Garage heat

[Tyson]

So my garage is currently not heated. It's a detached, 3 bay with block walls. Since the winter is quickly closing in, I'm looking into heat options. I would like to eventually install a nice wood or pellet stove but since I've been spending all my toy money on my truck lately, I'm not sure the boss will give me the funds for a decent quality one. Has anyone ever used a 55 gallon drum with the barrel stove kit from sears or tractor supply to heat the garage? It's about 60 bucks and seams like it might be the ticket to getting me through the winter.

[Kozmo]

Depends on your goal. Are you heating it only while working or do you need to keep a level of warm that'll keep supplies from freezing?

Those barrel heaters can put out massive amounts of heat but also gobble fuel like there is no tomorrow. Personally, I'd go for something smaller and use a small circulating fan if you want cheap. Keep watching craigslist and several types of wood burners come up quite often---sometimes nearly free.

The long term solution is an airtight, though (assuming you have a cheap wood supply). In a block building, you should be able to keep the place moderately heated with little attention once you get the thermal mass up to temp. Pellet is a superior alternative but you can't get pellets free and most require electricity so if the power goes out you are done.

Personally, I'm waiting for an old kitchen cookstove for mine (smaller than yours--about 12 x 32 x 12' ceilings). I figure it'll make a good back-up kitchen stove in a pinch or extended power outage as well as provide shop heat. It'd be nice to have some boiled coffee going and it suits that one day a month paranoia which makes me want to do apocalypse "prepping".

[randyscycle]

I am heating a total of about 3,000 sq ft of space and its one big square with a longer rectangle attached. Not one big area and not easy to keep all one temperature.

I've tried a lot of things and here are some pros and cons I've found:

Kerosene: good heat, but more expensive now, and if you plan on painting in there, it can cause problems from the residue. I never liked the fact it always smelled like K-1 in my shop constantly either.

LP or Natural gas: If you have a good supply its a great heat. You really need a furnace to get it to where you need it though. I tried a radiant heater, a wall mounted ceramic heater and a fan forced heater. It was only good for one spot, so again, a furnace would be best.

Oil burner: Had one for a bit, but fuel oil is as expensive as diesel and it requires a fair amount of maintenance. Always cleaned the jet and pump filters.

Wood: A stove in one area is a good option if you don't mind a lot of work, and if you have a steady supply of wood. That is what I currently use, in the form of a wood furnace, ducted, that heats my entire shop and does it well. The key, as Kozmo mentioned is to get the floor and walls warm, then maintaining that is much easier. Also good insulation is a must to keep that heat in there.

I am not a big fan of the barrel stoves as they can and do burn out quickly due to the thin metal most drums are made of these days. Plus they are not airtight and that can be an issue too. I wouldn't leave one unattended.

[Pineyguy]

COAL! You live on the border of the PA coal region, home of the hardest anthracite in the world. I heat my whole house with a Harman SF-250 I got out of the Paper Shop for like 300 bucks. You can get a stoker, stove or stoker stove used and be ahead of the game. Price per BTU is cheaper than I believe any other fuel. Once you have it down you only really need to mess with most stoves every 8-12 hours unlike wood. Stoker stoves are comparable to pellet burners, but again price per BTU is better. Check out http://www.nepacrossroads.com. I have a stoker stove in my garage that needs some glass and some work that you can have if you want it. I got it for free but never got around to working on it. I don't have any use for it anyway.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I847 using Tapatalk 2

[randyscycle]

Pineyguy, please, and I mean please don't take this the wrong way as I am not a tree-hugging, anti-coal, Starbucks-drinking, hippie, but..........


If anyone decides to go the coal route, keep a few things in mind: One, you need an airtight stove and flue. This isn't an opinion, its a MUST. Coal produces carbon monoxide (anything that burns does) but in pretty high concentration that can kill. Install a CO detector if you go this route. Two, be sure you have a place to dispose of the ashes. Coal ash is poisonous. Period. Three, be sure the stove you get will actually burn coal. Many of the ones out there say they will, but won't. My furnace says it will, but no matter how much you try, it won't burn coal because it doesn't have a proper damper system or adequate draft beneath the firebox.

[jeepdan]

For a building still under constuction, it is really hard to beat adding radiant floor heat.
I'm using an outside wood burner to heat the water flowing through my concrete shop floor. No fire hazard while painting, clean air without soot or dust from a fan blowing. And it feels so good to lay down on the concrete while working under a vehicle
My buddy is doing the same, but using a propane hot water heater for the heat source.

[Pineyguy]

Randy-

I absolutely agree that you need a well built chimney that produces good draft, a stove specifically built for coal, and some common sense to burn it. CO detectors are a must for just about any fuel you burn in your home. Being born and raised a coal cracker, and having earned a living turning waste coal into electricity for a number of years, I could get into the CO/ ash thing, but you said please twice

[Tyson]

Unfortunately my garage is not well insulated as of yet. That is on the list of things to do after my truck is back together and able to carry me around. For this winter im looking for something that will just keep me warm enough for 3-5 hours at a time. Ok so here is what I gather from all that.

Space heaters and infrared wall heaters aren't what I'm looking for due to effectiveness and cost to run (electric).
Pellet stove is great but most need electric and you'd have to buy fuel.
I would love heated floor but that would evolve jacking out the floor, laying pipe, new floor, buy a boiler to heat water with, caching caching caching $$$$
Best two options for me I think would be coal or wood stove.

Thanks for the info guys! Piney, what would it take money and time wise to get your coal stove up and running? I'm always in the mood for free stuff. Plus there's lots of trees around my house to gobble up the CO2!!!

[randyscycle]

I think in your situation coal or wood would be the best option.

You should be able with a decent woodstove to get the shop up to comfortable working temperature in about an hour or so and then just maintain it afterward. Good used woodstoves can be had on Craigslist, or from the want-ads pretty reasonably at times too. Find a good airtight, older heavy-duty unit. Stay away from those cheap Harbor Freight cast things. They won't last long. I've seen them crack once they heat and cool a few times.

Put in a good flue while you're at it. Stainless and insulated are good.

Just be ready to go out and cut and split some firewood though.....

[jeeper]

I put a wood stove in my pole barn last year. My barn is 24'x48' with a 9.5' ceiling. I don't have a stitch of insulation in it. I still have a draft when the wind blows. Some day I may seal it up a little better. My shop floor never really gets warmed up in the winter.

If I start a fire in the wood stove on a Saturday morning when it's 20 degrees out I can have it up to about 50 by lunch and to 65 by mid afternoon. If it gets colder than 20 out I fire up my 140,000btu torpedo heater to take the chill off while the wood stove gets going. I think I went through about ten gallons of diesel in the torpedo heater last season.

This past spring I found a fuel oil (same as diesel but without road tax) heater on craigslist. I traded an eight horse vertical shaft engine for it. I am still trying to figure out if I'll bother with it this year. It's an updraft forced air furnace for a house. I was thinking about running a duct through the rafters and spreading the heat around the shop but haven't decided it'd be worth it just yet. It's a lot quieter than the torpedo heater and it doesn't (won't) stink up the shop with diesel fumes because it's vented outside.