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help with deciding on cooker ring please

 
Posts: 80
Location: Leicester, UK 8b,
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forest garden trees bee
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Hi, I live in a shed, mostly made of disassembled pallets and skippings. It's lined but no insulation (yet - unless you count the rows of books on the inside!), old gas cylinder wood burner with hot plate, & windows!
So far I have been managing with outdoor fire or tiny cylinder camping gaz burner. I want to do something more substantial, reliable, convenient. I would happily make a wood burning rocket cook stove outside but I don't think my shed is upto anything inside. So i need a gas burner inside so I can boil a kettle asap even when its dark, teaming with rain etc..
I am rubbish at making decisions and fret about doing it all wrong so I'm hoping you'll all throw in your opinions - thanks!

My thoughts

Propane not butane - it def gets below 5C here and I think I'm not going to be keeping the stove going just so the gas um works/gases
Large cylinders are easy to get nearby but small cannisters are a pain to get from a shop and don't last so well & not re-usable container.

The question :
So should I get a camping lightweight thing that would suffice but definitely be appropriate or should I get a cast iron burner like this ? but it's rated at 4.5 kW for the one 4" ring and that's the smallest i can find of this sort of build. Its about 10" square . I really have no idea if this is just tooo big ? Any help please. Has anyone tried these? Can you have a ring that is too hot? but its got a tap for the gas why can't I just keep it low ? aggh !!! Please help!!(yes I am one of those folks who lies awake at night stressing about stupid things


 
steward & bricolagier
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One thing I like about the cast iron as opposed to a lightweight camping ring is it's harder to accidentally flip it over. In a small space, with lots of hazards, that might be worth considering :)
As for whether it's too hot/too big, it depends on what you cook on it. Ramen or tea is one thing, pot roast is another. Quick stuff can use a cheap burner, heavier stuff would do better on a heavier burner, and the heavy burner will cook quick stuff too.

And don't discount the insulation value of books, one of my ex's put all his bookshelves, which are sized for no spaces between books or at the top side of a shelf (very tight fits) on the uninsulated walls of his room, with plastic garbage bags on the wall behind them as a vapor barrier. REALLY improved the temperature in there!
 
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Location: In the woods, West Coast USA
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Cesca, yes, I've found propane to be the best source of heat and running a burner.   It's easy to store a few propane tanks and not worry about them leaking or the propane going bad.

Here's a nice brand, look at their 2-burner stoves that are stable and can use a propane tank.  Also check out their table-top models.  These come with regulators in the line, and that's important.  Something along these lines will work well.

https://www.campchef.com/two-burner-stove-explorer.htmlj

A lot of these burners will say whether they are safe to be used indoors.  You should also get a carbon monoxide alarm that runs on batteries to be sure whatever you are using isn't building up inside.

I have the burner in your photo and it's very big, and quite high.  It always feels like whatever I put on it could slide to one side or the other if it's not put on there just right.  It takes up a lot of room.

It's also nice to have a portable small generator that can run a heater in a pinch.  A quality small one can go several hours on less than a gallon of gas (sorry, I don't know the liters for that)  During the worst of the weather it's nice to have on hand.  It also runs tools for building and repair.




 
cesca beamish
Posts: 80
Location: Leicester, UK 8b,
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forest garden trees bee
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Excellent information thank you.
Good point about a CO  indicator.
Thanks
 
cesca beamish
Posts: 80
Location: Leicester, UK 8b,
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forest garden trees bee
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just in case anyone else looks at this ..
I got one with a flame failure device on so the gas cuts out if the flame goes and definitely designed for indoor use. I concluded the burning quality / exhaust was considered in the design. And propane bottle outside the cabin.
 
I got this tall by not having enough crisco in my diet as a kid. This ad looks like it had plenty of shortening:
Heat your home with the twigs that naturally fall of the trees in your yard
http://woodheat.net
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