Non-cylindrical Oil tank For RMH?

I found a free oil tank on craigslist that looks like this :



Would it work well as a stove and/or heater? Most designs I've seen use a more cylindrical oil barrel.

It should work fine for a larger RMH (8" +). The amount of surface area might be too much for a smaller system, shedding a large fraction of the heat immediately and leaving less for storage. On the other hand, if that is what you want, it would be ideal.

You could always cover part of the exterior with cob or other thermal mass to balance the instant heat to stored heat ratio.

If you were to use something like this (large, bulky and heavy), I would advise cutting an access panel into it for inspection and repair. It would be pretty hard to lift a tank this size off for those purposes, even if not covered with cob.

It would be for a 5 bedroom house; about 2200 sq ft including the basement (where it would most likely be located, although it could also be ground level) which has 2 stories above it. The wide surface on the top would probably also be used as a stovetop. Do you have any suggestions? Any idea how much wood/time it would take to heat the space? I think it would make more sense to cover some of the exterior for storage to reduce the amount of trips between floors. We could also have a smaller heater for the upper floor.

Im sure someone else  will say that it shouldnt be in the basement,as or will be out of sight and mind.
I would say build an 8" batch box,because it needs less tending.
If there is already a forced air heating system,you might be able to divert the heated air into the ducts to deliver it into the rest of the house.

Is there a chimney to tap into?

It is forced air currently and there is a chimney. There may end up being living space in the basement, which would lead to whoever is down there having the responsibility. It would also act as a dehumidifier/mold combatant, it is a bit damp down there at times- which is being worked on.

I can see it acting well as a bell / heat stratification chamber....perhaps even on another floor level to help spread the heat through the house.

Two ideas which crossed my mind.

Cut a scoop in it, which you would close with a piece of steel, to make a spot for the feed tube in the footprint of the "canister"

The other one,  fill it with bricks,

Post from first of april from Erika

https://permies.com/t/55001/Teeny-Tiny-Mass-Heater-Kickstarter

Would make a nice bell.

Using it as the outer leakproof shell of a bell, lined with bricks, would be a good way to go. The one caveat there is that you would need to cut a good-sized access panel in the top to be able to lay the bricks inside - it would be impractical at best to lower the shell over a pre-laid brick interior.

Glenn, myself, i would advise another trick. Cut four inches bellow the top.  Or something like this. Crimp the edge of the bottom part of the tank. Fill with bricks. And use the top piece as a cap. May be held with few rivets. And leak proofed with some type of braid.

Silly idea for ya, burn chamber in the basement - individual masses on each floor.

Nice hot flue gasses go up the chimney to the first floor (insulated flue pipe ?) - into a mass - from there, they go into up into the second floor (unsulated flue pipe ?) - into a mass.  From there, outside - the whole thing rising  up the whole time.

Hot air rises, so no problem there. You would have too watch the flue gas temp at the end, and your insurance would probably have a shite fit . .

Like I said - crazy idea . .