Gasser in a Shop?

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bpirger

Minister of Fire
May 23, 2010
632
Ithaca NY Area
So my $15,000 quote for a Garn 1500 (with the horizontal chimney, water stuff, shipping from MN, etc.) has me looking harder at the alternatives.....Geez that is a lot of money!

I just built a 2200 sqft garage/shop, attached to the house. Radiant in the slab of course.

Initiially I wanted an outdoor gasser. OK, none available with storage, GARN would be great but I'd have 20K in it after the garn barn, insulation, piping, etc. Spending 10K on an outdoor gasser without any history scares me. Econoburn firebox is too small...22" length max....and no storage. CB has had a nightmare. Empyre and all the others...who knows. Minimal storage though.

SO then my thinking leads me to looking at the indoor gassers and storage in an outbuilding. Boiler and 1000 gallons about $10K....plus the building, piping, etc. Maybe down to $15K range now all said and done.

So now my thinking has me exploring an indoor boiler and storage in my new garage/shop space. Many advantages: Building is built (well, almost), overhead door immediately beside stove, mess is outside the house, though in the garage, can load wood easily, lost heat is kept in the garage, don't need to buy 140' of insulated pex (that's over $1K), don't need to build YET ANOTHER outbuilding (though I will need another woodshed...but my wife is looking forward to it!). Biggest disadvantage to me is the room it consumes (though I can easily survive) and the biggest concern I have is fire.

Chimney will be much cleaner than the current woodstove...not concerned about that. If I use the garage/shop as a shop, how much do I need to worry about this draft induced gasser sucking in whatever fumes might be created in the shop and causing trouble?

1. Sawdust in the air....there will be lots of this (I hope!)
2. Polyurethane and other fumes....
3. Spilt gasoline
4. Whatever else I might play with....typically woodshop/garage stuff.

Back in '76 I lost a little brother in a house fire that started by spilt gasoline and a hot water heater pilot light. I have always had a tremendous respect (fear) for all things explosive, especially gas (natural or gasoline). I was dead against putting the gasser in the garage for this reason. I've burned wood in the woodstove forever, so no issues with that. Dry wood, clean the chimney, do it right.

So I also know many folks have woodstoves/furnances in their garages for decades....and who knows what is spilt in there.

Am I overly concerned? WIll the sawdust and fumes just turn into a little extra heat in the gasser?

Thanks for your comments!
 
From a firefighter and a indoor boiler owner I would say that if you planned on a garn and have a place detached from the house then go for it. I have a eko 60 in my pole barn 150' from my house, this gives me peace knowing if something did happen I still have a place to live. These boilers are very safe and clean so chances are you would never have a problem. I do not like the smoke I get from loading mine but much has changed in the new boilers since I bought mine. I have never seen a garn in person but I also have heard nothing but great things about them.

Just my $.02

Rob
 
I have an EKO40 in a room attached to my garage and have absolutely no concern with fire.

The gasifiaction boilers (when burning properly seasoned wood) produce absolutely no creosote and thus there is nothing to catch on fire.

NWM
 
Saw dust can be very explosive. Most insurance companys wont let you put it in a shop, even if in it's own room. Thats why I'm putting mine in a shed. My insurance said no problem to put in house , but not the shop.
 
My Tarm Solo Plus 40 is in my shop along with 1000 gal pressurized storage, all feeding in-floor radiant with a unit heater to supplement as needed. I too generate sawdust, fumes, etc., and did have a concern about the possibility of fire/explosion. The solution is two-fold: 1) air cleaners plus exhaust fan to clear the shop if the boiler needs to be fired after some heavy sawing or finishing; and 2) after the boiler is fired and tank is heated to 180F+, boiler is "off" and heating only is from storage with no fire/explosion hazard from the boiler.

I soon will be posting the story with pictures of setting up the Tarm in my new shop, which was moved from my old shop.
 
I think I might be restating what has been said above:


You should be able to install an indoor gasser (EKO, Tarm, etc) with 1,000 gallons of storage, complete, for $15k if you do the install yourself. I know I did, and I bought brand new 500 gallon propane tanks which were not cheap.

If you have 1,000 gallons of storage you should easily be able to time your fires so that the boiler is not actually burning during your peak wood-working hours.
 
There have been several discussions on this topic here in the past.

Some have checked with their insurance co's and/or code officials and found that solid fuel burners aren't allowed in
any space with a vehicle. The thought is that if there was a significant fuel leak from the vehicle, it could pool and ignite.
It's a real concern - I believe someone recently had a link to an accident where one or two people were killed - semi-commercial
auto repair shop, fuel spill, and boom.

Sawdust, on the other hand, is probably a far-fetched issue. I believe the amount of dust necessary to create the right fuel-air
concentration for combustion would require a significant dust source right at the air intake for the boiler.

I have a wood stove in my detached garage/shop - hopefully soon to be replaced by a wood boiler to feed the radiant tubes in the floor.

It's a small stove, so it generally doesn't run long when I'm not there. When I hook up the boiler, I'll set it fairly high, and might
eventually bring in an outside air source. I have a couple gas cans, which I currently keep at the other end of the building. I'm
hoping to eventually have them outside in some sort of shed/lean-to.

My recommendation would be to first check into the insurance & code ramifications for your area. Next, give serious thought to
the potential for an accident in your circumstances and what the effects would be if something did happen. Beyond that, it's
the same risk/benefit analysis that we all face with most things we do in life.

Don
 
Yes, same decision that everyone else has to make. I was just looking for insights, stories, experiences, etc. I suspect in the end I'll put it outside in its own building...then I don't ever have to worry.

Build a big woodshed right there as well....just not quite as simple to tend and costs considerably more.....
 
One of the things I like about the Garn is that it uses outside air for combustion. It's not drawing air from your shop/garage/out building to feed the fire. That pretty much eliminates the possibility of a vapor fed fire or explosion except during fuel loading. That being said, general house keeping and good maintenance are mandatory with any wood burner. Cord wood is dirty no matter how you handle it and a broom and dustpan can do more to prevent "unwanted thermal experience" that just about anything else.
 
I want to use my boiler for dhw in the summer and didn't want any extra heat to escape into the shop. Plus the system would take up a lot of room and wood is always messy. That on top of the insurance issue and not having room in the house is why I'm going with a separate shed.
 
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