looking for ideas and advice. Share your pictures please.

[old dog]

What kind of ice tent. Or is it a ice shack

[MDR]

I have a 6'x12' Frabill tent that I occasionally use with a woodstove. I use a silicone baking sheet as a stove jack (480f rating) and put the chimney out one of the window holes.

The chimney is supported outside the tent by a couple of sticks. The hole in the baking sheet for the chimney is slightly smaller than the chimney diameter, makes for a nice, watertight seal.

Unfortunately no pics of my setup at this time. Maybe next bison hunt I'll get a pic of it.

[sureshot]

Originally Posted by old dog

What kind of ice tent. Or is it a ice shack

Eskimo 9416i

[AlbertanGP]

All sorts of videos on YouTube. The term you want to include in your search is “hot tent”.

[liketoshoot]

I have a yukon in my shack, works good

[horpensky]

Tried a wood stove in both a 2 man and 4 man tent over past two winters. Results were okay at best and awful at worst.

PROS:

- huge amount of BTUs with wood
- cheap if you have a source of firewood
- nice dry heat

CONS:

- temperature regulation really difficult; keeping a steady burn in a small firebox hard, while a large firebox takes up a ton of room and can be way too hot
- if for some reason you have a bad draft with your chimney, your tent will fill up with smoke, which is a huge PITA and makes your tent stink
- always having to feed the fire, which is especially a pain if you're overnighting
- need a pretty big supply of wood if you're out for awhile/overnight

Ended up switching over to a vented propane stove. Dry heat + much reduced concerns about CO poisoning, way easier to regulate the temperature, propane tanks are simple enough to fill and bring.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by horpensky

Ended up switching over to a vented propane stove. Dry heat + much reduced concerns about CO poisoning, way easier to regulate the temperature, propane tanks are simple enough to fill and bring.

What propane stove do you have? Been thinking about getting one for overnight trips.

Thanks

[horpensky]

Ordered the Nu Way 4000. Neat and straightforward little unit. Running at half power keeps the 4 man tent cozy in the middle of winter, and can usually get through the night comfortably on 1/2 to 2/3 a 20lb tank.

[old dog]

Unless u r set on a wood stove, I would use the large big buddy heater. Light, easy set up. Regardless which way u go I strongly suggest buying a CO2 monitor. For $30 it could save your life.

[sureshot]

Originally Posted by old dog

Unless u r set on a wood stove, I would use the large big buddy heater. Light, easy set up. Regardless which way u go I strongly suggest buying a CO2 monitor. For $30 it could save your life.

Yup I have a co2 detector. I came close to taking the long nap from CO2 years ago in one my semi's, I don't play around with it.

[ab_hunter]

I use the Winnerwell Nomad in my Eskimo 650XD, I purchased it from https://canadianpreparedness.ca/

Great, dry heat, can cook on top of it. It took me a few trips to get the damper set just right to not smoke the tent in at night. Used the set up in minus 35 on a few occasions, no issues. Only had to wake up once during the night to add wood. No big deal. Ran the stove pipe straight up the top with a stove jack sewn in.

I had to replace the glass on the stove with a steal plate because a fish splashed water on it and it shattered.

I see the appeal in the Nu Way stove but it burns the oxygen within the tent; it is hard to beat the heat and ambiance from a wood stove.

I also cringe at everyone that is overnighting with Buddy Heaters. Super dangerous and you will wake up with negative effects to your body.

[RACKER]

Originally Posted by ab_hunter

I use the Winnerwell Nomad in my Eskimo 650XD, I purchased it from https://canadianpreparedness.ca/

Great, dry heat, can cook on top of it. It took me a few trips to get the damper set just right to not smoke the tent in at night. Used the set up in minus 35 on a few occasions, no issues. Only had to wake up once during the night to add wood. No big deal. Ran the stove pipe straight up the top with a stove jack sewn in.

I had to replace the glass on the stove with a steal plate because a fish splashed water on it and it shattered.

I see the appeal in the Nu Way stove but it burns the oxygen within the tent; it is hard to beat the heat and ambiance from a wood stove.

I also cringe at everyone that is overnighting with Buddy Heaters. Super dangerous and you will wake up with negative effects to your body.

I was curious to what negative effects?Ive run a buddy all day in a tent for 12 hrs and no health issues.I always place the heater so it can draw fresh air from outside and leave the vents open.a co detector is a must as well.

[ab_hunter]

Originally Posted by RACKER

I was curious to what negative effects?Ive run a buddy all day in a tent for 12 hrs and no health issues.I always place the heater so it can draw fresh air from outside and leave the vents open.a co detector is a must as well.

That is key, allowing fresh air in, but when it's minus 30 at night it's not ideal. Headaches,nauseous, sore throats, death have all occured from people using unvented propane heaters over night in ice shacks.

[AlbertanGP]

If it makes you more comfortable to run a wood stove in your tent, by all means do it. For some the peace of mind is worth the effort. With everything else I have to haul out to overnight on the ice, adding weight and complexity to my heat source just doesn't work for me. And waking up cold in the middle of the night is also no bueno.

I've experienced everything from CO poisoning myself in an uninsulated tent with a sunflower heater in the 80's to several overnight trips in hex hubs and double hubs with Buddy Heaters without incident in recent years. Between the higher insulation efficiency of the newer tents, the safety features on the Buddy Heaters, and the use of two CO detectors, I sleep like a baby and have never had an issue.

[does it ALL outdoors]

Originally Posted by ab_hunter

That is key, allowing fresh air in, but when it's minus 30 at night it's not ideal. Headaches,nauseous, sore throats, death have all occured from people using unvented propane heaters over night in ice shacks.

When it's -30 at night the last place you will find me is spending the night in my ice fishing tent.

Guess I'm just not hard core

[AlbertanGP]

Originally Posted by does it ALL outdoors

When it's -30 at night the last place you will find me is spending the night in my ice fishing tent.

Guess I'm just not hard core

You need to change your username then.

[slabm7]

Have you looked at the chinese diesel heaters? I've watched a few youtube videos of guys using them to heat ice fishing tents and every one of them gets rave reviews. I think it is the option I will be looking at.

[calgarychef]

Originally Posted by slabm7

Have you looked at the chinese diesel heaters? I've watched a few youtube videos of guys using them to heat ice fishing tents and every one of them gets rave reviews. I think it is the option I will be looking at.

I’ve got one in a trailer and it works great. Can run it off the truck battery and it barely draws it down at all.

[horpensky]

I actually picked up one of the diesel heaters before I ended up with the propane stove. I liked the idea of it, but it was finicky to set up (if you go with a DIY build), found it didn't have the power to keep up with really cold temps (although never tried recirculating the heated air to improve efficiency, which would have helped), the pump is noisy, and constant mild smell of diesel (fuel and burn). You also need a decent sized battery to power the unit, which is another thing to have to drag around if you don't have a truck to plug into.

The propane stove has been hotter and way less of a hassle. Not quite as low hassle as the Buddy Heater, but I've had Buddy heaters either fail on me or set off the CO alarm before, so the vented propane stove has so far been definitely worth it for me.

[horpensky]

Originally Posted by ab_hunter

I use the Winnerwell Nomad in my Eskimo 650XD, I purchased it from https://canadianpreparedness.ca/

I see the appeal in the Nu Way stove but it burns the oxygen within the tent; it is hard to beat the heat and ambiance from a wood stove.

Everything will be burning oxygen from the tent unless you have a fresh air intake tied directly into it. I run a length of PVC pipe from under the tent to the stove and have had no problems.

I do agree the heat and ambience from a wood stove is hard to beat, but too many challenges for my taste.