Wood Stove for Shop Heat

[jclark5810]

This has been covered here and there in the past but was hoping for some updated info. I'm looking to heat the shop with a wood stove. I can get as much wood as I want, my costs would be to procure an old stove and clean it up, then install. Is this an efficient way to go? In my neck of the woods, winter at worst is only down in the high teens low 20's during the day so i'm thinking it should be sufficient for a work space. The shop is 20x40.

 

[TJJEEPER]

Way back I had a small wood stove in my shop. The temps were milder (California) but a small fire in the morning would take the chill off to make it comfortable. The stove I have was a cheap one that wasn't totally air tight so I couldn't bank a fire overnight.

A couple things to consider:
How often are you using flammable liquids in the shop? What are the Air Quality rules in your area.


Flammables will dictate how high you need to keep it off the floor and/or whether your stove should use outside air for combustion. This doesn't negate the problem when you open it to stoke the fire!


Air quality rules in California (where I currently live) pretty much rules out a woodstove. During the winter months there are many many no burn days. YMMV depending on where you live.

With all that, a 20X40 should be pretty easy to heat, especially if you can bank a fire overnight. Some of the 55 gallon barrel retrofit kits are pretty efficient and would be more than enough. The nice thing about the wood stove is a place to keep your coffee warm!

 

[BIGNASTY]

Don't know how big your shop is (guess I should have read your entire post) but I have two of these stoves, both are Two Barrel stoves (which I suggest) the second barrel radiates LOTS O HEAT more than just the one barrel. Install a good tight chimney and you wont smell a thing. I also had my FIL weld up some rebar to make a firewood grate to keep the wood off the barrel it lasts longer and works twice a well. On one of the lower barrels he welded a plate that keeps my coffee pot super hot.

There is 2 different links


http://vogelzang.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_105

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6ztN_lGnGc


good luck.

BIG

 

[TJJEEPER]

Don't know how big your shop is (guess I should have read your entire post) but I have two of these stoves, both are Two Barrel stoves (which I suggest) the second barrel radiates LOTS O HEAT more than just the one barrel. Install a good tight chimney and you wont smell a thing. I also had my FIL weld up some rebar to make a firewood grate to keep the wood off the barrel it lasts longer and works twice a well. On one of the lower barrels he welded a plate that keeps my coffee pot super hot.

There is 2 different links


http://vogelzang.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_105

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6ztN_lGnGc


good luck.

BIG

You can also line the bottom half with fire bricks. Just lay them in there and it'll never burn the bottom out!
If you build one of these, burn off the barrel paint FIRST before painting it!

 

[BIGNASTY]

I tried the fire brick, they did work for keeping barrel from burning up. I felt that it was just to much of a PITA to remove them all and clean out the ash and put them all back. It was much faster to pull out the grate, scoop out the ash and put the grate back in and lite another fire in the UNPAINTED BARRELS. I really wasn't and still aren't to worried about the aesthetics ITS A SHOP HEATER!!

 

[jclark5810]

How often are you using flammable liquids in the shop? What are the Air Quality rules in your area.

I store the normal aerosol cans for auto maintenance as well as a couple of gas jugs for the mower/quad/etc. Nothing major though. The air quality thing concerns me though because it's been a hot topic of late. I left CA to get away from all the regulations but apparently there's only so much you can do. I think I would be fine but there's really no telling I guess.

Big i like the idea of those barrels, I duck refuge we use to shoot at had those in an outdoor overhang. Spent many a night sitting next to it and it worked great. Might be a good idea to build it cheap and test the waters for a few years before I buy and refurb a big iron job.

 

[SSage]

I would just look around for a wood heater used. We heat our house with a square one that has a heat guard thing around it thats vented.

In the old shop we used a barrel heater home made kit thingy, they work fine too if you can keep things away from it. The commercially made heaters for homes are far safer, in a shop I would want one thats enclosed in a vented box, you can bump into those without burning yourself. Just sold a small solid iron one with a glass door, I rather have the enclosed type. But if you have a fire pace or a stone hearth area and regular iron stove would work, in an open area I would go this route:

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[jclark5810]

I had thought about the little one running into the stove, there are more on the way so that's something to consider.

 

[Alphonse]

Joe, Many years ago I heated my house with a Fisher stove. They are built like tanks and are still around on the used market for reasonable prices. You can run them closed which is more efficient or run them open like a free standing fireplace. They are a hoot and work like champs.

Here is a link to some photos:
https://www.google.com/search?q=fisher+stoves&espv=2&biw=1680&bih=863&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CBwQsARqFQoTCKjI6J_y6MgCFQlZPgodN00MMw