Does anyone have a wood stove in their shed?

[Don2222]

Hello

This guy has
http://www.secrets-of-shed-building.com/small-woodburning-stove.html

Nice PDF on Shed Stoves
(broken link removed to http://www.oilstoves.co.uk/webdocs/articles/SHED_STOVES_06-01-09.PDF.pdf)

Just wondering how to insulate the shed and keep the moisture out?

I hear having crushed stone under it helps?


From Link above:
In true shed building tradition, the stove is recycled, thrown out when a narrowboat was refitted. It is essentially a solid fuel stove but will burn wood, providing the chimney arrangement is straight up or doesn't have too many bends in it.

With the shed made predominantly of wood I was naturally concerned that the fire would need a fair amount of protection. I managed to obtain 2m of single skin galvanised chimney and a rain hood quite cheaply. The more I read about chimneys going through wood, the more concerned I got about the galvanised chimney until I abandoned my original approach with the workshop chimney and went 'belt and braces'.

The fire sits on paving slab, and I used a 1 m length of the galvanised chimney for the first run from the stove. I then bought a 1 m double skin insulated chimney, a four inch chimney adaptor, a wall support and a new wider rain-hood for around £70.00. The single skin galvanised section actually acts as an additional radiator when the fire is lit. To get a good draw, you need 0.6-1m above the roof.

Where the Chimney exits the roof, I changed a panel to 1/4 in fire retardant ply just in case. with 50mm gap between the roof and the chimney and is secured to the roof using a fireproof rubber boot or gaiter. I also installed a 12mm fireboard behind the fire to protect the wooden walls. I've since measured the temperature with an infra-red thermometer and got the following temperatures.
Temperature of fire and surroundings

Fire Burning wood 157C
Fire Burning Coal 190C
Galvanised chimney bottom 67C
Galvanised chimney Top 30C
4†adapter to Doubleskin chimney 57C
Double skin Chimney 25C
Wooden Roof panel 20C (50mm from chimney)
Fireboard at rear of the fire 20-25C

The wooden elements of the shed get no hotter than a fine summers day. Altogether it works a treat, with a good draw. I probably went a little over the top with some of my precautions, i.e. the fire is so efficient there is very little heat emanating from the rear of the stove, that's probably due the firebrick insulation, and could probably not have used the fire retardant ply in the roof.

But, hey ho, I'd never done this before.

It's surprising how many new friends you make on a cold winters day when the fires roaring and the kettles on!

Many thanks for all your help in bringing this project to completion.

Dave - specialz.co.uk
A job well done there Dave!

If you are considering installing a small woodburning stove in your shed make sure that you comply with any Building Regulations where they apply. Even if it is not required that you follow local rules, they are an excellent resource for making sure that all the main points are covered with respect to safety.

More pictures of this stove installation project will be in Issue 6 of Shed Building Monthly.

 

[FyreBug]

I've not had a chance to fully digest all the details but I would check with your insurance company first. Many will not allow or at least not insure any wood burning appliances in a garage or a shed. The thinking behind it is there are almost always volatile chemicals stored in that environment (gas for the mower, paint, Thinner, bug spray... you name it).

 

[Don2222]

I've not had a chance to fully digest all the details but I would check with your insurance company first. Many will not allow or at least not insure any wood burning appliances in a garage or a shed. The thinking behind it is there are almost always volatile chemicals stored in that environment (gas for the mower, paint, Thinner, bug spray... you name it).

Thanks

But is that not better than keeping all those nasty items in my heated house??

 

[Backwoods Savage]

But the point is there are usually nasty things, like oil and gas, etc. in sheds or garages. Some townships even ban the stoves there along with insurance companies. So it matters not if you keep those things in your house or garage or not. Insurance companies usually have the last word. If not them, then township codes do.

 

[begreen]

The article is from England. Not sure about fire codes there, but in this country the installation would be illegal. Especially the double-wall pipe in contact with the surrounding wood. Galvanized pipe coming directly off the stove is not too swift either.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Ok, Guys this may clear things up.

I did find this in NFPA 211 Chapter 12 Section 2 and 3 !
12.2.3 Solid fuel-burning appliances shall not be installed in
any location where gasoline or any other flammable vapors or
gases are present.
12.2.4 Solid fuel-burning appliances shall not be installed in
any garage.
12.3 Air for Combustion and Ventilation.
12.3.1 Solid fuel-burning appliances shall be installed in a
location and manner so as to provide ventilation and combustion
air supply to allow proper combustion of fuel, chimney
draft, and maintenance of safe temperatures.

So we cannot have a pellet stove or wood stove in our garage because our cars have gas in their tanks!!

But if there is no Gasoline type combustible fuels in our wood sheds then wood stoves or pellet stoves are OK !!

Most insurance companies go by the stoves manual and the National Fire Protection Agency.

So that should be the answer

 

[FyreBug]

12.2.4 Solid fuel-burning appliances shall not be installed in any garage.

That pretty much restricts your options. In addition, you would be hard pressed to find a installation manual that says it's ok or to find an insurance company that would go along with it.

