Since moving to Western Wash from SoCAl, this is the first winter in my new shop and it’s too cold to work in and I need to heat it or nothing will get done. My shop consists of a 26’x74′ with and average ceiling height of 10′ It is insulated with r19 in the walls and R19 will be “blown in” in the ceiling soon. It also has 3 roll-up doors 10’w x8’H. and they have some insulative properties. The main purpose is for woodworking and that is why I’m leaning towards the ait tight stove. I would even consider oil burning, but I really don’t want an oil tank mounted outside since I already have a 250gal propane tank outside. Propane is around $1.70 a gallon delivered when filled on a leased tank. The shop will eventually be reduced down to 26×54, once I finished sealing off a section for a game room for the kids(and a English syle bar tucked in the corner for me…)
I have access to propane, electric, and wood(log or pellets). My first thought is to use a air-tight stove with or with a fan and avoid the electric heat. I will use this quite a bit and Running the pipe and/propane is not an issue, but since I don’t realy know which will be more efficient. I really want something that will heat up quickly and slow down to a slow burn. Nor do I want to get up at 6AM and have to wait 3 hours to be comfortable. I tend to be more on the spontanious side so I’m not really good at planning when I’ll be working in it. Spending $1000 on a stove is not out of the question, but as cheap as possible is better. Ugly is ok as long as it works.
Can anyone give input?? Whta’s your feeling on pellets vs. wood ??? Since I won’t be using the shop when there is no electricity, pellets would be fine.
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I'm also in Western Washington and when my shop gets built it's going to be heated with a propane stove for the main area and a propane wall heater for the office. Electricity is relatively cheap here but it's still more per BTU than gas. A lot of folks use oil but like you we already have a propane tank and I don't want to put another tank on the property. A wood stove will not operate on a thermostat, while a pellet stove will and may be a viable choice. I have no experience with pellet stoves but have talked to more than a few folks who have gotten rid of them in favor of gas. Bottom line for me is I want a thermostat with a timer for the shop, and flame heat without a fan... so I'm going propane.
you said cheap ad ugly is ok
be careful, becasue some of the cheap and ugly can create real problems when you are heating and using a glue/solvent/sealer that is combustable
one of my areas has a Lopi pellet stove. a good brand, yet with the lights off at night, you can see through to some areas directly to the firebox, and one of the spots , becasuse of its functin would be difficult to seal
because of that late night brewski wiht most lights off and a , whats that vision, I will not use a combustable liquid/vapor when the pellet stove is on
maybe Im being paranoid
but I had a good friend that got blown across a shop, and lost his shop and a bit of his house when a gas water heater and fumes from some fiberglassing stuff went kaboom
and we all know, humans, unlike cats, dont have nine lives
so if its flame, make sure its sealed and vented externally ( intake and exsaust)
Let me rephrase the cheap part. I ment inexepensive. This only meaning that I have a limited amount of money I can spend and I don't care if it's cast iron or steel. I don't want porcelin coating and a little rust won't hurt. Efficiency and clean burn are important.
I am aware of sealing issues of the combustion chamber and I do appreciate your advise of caution
There was a thread over at Knots I think that was talking about an efficient sawdust burning stove. It might not be the full answer, but it might be a good way to get rid of that as well. The guy said he can put a load in at night and it will still be burning in the morning.
I think the thread was something to the effect of 'getting rid of sawdust'... just a few days ago.
Monitor besides making K-1 heaters also makes some that run on natural gas/ propane. They use outside air for combustion. Might be worth a look.
http://www.monitorproducts.com/products/gf200.html
what you need is a wall heat pump. wood stove going take a least a 10x10 area, then fumes danger. electric heat , too high and then fumes danger. propane same. That least raiant floor or heat pump
I too, like the idea of a direct-vent heater in a garage. I did that both for the safety (combustibles vapors) and tightness. A Monitor heater or any of the similar heaters by others can be set at a vacation setting and then turned up when you are going to work out there.
I'd consider looking for something in which the heater itself or a thermostat could be dialed up remotely. Scenerio: Wake up Saturday morning. Hit the remote button. Shower. Coffee. Bowl of Wheaties. Head out to shop which is now at a decent temperature.
I love my RFH garage for even heat, snow melting the cars and evaporating the melt water. But it is NOT quick on or quick off. That said, if you would maintain a vacation setting (45-50F) anyway, RFH can be cheap. Use less tubing than usual (one linear foot per 2 square feet for instance) and heat it with a hot water heater, direct-vent preferred. Readily available in propane. Put the floor on one circ pump/thermostat. Leave it at 45F Control another circ pump from a second thermostat (with remote option) and feed baseboards or a forced air hydronic unit (automotive radiators are both cheap AND ugly, but they work great). That's where the quick heat comes from.David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
Gas-fired infrared heaters are frequently used in auto repair shops.
fire...
works well...
been around for a very long time...
hellava invention...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Curling up with another friendly human.Also works well.Been around even longer.Hard to run the table saw that way, though.But maybe you wouldn't care.David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
make that several and you'll be too tired to bother..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
I worked in Austria during the seventies in a cabinet shop -- the owner would get ther by 6 or so and he had 2 55 gallon oil barrels in the shop -- it was the first floor of an apartment building. All year we would save all the doors/windows and scraps that we had left from the cabinets in a wood room and he would start the fire each morning with these cast-aways. This is what he had for heat -- the 2 drums stood on end, on conconcret blocks and all were lined with fire bricks right up to the top -- out the back side was a 6" flue going to the building main flue that all heaters in the building fed into. The top was 1/4" steel that was hinged at the back. The place was tosty by the time we arrived at 7 and glue and finishes cured well in this shop. We had some 200+ year old pieces that were having the veneer repaired, reglued, and polihed that looked like they came from one of the near by castles/palaces. We worked in tee shirts so you know it was comfortable.
we use to put a CI stove in the basement and burn the scraps of houses we worked on...
bank the fire when we left.. bring it back to life in the morning.... the more things got closed up the better the working conditions...
when the real heating plant went in we'd pull the stove and save the scraps for the next project...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
you seen my rig...much better now than when you were here, i plugged some more holes in the house..amazing how much wood that thing can eat..Voglesang all the way!
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Migraine, I’ll be building a new shop in the spring and like you I will have propane available and be dealing with very cold winters. Right now my number one choice for heat is an overhead infrared tube. I plan on installing a wood burner as well to burn scraps and supplement the propane heat.
You may want to consider keeping the shop warm 24/7 for several reasons and just a few are: One your tools with thank you, when brining a very cold shop temp up quickly it takes a while for metal to come up to temp too and will condensate like a cold glass of iced tea in the summer. Remember too, many things like paints, stains and glues will be ruined if it freezes. By keeping the shop in the 50’s when your not using it, that is still a workable temp and you can get going right away while the temp is coming up to a more comfortable level.