Best Wind protection?


 
Charles Howse

Charles Howse

TVWBB Wizard
Hi All,
Is there anyone a water heater jacket for protecting the WSM from wind?

Of all the wind protection listed on this site, the water heater jacket sounds best to me. No need to be concerned with plywood rotting or expensive enclosures.

Any first-hand comment?
 
Here you go Charles. This is a pretty good discussion on the topic.

Cold weather and beer has inspired me.


Personaly I went the plywood and insulating foam route. I live in an area where it gets windy in the summer and this will give me the ability to block wind in the summer when it's warm and the winter when it..... isn't.

BTW, solved the plywood rotting problem by running duct tape around the edges of the plywood. one of these days I'll get around to posting pictures.
 
I made an insulated jacket from foil-faced water heater insulation and a roll of foil tape that I got from Home Depot a couple weeks ago.

The jacket was cut to fit around the center section (about 61" x 15" if memory serves) and attached it by using the section's hardware and flat washers. The ends of the blanket were taped together. I don't care about accessing the side door but it would be easy enough to trim around it so it can be opened.

I also used the insulation to rig up a cover for the lid and the combimation worked like a charm. I'm guessing it extended my burn time by more than 50% in single digit outside temps.

I don't know what temperature the insulation is rated for so I left the charcoal bowl exposed just to play it safe. I use a Guru Pitminder and all my intake vents are taped over so I'm not concerned about what direction the wind was from.

Total cost was around $24.
 
ROB O -
Glad your enclosure is working for you. Just think I can do a better job with sissors than with a saw.

Ken -
I read here somewhere that the jacket should only go around the cooking section, but I couldn't understand why. It makes sense to me that one should cover the lid to keep it warm, too.

How long have you been using this jacket?
 
I think the only concern would be that the jacket would block the top vent. Make a cover fo the lid with an opening for the vent and it should work fine
 
I too have made a plywood windbreak. Admitidly, it is a tad flimsy as the plywood I used was really thin. But, it does work and I will be building a thicker one this spring.

It gets windy here by the lake so I need both a winter/summer wind break which is why I go with the plywood! Works great...looks not so great!
icon_rolleyes.gif
 
Charles

Beyond ensuring the top vent is not blocked, I see no reason not to insulate the lid to some extent.

The cover I made for my lid is pretty low-tech. I didn't know how well it would work so I didn't waste any time making pie-shaped pieces to form a compound curved 'hat' for the lid.

A band of insulation about 7" tall was wrapped around the base of the lid and the ends were taped together to make a snug fit. I have a thermometer mounted in the lid so I slit the insulation to fit behind its face.

Another band about 6" wide was then slit to fit over the handle and its ends were attached to the lower band with the foil tape. I wasn't interested in covering the lid completely and this arrangement doesn't block the top vent at all.

All the edges of the blanket are covered with the foil tape, so there's no exposed fiberglass. Since the jacket is attached to the center section by its machine screws and nuts, I may just paint it black to keep from going blind when the sun hits it and leave it on year-round.

I've used mine twice with the jacket on. Once for a long overnight butt cook and again during a four-hour bacon bash.

Hope I've explained this satisfactorily.

Ken
 
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