 

[nate379]

Very common where I grew up in Maine to have a woodstove in the garage or workshop. In my Dad's workshop all the flammable stuff is kept in a shed that was built off the back of the garage, so it's fairly safe.

I did similar in my workshop, only flammable stuff are items I need then and there, like a few cans of spray paint, penetrating oil, and the solvent tank which would be hard to move to outside. Gas cans, diesel, oils, are either outside or in the back shed.

 

[oldspark]

I dont get it, some other types of heaters than can be put in shops and garages are just as dangerous (or more) as wood burners.

 

[FyreBug]

Very common where I grew up in Maine to have a woodstove in the garage or workshop. In my Dad's workshop all the flammable stuff is kept in a shed that was built off the back of the garage, so it's fairly safe.

I did similar in my workshop, only flammable stuff are items I need then and there, like a few cans of spray paint, penetrating oil, and the solvent tank which would be hard to move to outside. Gas cans, diesel, oils, are either outside or in the back shed.

In Canada you can do it but... Stove must be elevated and there are some other restrictions that come with it. However, It's up to the Insurance company to decide if they will insure you or not.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I dont get it, some other types of heaters than can be put in shops and garages are just as dangerous (or more) as wood burners.

Yup. And just when does a detached building become a shed or a garage? I been thinking about building a little shop (of horrors... err potters), and it would need heat to keep my stuff from freezing.

 

[begreen]

It becomes a garage when it is a shelter or repair shop for automotive vehicles. What's going to be interesting is when the garages only contain electric vehicles.

 

[geoxman]

"What's going to be interesting is when the garages only contain electric vehicles."
I can't wait until that day! My 50mpg metro has a few good years left though

 

[Swedishchef]

Ha ha. Once everyone has electric vehicles, gas will drop to 40 cents a litre and electricity tax will be 1000% what it is today.

On board the topic, where I live 90% of people who have a garage detached from there house have a wood stove. Who wants to work in a cold garage for 4-5 months?? And heating with electric would take too long...

ANdrew

 

[Danno77]

I heat my shed with wood. Next year will be using the smaller englander to do it. If I finish the other shed I'll be using the potbelly to heat it.

 

[nate379]

Dunno how that works. My Dad has 2 "garages" one is 18x30 the other 26x26, but then he has a "shed" and it's 45x75.

I am used to calling a garage something that is nicer. Electricity, heat, tools... shed is more just a building thrown up to store stuff. Dad's shed has power to it, but just has like 4 lightbulbs in the whole building.

It becomes a garage when it is a shelter or repair shop for automotive vehicles. What's going to be interesting is when the garages only contain electric vehicles.

 

[Battenkiller]

I actually did just the opposite and put a shed in my wood stove last year. Took me all season to get it in there, but I got a lot of nice, hot fires going with all that 40 year-old pine and hemlock.

 

[Highbeam]

What is a "garage". It is not so simple to define. It is not based on flammables since you can just as easily store flammables or work on chainsaws in a shop vs. a garage. In my county, a building becomes a garage as soon as there is a garage door that can be driven into. So a shed is perfectly legal to have a stove in so long as there is no opening big enough to drive into. Lots of legal shop stoves, no legal garage stoves.

Here's where I think it gets lame. It is NOT just about the open flame since as we all know, code still allows water heaters and furnaces in garages and these often have an open flame. My last home had these appliances in the garage and I can clearly remember the glow of the blue natural glass flame on the fender of my pickup truck.

The normal open flame appliances are supposed to be elevated 18" or 24" from the floor to prevent the gasses from reaching the open flame. Fine. A solid fuel appliance is outright prohibited since, I assume, the sparks or burning fuel could fall onto the floor and ignite the pool of fumes.

I think it is a stupid and outdated law myself. I am about to start building a 30x60 foot "garage" and want to use wood heat. My welding and cutting torches will place plenty of flame on the floor.

 

[oldspark]

I too plan on putting a woodburner in my shop, have already bought the chimney for it, I will call the ins. company and see what they have to say.

 

[Stegman]

Interesting discussion, and I've seen it on here before. But what I never see mentioned is the risk/reward factor and the general nature of insurance to begin with.

I could be wrong about this, but if you have a shed out back and you want to heat it with a woodstove - and you're not expecting to be reimbursed by your insurance company if it burns to the ground - then it doesn't really matter what the insurance company thinks of it. Right? You're basically taking a gamble that everything will be fine if the stove is installed safely and used properly. And if the shed burns down - caveat emptor.

Now if the shed is close to your house and somehow catches fire, and the fire somehow spreads to the house, you'd be screwed. But if you just have a $3,000 shed standing off on its own, and you're confident that a woodstove is safe, then what your insurance company says about it is moot.

Just don't expect any payouts if the shed burns to the ground. Or if a sparks/embers from the shed fire set your home ablaze.

Of course, the other wrinkle here could be if something else happened to your house - say it was hit by lightning or blew over in a tornado or something - and the insurance company found out about the shed stove during its claim investigation. They might be able to void the policy and stiff you. But I'm not sure about that.

Any insurance experts on here that could clarify any of this?