# Shop Heat



## msparky14 (Dec 6, 2011)

I was reading some posts from other people who were wanting to know the best way to efficiently heat their shops, and I saw several replies from people saying they used barrels and wood burning stoves. I heard from a couple buddies that the wood burning stoves can be dangerous because of sawdust catching fire. Has anyone had an issue with this, or is this just an old wives tale?

I'm not sure which way I want to go with heating my shop yet. The wood stove would be nice and cheaper in the long run, but electric heaters may help more with my sporadic project building. (Electric would take longer to heat as well). For the record, I have a 1200 sf detached shop. We just moved here a couple months ago and I'm just getting started on setting it up.


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## sgmdwk (Apr 10, 2013)

My shop is much smaller than yours (400 sq. ft.) so I get by with an electric space heater. That doesn't help you much, I know. My brother has a detached 800 sq. ft. shop he heats with a wood stove. He has done so for 30 years, with no issues. I have a friend with a 2,500 sq. ft. shop heated with a wood stove, too. I think common sense is the key to safety, no matter what heat source you use. Keep things reasonably clean and the area around your heater clear and fire shouldn't be an issue. My opinion, for what it's worth.


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## bbc557ci (Sep 20, 2012)

My shop is almost finished. 26×36 with 12 ft. ceilings. I got a killer deal on a forced air NG furnace. About went broke building the shop so for now I'll heat with the forced air.

On the wood stove, I wouldn't be afraid at all to heat a shop with wood. But with wood ya gotta load the stove, stoke'r up and wait for the heat, play with air control, damper, load more wood, yada yada. Too much time wasted, at least for me. Don't get me wrong as I absolutely love wood heat. Great for the house but not to heat the shop part time. But that's just me…..


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## Biff (Nov 19, 2012)

I have a forced air electric furnace I scored off CL for $100. I use it to keep the chill off but when I'm working in the shop I have a free standing wood stove with a waste oil drip. I've had that stove cooking with sanding dust so thick in the air you can barely see!


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

I have a pellet stove. does a great job in my 16×24 shop. At -6 F had to turn heat on low got to hot. It use external air for combustion so not taking any heated air out of shop for draft on the stove.


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## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

I have a 2000 sq ft shop. I use a double barrel wood burner. The barrels are closed with only vents in the bottom one. I have never had a problem with them. I probably wouldn't stand next to them to use a sander….. but I'm not the only one here with this kind of rig. No one has ever reported a problem that I am aware of.


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## UncannyValleyWoods (Apr 18, 2013)

What is this cold, of which you speak…? Forgive me..I've never really lived above the 30th parallel.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

Insurance companies do not like wood burning stoves in a wood shop. Heaters of any kind can be a problem because of sawdust. What they want is a forced air furnace in another room and heat piped in


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## msparky14 (Dec 6, 2011)

Thanks all, for the help with this. My spare time is when I hit the shop, (Pesky job gets in the way). But when I get there, I love to hang out for long hours and I usually end up being there way past bedtime. I'm definitely going to add the option of wood burning to my possible heat sources.

UncannyValleyWoods - I'll try and send some cold your way, so you know what we are talking about. I know we've had enough of it this past week. Deep down, I'm kinda jealous of you and the warm temps.


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## GT350 (Dec 22, 2012)

I use a gas furnace in mine. I'm no expert but if you are talking about an explosion caused by sawdust suspended in the air I would think it would have to be so much that I wouldn't want to be in the shop. 
Mike


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## Roughedges (Dec 10, 2013)

My shop is 30×40 - and I use a Propane heater - 75K to 200K BTU. Does great - and have never had an issue with airborne sawdust. It's -8 here now - and shop is toasty warm. Have to turn the heat down/off occasionally 'cause it gets too warm.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

Wood stoves are nice, because you can dispose of scraps readily and they are cheap to use. The main draw back as I see it is the amount of space they take up. You have to have them away from any walls and you have to leave a lot of clearance around them. That eats up a lot of real estate in a small shop.


