duck work question

[ken b]

I would like a little help. I’m making an outside wood heater out of 2 75-gallon hot water heaters. I have done my homework on making the wood heater; I have chosen the tanks over the 55-gallon drums. All the heaters were in for inside use. I have no room for that here. With that said here is the question. I have no duck work in my house and not planning to put any in. I just put an in port and an out port of 12 or 16 inches. With out doing the duck in metal is there anything else I can use? I could not find any info on that.
All have a nice day
Ken b

 

[blackdoggy]

Are you wanting to know if there are alternative materials that ducts can be made out of besides galvanized steel? If you looking for duct alternatives I have several I can come up with for you including one product that was featured on this old house.

 

[ken b]

Yes, is there anything else then galvanized steel. I was thing on a flexible one, but don’t know if it can stand up to the heat going through it. heater will be about 10 foot from the house. Some thing that good and not cost a lot.

 

[Al Smith]

Look up a material called "fiber duct".This is a composition type stuff used instead of metal.You just cut it out like a jigsaw puzzle and put it together with metal duct tape.

It's not as good as 24 gauge insulated metal but it's easy to work with and less costly.

 

[blackdoggy]

Try this and see if they have what you want www.audubonsupply.com .

 

[ken b]

thanks for the info. going to look now

 

[Vibes]

I don't think you can use ductboard if it's going to be exposed to weather. Duct board is made of fiber glass, and it will probably breakdown from sunlite and rain. I install ductwork for a living and can tell you that it is not a quality product. Yea you can cut it and make it your self, but the airflow isn't as good, and time will tell how long the stuffs going to last until breakdown occurs. I myself don't want to be breathing fiberglass particles.


Why don't you want to install galvanized metal? If its a cost thing, go to a construction site and see if they have any ductwork they are pitching. They would be happy to give it to you. Get yourself some tech screws , a grinder and some duct seal and make yourself an intake. If you have the capability to make a stove out of hot water tanks, surely you can make some duct. Also try any of the HVAC companys in the area. they always have stuff that they demoed laying around. Chances are you can get yourself a good used blower to put in there.

Flex duct wouldn;t be a good choice either. Same thing. Durability airflow problems. I know they use miles of it in residential construction but thats cause its cheep to install, not because its good. With the cost of energy being what it is these days, it really pays to have a good working system. Whats the sence of having a 90% effecient furnace if the airflow isn't good.