enclosed porch heating options?

[wiredneck1]

I have a enclosed porch on the back side of my attached garage(only way into the porch is to walk thru the garage or go outside and come in the side door into the porch as there is no access directly from the house) , it measures 10'x24'. I currently have baseboard heat out there but would like to get rid of that and install a different form of heat. Im looking into 3 different options, wood stove, pellet stove or a stand alone vent/ vent free propane fireplace. The porch area is made out of logs and has windows covering three sides and the forth side is garage on the other side of the wall. Im leaning towards wood stove mainly because i live in the middle of 40 acres of hardwoods so i can get wood basically anytime and i already supplemental heat my house with a wood furnace in the basement. (16 cord stacked and ready to burn currently, I burn approx. 4 cord a yr for the house) The problem i keep encountering in my head is where do i run my chimney with the way the log supports are run and not have the wood stove taking up a lot of the small space already. I would appreciate recommendations on what stoves i should look at for such a small area but if i go with a little bigger stove i could open the door that leads into the garage and heat that area also with the stove also and if it gets to hot on the porch i could easily open one of the many windows.
With a pellet stove i don't know how i would run the vent being that there is so many windows etc and then i would need to buy pellets each year also.
With the propane fireplace it would make life easy except that i would have to run the gas line from the opposite side of the yard which is approximately 150 ft run.
Other thing to note is that the floor is currently carpet which covers the concrete slab.

 

[logfarmer]

Really depends on how much time you spend out there?! I would do pellet because it’s the flip of a switch, not a big clearance issue with pellet stoves and vents are smaller/easier to install! Vent straight out a wall... I know you have to buy the pellets but if you only burn a half ton a yr, what’s a $100-140 a yr?

 

[logfarmer]

Nice porch by the way!!

 

[MMH]

Honestly I think you could go either way on this; the gas stove is easy quick on/off etc but trenching that distance especially if your contracting it out will likely be a little spendy. The pellet stove would be an easy option, as mentioned vent out the wall etc, quick on/off and if your using it occasionally pellets wouldn’t be to expensive. Wood stove also attractive here as you said just finding where to get the pipe, but you have the fuel already and can use it to heat the garage portion also if you go bigger. I’m not extremely familiar with a lot of brands but there are small stoves out there if you want to go small.

 

[gthomas785]

I'd put a woodstove in one of the outside corners just under the windows and send the pipe straight up between the rafters. I'd be looking for a small cast iron stove with tight corner clearances (rear heat shield, etc).

 

[moresnow]

Most wood stoves will require a good bit of pipe above your short roof to perform decent. Something to consider. Any wood stove is going to take a good bit of room between clearance requirements, pipe installation and some wood inside. Getting heat from your porch into the garage in any significant amount is likely to be a trick I am betting.

Not up to speed on pellet stoves but it would seem like a good option to me with the minimal pipe required, easy to acquire fuel and seemingly easy fuel storage, along with instant flip of the switch fire! May be worth posting a question in the pellet forum for experienced opinions.

A "vented" wall mount LP gas heater can be operated on it's own tank. They take little room and are relatively hassle free. Unvented LP heaters put way to much moisture in the air for me.

In my single stall garage I simply run a small ceramic electric heater with fan 24/7 when I plan on using the space. Figure about $30 a month additional electric at my local rate. Very, very easy option. In the spring I unplug it and stick it on a shelf. Done!

 

[gthomas785]

Is this is for occasional use or full time? Unless you spend a lot of time out there you might consider one of those overhead infrared electric patio heaters.

 

[wiredneck1]

thank you for the responses on my issue, i will make a post over on the pellet stove area and see what they have to say and try to make a decision from there. To answer a few of the questions, this will be used occasionally on average probably about 5 hours a week but maybe more once we get it all set up for comfort.

Logfarmer, thank you for the compliment, my house was a kit log home from a place in michigan back in the 70s, my grandfather put it all together with the help of my father and uncles. I took over the house and property 3 years ago(early inheritance from my father). The porch was added on by my grandfather with logs from another family members property back in the mid 90s.

gthomas785 in response to putting a chimney between the rafters, the chimney would have to be a minimum of 24" from the wall coming in thru the roof because of where the log roof supports run in relation to the side walls which in turn would put the stove aways out into the room.

 

[logfarmer]

You’re welcome, I love log constructed houses/buildings! My grandfather used to build log homes down in South Carolina and always enjoyed his craftsmanship. Miss that man, he passed away this yr from cancer. Anyways good luck on your choice and enjoy that awesome looking room.

 

[SpaceBus]

Class A chimney only requires 2" of clearance. What do you mean by 24"?

 

[wiredneck1]

there isn't enough room to run the chimney between the two logs near the wall without going thru the support beams, so what I'm saying is the nearest area that i have enough non supported roof area to run the chimney thru is approximately 24" away.

 

[SpaceBus]

The class A doesn't have to appear directly above the stove, you can use connector pipe with elbows.