We have a 30x48x18 metal shop. Walls and ceiling are insulated. Trying to decide if Pellet stove wood heat it to 70 when it's zero degrees outside. Or should I just get the biggest wood stove I can find? Like the idea of pellet for convienence but not sure if one will heat that big open area? Any thoughts?
Go pellet or wood in this application?
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That's a big area and there are many variables when it comes to how much stove for a specified area. Pellet stoves are more a space heater. Although, if the air flow is good, they can do more than just a small area. Your application seems to be more than just a space. Having had both wood and now pellet I have found the wood stoves can give you more heat than a pellet stove but not consistent heat like a pellet stove. Quite frankly, I don't think either one stove will give you 70 at zero. You may want to consider a more conventional type of system like gas or heat pump system.
Not sure how cold it gets in Spokane but I`d never consider a pellet stove for an area that large. I`d have to believe the floor alone would absorb most of the heat. A worse thought is the cost of and how many bags of pellets a large stove would go through in a day when the temps really dip.
My friend is manager of a 10 employee metal shop. He mentioned to me it doesn't pay to let the temp cool down at night and then try to heat up all that metal and machinery during the day. Its best to keep the shop an even temp . Once the metal contents of the shop are heated up you want to keep them heated. If your heating with wood someone will need to stoke the fire during the night. A room that big will require multiple pellet or wood stoves, which will require more work to maintain. Good luck with your decision.
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
I'd go with a wood stove to do the lions share of heating. Then use natural gas (if available) to keep it warm at night so you aren't reloading the stove at night.
All big stove will put out heat all night, it just varies how much heat. You'll have a coal pile in the morning...don't worry about restarts.
All big stove will put out heat all night, it just varies how much heat. You'll have a coal pile in the morning...don't worry about restarts.
If you have the means, and am able to shut down for such a project, I'd install a radiant floor system heated via either natural gas or a high efficiency propane boiler with some wall mounted, vented, heaters as back up or for additional heat on really cold days.
Obviously this isn't a simple or quick project, but given you have such a big space that's insulated and I assume have significant heavy pieces of equipment that can radiate heat once heated, it might be very efficient once installed.
Given this is your business, I assume you're not moving anytime soon so you may have a significant time line to recoup the upfront costs. Hell, you might even get some nice tax benefits or money if you research various economic development or heating upgrade programs in your state or municipality.....
Obviously this isn't a simple or quick project, but given you have such a big space that's insulated and I assume have significant heavy pieces of equipment that can radiate heat once heated, it might be very efficient once installed.
Given this is your business, I assume you're not moving anytime soon so you may have a significant time line to recoup the upfront costs. Hell, you might even get some nice tax benefits or money if you research various economic development or heating upgrade programs in your state or municipality.....
I heat a 30x60x14 pole barn with a woodstove. Insulated R-19 on the walls, R-50 attic, R-10 underslab, and R-19 on the sides. Insulated rollup doors. I also installed radiant floor heat tubes but have never hooked them up to hot water as equipment cost for doing so is extremely expensive.
In my application I ran the calcs and only need about 30k btu to keep the place warm and this is well within the abilities of many pellet stoves. A better option in my opinion is a pellet furnace such as the Fahrenheit Endurance due to it's ability to clean itself, hold a ton of pellets, and huge blower to distribute heat. This costs about 4000$, same as a "good" pellet stove.
(broken link removed to http://www.fahrenheittech.com/corn_stove_specifications.html)
I only use my shop on weekends and some evenings. Well insulated, my shop almost never gets cold enough to freeze which is important to me. To heat the shop from 40 to 70 takes all day burning the biggest woodstove I could find at full blast. Woodstove is not a good option. Wood furnaces are available that are far better in terms of higher output, blowers, and automation (thermostat) along with safety devices to keep them from overheating themselves. The big drolet furnace will work for 2000-3000$.
(broken link removed to https://www.drolet.ca/en/products/furnaces/drolet-heatpro-wood-furnace-df03000/)
Our stupid state law requires EPA certified solid fuel heaters with a specific grams per hour of emissions. The drolets are EPA certified but too dirty. If that matters to you then your only wood furnace choice is the Kuuma but it costs like 6000$
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Don't bother with a woodstove or a pellet stove. How are your fossil fuel options? Hard to beat a hanging gas furnace for 1000$ that makes 100,000 btu non-stop at the flip of a switch.
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