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## hoosier0311 (Nov 8, 2012)

My shop is 24 X 24 detached. It doesn't have a foundation so I'm limited on heating solutions. I will end up with electric I believe. My step son is an Hvac guy, he is looking into things for me. My insurance guy says no way on the wood stove. Zoning folks say no on the gas. Right now I have a kerosene torpedo type unit that makes it toasty in there very quickly, but I cant leave it alone,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.so I have to keep glue and stain in the house for 3 months of the Pensylvania winters, thats a pain in the backside.
My shop is about 15 feet behind my house, I'm toying with the notion of connecting the two with a breezeway kind of thingy and piping heat from the house through insulated pipes between the ceiling and the roof of the breezeway.


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## bigblockyeti (Sep 9, 2013)

My shop is long and skinny and just under 450 sq ft. Got lucky when my wife and I bought the house the detached garage/shop was built specifically for wood working with phone, cable 230V electric and a Reznor natural gas heater way to big, I think it's around 50K btu. It is connected to a thermostat and the pilot light alone usually keeps the temperature about 10 degrees warmer than outside. It's also insulated which also helps a lot. The two things from a heat standpoint that I really like is; the ability to walk away from what I'm doing with zero preparation to prevent a fire and the over powered heater can take the shop from 20 degrees to 65 degrees in less than 15 minutes.


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## Bill7255 (Feb 23, 2012)

The real key to heating a shop is the insulation. My previous shop 36 X56 I had the walls insulated but not the ceiling. I had a 150,000 BTU propane heater that would heat the shop up, but would want to continually cycle. Even with the heat I had concrete floors and my feet would get cold even though I had the temperature up. For my new shop a wood burner was out because my insurance would not cover it. Because I hated cold feet I have radiant hot water heat installed in the floor. I am not hooked up yet because I am still building my house and running everything off a saw post. Right now I am using one of those small quarts heaters. It keeps the temperature +20 to the outside temperature. My shop is 30×50 with 12 foot ceilings. I need to leave this heater run as it would take forever to heat up if off. I can work in this. There was a insulation blanket put down and 2inch styrofoam installed around the footer before the concrete was poured and that definitely helps the concrete temperature.


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## shawnmasterson (Jan 24, 2013)

bondogaposis you raise a good point. I heat 900SF with a wood stove. I went this road because when I started the ceiling wasn't insulated. I just finished re framing and insulating my ceiling. The unit is a side kick, so it has a blower that kicks on when the firebox reaches 140*. As for feeding I stoke it in the morning with saw dust, kindling, and 2-3 splits. Then I go in the house. I come back out 45 minutes later and throw 2 more splits in and close the damper down 2/3 closed, and leave it go till lunch. I probably don't throw 8 splits in all day and I have a hard time keeping it under 75. Due to the regs from the insurance man it takes roughly a 5×5 corner out of the shop. I wouldn't be without it.


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## verdesardog (Apr 2, 2011)

The little Sears pot belly stove in my shop does just fine. I just keep throwing cutoffs in as they burn up. 20×30 un-insulated shop


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## MalcolmLaurel (Dec 15, 2013)

"I have a free standing wood stove with a waste oil drip."-Biff, can you explain this?

My shop (a 2 car garage) is heated by an old oil furnace that a friend gave me when he upgraded to a newer unit. Intended for hot water baseboard, I have it plumbed to an old car radiator with a fan blowing through it. Brings my shop from the coldest of New England winters up to comfortable in no more than an hour (not surprising, as it's made to heat a whole house). Fuel supply is a 55 gallon drum of kerosene (kerosene instead of oil so I don't have to worry about it gelling).

Another good choice is an old mobile home hot air furnace.


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## Sunstealer73 (Sep 2, 2012)

I just finished heat in mine. It is a 768 sqft with a vaulted ceiling on one side. I pre-wired for a mini-split, but they are pretty expensive. I ended up going with 4000watt and 5000watt forced air heaters mounted near the ceiling and far away from anything that makes sawdust. Yesterday was the first day trying them out and it went from 53 to 64 in about an hour. That's with the outside temp at about 28. We framed with 2×6's and filled everything out with insulation (R24) in all walls and ceilings, so it holds heat really well. I spent about $400 for both heaters.


