Hello, I am new to this forum and wood burning. I recently built a 50'x32'x14' shop, 2x6, insulated R20, vapor barrier with R40 in the attic. It is a shop for my farm, occasional use during the week, lots of use on weekends. I installed a used newmac nc100 "circulator" in the fall, with 6" double lined chimney. This stove will get the shop up to maybe 10-12C running hot but you really need to be there to put wood in. It would make this heat even -30 - -40C outside, which we had a long stretch of. I can turn it down and make it run longer, but very little heat and flue temps down to 200F comes out of it. I would like something to burn longer and produce more heat. I have access to good Blaze King dealer here and have done a lot of research on Princess and King. The King calls for an 8" chimney and I really dont want to change the 6" that I installed, the Princess will work with a 6" chimney and I could probably have it going tonight, if I left now. I wanted to post to get a feel from you whether there would be enough of a benefit to warrent the $2800 cost, thanks!
Heating a shop
- Thread starter Brentyboy
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Highbeam
Minister of Fire
I would be all over a wood furnace in that shop. Just without ducting. Those things are made to heat air and do it well for way less money than a residential wood stove that has been designed for a living space.
I think the key word here is "occasional". If you want to bring the envelope of a 22400 cu ft space and all the mass within it up even 15 degrees, it's going to take a huge amount of heat unless you have all day to do it. That is going to chew up wood about as fast as you can stoke the stove. A furnace is what I would use to do this. The Blaze King or Princess probably would not work out unless the space is kept heated 24/7.
Maybe look at the air controls on the Newmac? It should be able to achieve a medium burn if the wood is dry. There are other wood furnaces out there. Have you posted this question in the boiler room to get more exposure with furnace folks?
Maybe look at the air controls on the Newmac? It should be able to achieve a medium burn if the wood is dry. There are other wood furnaces out there. Have you posted this question in the boiler room to get more exposure with furnace folks?
Techstuf
New Member
A firebrick lined 30 gallon double barreled stove with secondary burn tubing loop will get you crazy long burn times and heat that shop in no time. Even a single barrel will probably do ya fine.
I've used a 55 gallon setup for years and it looks to have many more left in it. Cost me about $200.00 including $20.00 to have the local metal guy cut the holes and $40.00 in firebrick to build it right. Took a couple hours to put it together. I've recently installed a primary air baffle on the bottom to get more O2 to the rear of the stove to fill out the flame plume. Really helps prevent coal build up as well.
Not the cuddliest looking heater one could want, but it sure does the trick very well. I inspect mine for metal fatigue every season, and in four years I've yet to find any.
TS
I've used a 55 gallon setup for years and it looks to have many more left in it. Cost me about $200.00 including $20.00 to have the local metal guy cut the holes and $40.00 in firebrick to build it right. Took a couple hours to put it together. I've recently installed a primary air baffle on the bottom to get more O2 to the rear of the stove to fill out the flame plume. Really helps prevent coal build up as well.
Not the cuddliest looking heater one could want, but it sure does the trick very well. I inspect mine for metal fatigue every season, and in four years I've yet to find any.
TS
The was a like-new barrel-heater I took out, for insurance reasons. I have to have a CSA/ULC etc rated appliance for insurance or yeah, barrel heater would be great.
CZARCAR said:
My little shop has a 10' ceiling, well insulated, with an accessible ventilated attic storage space above. I have a ceiling fan that I routinely run on medium speed updraft while I'm burning the shop stove. It does a fantastic job of circulating the heat from up high down along the perimeter walls of the shop. Even the stuff inside my wall cabinets gets warm. I just pulled the stairway down to go up & get something from the attic, and the attic temp is basically outside ambient (currently about 34F). The shop's at about 75F. I'll bet that I lose less heat to the attic by keeping the shop air circulating than I would if I didn't use the fan and just let the air stratify. The temp at the ceiling would be a good deal higher without the fan running, so the heat transfer through the ceiling into the attic would increase. And the shop wouldn't be nearly as comfortable. Rick
TechStuff does have a point, a barrel stove would work if you have the room to maintain safe clearances. If not, I'm with Highbean. I'd consider a basic Englander 28-3500 Furnace and would duct it with 8" round pipe run at least half the length of the building to distribute the heat better and faster throughout the building.
Could always put a hole in the roof and have a nice big open pit fire in the middle of the shop... Definitely the lowest price in the short term...
Just make sure you maintain 36" CTC
Just make sure you maintain 36" CTC
lexybird
Minister of Fire
another idea is get (2) englander NC30 in opposing corners and run box fans behind them ,no doubt thats a lot of area to heat
This is why i love internet forums so much. I hope your other 547 posts were as beneficial to the world.karri0n said:Could always put a hole in the roof and have a nice big open pit fire in the middle of the shop... Definitely the lowest price in the short term...
