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whole thread of thoughts on shop heat

Bill

Unless you're planning on spraying paint without a fan running or splashing solvent on the stove I'd be more concerned about having to split and stack 16 cords of firewood myself.
But if either of the earlier is likely to happen.... skip the woodstove idea.

Cutting, splitting, loading, unloading, stacking, carry it inside. All of this will keep you in shape until you throw your back out or tear up a shoulder. I can't stop thinking about all of the time and labor that firewood takes that I could be spending on redoing all of the repairs on my truck that I did wrong in the first place.
Carl

Does "good ventilation" mean you would only stay warm if you stood right near the stove? It all depends on the insulation in the pole barn and the size of the pole barn. If it's big'ish and no insulation and air leaks.....wear long underwear. They do have those propane heaters that work very well. Sits on top of a propane tank or they have them for football players on the bench. You may need that kind of localized heat in a barn. You would have to have a raging inferno/stove and may burn it down trying to stay warm. Forced air Torpedo heaters at Home Depot are $100 propane 60,000 BTU, $300 Kerosene, 100,000 BTU. We have the same birthday. Happy New Year.

I've been burning wood in a woodstove in my 20x30 shop for neary 2 decades. It is the warmest heat I've gotten over kerosene heaters, small propane heaters and small electric heat.

As been pointed out, no large scale painting, no large scale wood working (the dust is flammable), no splashing/spraying of any flammable liquids near the stove, no storage of flammable material near the stove and don't run "hot" fires when the shop is going to be unattended. You can idle down a fire to where it will just maintain enough draft to keep the embers hot enough to refire fresh wood when you return.

Fire properly managed is one of our greatest tools, uncontrolled it's one of our biggest killers a destroyers....
Dave

Check with your insurance company about heating your shop with a wood burner. You just might be surprised with what they have to say.

Bruce, get yourself a outdoor wood boiler. You can use the wood for fuel and not have an open flame in the shop. Used heat coils are easy to find to put inside the shop. Don

Back when I was living in upstate new York, I had a double wide manufactured home. Electric heat. I bought a wood burning barrel kit and made a 55 gal metal barrel wood burning stove. 30 inch logs cut to feed it . house was 28 x 70 feet and would warm up to 90 degrees no problem. I would get a double barrel kit, 300,000 btu's with a good fire,should work good with a pole barn. Kits are sold all over, do a google search, Might be a cheap eazy setup. One I built in new York in 1979 if I remember was around $175.00 complete at that time and saved me a $500 electric bill per month. Just a thought.

Jbennett

Bruce, I use a two head propane heater mounted on a 100 lb. bottle that I roll to where I need it using a two wheel dolly. It won't keep the whole garage warm but parking it next to the '38 for a few minutes makes things in the area nice and toasty.

They'll probably give you a big fat NO unless its an airtight installed by a pro, and inspected by their adjuster or someone equally qualified.
Been there, done that.

Living in Upstate NY where winter cold is the norm a lot of people here heat with some source of wood. The outside burner is great if the area allows it. Some cities/towns won't let you use. A friend had a double barrel woodburner in his garage when I worked part time for him. A funny yet serious story while there. The owner tossed some newspaper, kindling and a couple logs in and to no avail wouldn't catch. Sooo...he grabs a soup can with a quarter full of laquer thinner and tossing in the opened door. Swoosh...looked like an afterburner kicked in on a fighter jet. He turns around as we were screamin and laughing at the same time, are you alright. When he turned around he had no eyebrows, no moustache and a very red sunburn. He was lucky that was all that happened. So if you put a woodburner in please follow some precautiosn and use commom sense
Dan

Those 50 gallon drum heater kits are a fire hazard. Get a good woodburner if you go that direction.

When I lived in Maryland, I had a 28'x32' shop. I bought an old furnace from a mobile home for $75.00.I had a 55 gal barrel of keroscene sitting outside the back wall and just piped a line into the furnace.I didn't even use a thermostat, just wired it up thru a switch.
The thing would run a few minutes to heat-up, then the fan would kick on and it'd be nice in there after 10-15 minutes...Cost very little to run it, I think it burned about ½ gal and hour

I have fuel oil and a cold windy day I'll go thru 10 gallons. During the winter I don't work for me, I am working for the petroleum companies. It averages about $800-900 a month.

You need exactly what starving Ethiopians need, a moving van.

This may not be for everyone but for me it works.
I have a pellet stove in my shop. This to me is the best way to produce wood heat. Absolutely a very efficient burn, no mess, bugs, wood stacking, no chimney required just a small vent, handling and splitting of wood is eliminated. More shop time for my truck. A 5.00 bag of pellets last for 11 hrs. Firewood around here ready for the stove sells for $275. The pellet stove will cost a little more up front than a wood stove but the fuel savings will easily offset that. $275 will buy me 55 bags @ $5 per bag, or 550 hrs of heat @ around 45 cents per hr.
My shop is well insulated and is 20 x 24.

Bruce it really depends on what you will be doing in the shop. The problem with a wood stove is you can’t walk over and turn it off. And an open flame while using anything flammable (painting, cleaning solvents, etc.) isn’t a good thing.

Also, if you do woodworking projects, wood dust and an open flame isn’t a good idea either.

Propane, gas and fuel oil heaters have the same issues but they can simply be turned off.. But fuel oil turns to jelly when it gets really cold.

Having an un-insulated shop and living in South Dakota means you need a lot of BTU’s. I’d go with propane or natural gas.

I live near Denver and have a 20 x 40 shop that I insulated really, really well. I use (2) 7500 BTU 220 V electric heaters. They work great. But for your shop electric ain’t the way to go.

That’s my thoughts.

Good luck to ya.