Just make sure you maintain 36" CTC
With that much area, not being heated 24/7 you'll need an absurd amount of heat to bring up the temp. Only 2 choices that I can see that have the ability (since you dropped the barrel stove idea) is a wood fired furnace or a boiler. You will need the ability to move the heat "forcefully", so a furnace fan or piping the water is also a good fit for that.
I would lean towards the furnace if this is simply for the shop, but if you are going to make the investment, you might want to research gassifiers with storage and use it for the house as well. Just a thought.
I would lean towards the furnace if this is simply for the shop, but if you are going to make the investment, you might want to research gassifiers with storage and use it for the house as well. Just a thought.
myzamboni
Minister of Fire
Brentyboy, the smiley at the end of the post was to show karri0n was joking. We are not a tough crowd around here, but we do have a sense of humor.
BeGreen's recommendation of a furnace with some ducting to distribute the heat sound like a good plan.
BeGreen's recommendation of a furnace with some ducting to distribute the heat sound like a good plan.
My sincere apologies for attempting to bring a bit of humor into the post. A useless post it may be, but it wasn't useless as well as blatantly rude. I was under the impression that you had been given your best options, which are either a wood fired furnace or more than one (cheaper) stove.
The space is likely too big for a wood stove, even the massive BKK. A wood(or any other fuel) furnace is better suited for the application. Since it's a shop, I would imagine aesthetics aren't that much of an issue, but if they are and you're dead set on a stove as the solution, then as the other person posted, 2 Englanders might be better than a BKK since you will be getting a much higher BTU per dollar spent.
The space is likely too big for a wood stove, even the massive BKK. A wood(or any other fuel) furnace is better suited for the application. Since it's a shop, I would imagine aesthetics aren't that much of an issue, but if they are and you're dead set on a stove as the solution, then as the other person posted, 2 Englanders might be better than a BKK since you will be getting a much higher BTU per dollar spent.
Thanks for all the advice, by far the best so far, never really thought about a furnace until put into this perspective, will pursue it further, may have saved spending on the wrong appliance plus divorce (warned not to spend any more money on shop)
Brentyboy said:
A furnace will really have a much better shot at heating your area than a single stove will. There are some models out there that are a pretty good bang for your buck too.
And for the record, stay away from open firepits in the shop. Insurance companys dislike those more than barrel stoves. ;-P
Jimbob
Minister of Fire
If I were heating a shop like that, I would consider one of these:
http://www.outsidewoodheater.com/
It has a few advantages:
1) doesn't take up any floor space in the shop.
2) Installs outside, so insurance SHOULDN'T have a problem with it, no bump protection needed.
3) Big firebox means you can fill it up with a LOT of wood.
Sask. doesn't have any regulations requiring EPA stoves so you should be okay, besides you aren't burning it everyday anyway.
I just spent $2000 of your money, but freed up ~ 9 sq.ft. of usable floor space.....:D
http://www.outsidewoodheater.com/
It has a few advantages:
1) doesn't take up any floor space in the shop.
2) Installs outside, so insurance SHOULDN'T have a problem with it, no bump protection needed.
3) Big firebox means you can fill it up with a LOT of wood.
Sask. doesn't have any regulations requiring EPA stoves so you should be okay, besides you aren't burning it everyday anyway.
I just spent $2000 of your money, but freed up ~ 9 sq.ft. of usable floor space.....:D
As other people have pointed out, it's going to take a tremendous amount of energy to bring the shop up to temp from a cold start. You're dealing with not just the ambient temperature, but the temperature of the walls, floor, and most importantly, tools. I have my woodworking and blacksmith shop in my attached 2-car garage and, trust me, cold cast iron and steel mak for lousy shop time.
Unless you're totally stuck on wood has a heat source, I would recommend a direct-vent gas heater. I have an old Guardian model with a thermostat that I keep set to 45 degrees when I'm not in the shop. When I'm in the shop I turn it up to 60 and it warms up in about 15 minutes. I love my wood stoves for heating my home, but I would never want one in my shop. If I spent 8 hours a day in my shop it would be a different story!
Josh
Unless you're totally stuck on wood has a heat source, I would recommend a direct-vent gas heater. I have an old Guardian model with a thermostat that I keep set to 45 degrees when I'm not in the shop. When I'm in the shop I turn it up to 60 and it warms up in about 15 minutes. I love my wood stoves for heating my home, but I would never want one in my shop. If I spent 8 hours a day in my shop it would be a different story!
Josh
Jimbob
Minister of Fire
The tons of thermal mass inside the well-insulated shop will work to your advantage once the building is warmed up. It'll stay above freezing for days without a fire. Also, if you know you are going to be working in the shop a day ahead of time you could build a fire before you go to bed and let 'er go all night, then re-stoke in the morning.
lexybird
Minister of Fire
I was thinking about a radiant tube, but then there will be alot of expense to run gas line down to shop, plus the gas bill, maybe not a bad investment though. You know what this winter has been like, your not that far away, but the more I read, the more I think maybe im not doing that bad, it has not been below 0c/32F in the shop all winter and the little stove will get temps in the shop of 10-12cJimbob said:
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