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## danoaz (Jun 16, 2012)

Hey Mike, the insurance is a good point, but as an Architect, I need to throw the code book at you. I know you have Springdale as where you live but I don't know what that means in terms of building codes and so you need to consider that too. If you have cold issues, do you have hot summer issues too? And would it be better to solve both problems with say a forced air system? If you go forced air do you have the electrical juice? Keep in mind that your return air is going to be a dust collector too so you will need to change the filters often. Too me stoking and cleaning a wood stove would be hassle, but that is me. 
But really, code may be an issue for you and what your neighbors think if they get smoke in their direction and start complaining to you or the City.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

danoaz, if the smoke from the shop caused a call to the authorities then the fireplace would also prompt the call. We do have fireplaces and wood stoves in this area unlike in your area.

I think you can find an insurance company that will insure the shop with wood heat if you will follow their installation requirements. I use a kerosene heater in my 30×40 x 10 shop. It is metal with insulation stretched over the outside of the frame. A couple of years ago I added a 20×30 room on the end that is not insulated. I can tell a difference when I go in there so I will testify that you should insulate. I can't remember the BTU rating on my heater. Old age isn't easy guys…..LOL. I thin it is 175, 000 BTU. I can burn the refines diesel from todays station in it with no problems or fumes. You do have to watch the carbon monoxide on these so I have a detector. It just takes a about 20 minutes to get up to temp in there then it has a thermostat that cycles it on/off. I burn about 20 to 30 gallons of diesel per season so I consider that reasonable. The oil drip system is an entirely different system and costs a great deal more. I have a friend that heats his shop with this system. He lives west of Tulsa. You have to buy a big system or you can buy a kit and build one. I believe you have to have propane or natural gas to start it then when you get thing to temp in the heater the waste oil maintains it. He has used one of these for many years now. Something like 35 or so. He is on Keystone lake and used to operate a marina. This was his boat repair shop then. He has sold and this is his "shop" now. Whatever he chooses. I am in SW OKlahoma, so my climate is not a lot different than yours. I use the forced air kerosene heater that looks like a bullet and sounds like a 747. Keep the CO detector in place and the cross ventilation open.


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## OldRick (Oct 6, 2013)

I have seen many shops with wood stoves and such. Never heard of anyone having a problem. But that doesn't mean an issue can't come up. And after reading Monty's comment…I can see where an insurance company might try to deal folks some fits. Nobody needs that. My shop area is relatively small and also doubles as a garage from time to time so there is the possibility of gasoline fumes as well. I use a radiator style sealed oil electric heater. I feel they are probably the safest. I caught fire once long ago. It's not fun. So I'm a little over cautious.


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Kerosene- all the ones I have been around had a bad odor from the kerosene.


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## WibblyPig (Jun 8, 2009)

St. Louis here. Snowing last week, almost 60 today and will be in the single digits on Sunday.

I have 3 different options but before that, insulate, insulate, insulate! I have half of an oversized 2 car garage with R-13 in all the walls and a mishmash of stuff in the ceiling (basically leftovers running from R-38 to 12" insulated ducting to some blown in, etc.)

There's an old woodburning stove in the back. I have cement board between it and the walls held it place with 1" metal stand-offs so I can keep it as tight to the wall as possible. Next to it are a wood and kindling bin also made of cement board. I have a dedicated 20 amp circuit for an oil filled radiator which I turn on at night to keep the shop in the mid 50s. I also have a couple of radiant heat units mounted to the ceiling so if I'm only going out for an hour or 2 and don't want to start a fire, I can aim them at the lathe, veneer table, etc. and work in comfort.

If I'm in there all day, I'll start a fire and get things ready for the days work. The shop is usually up to 70 within 1/2 hour or so (I put a fan behind the stove pipe to gain the extra heat and blow it throughout the shop)

On cold days it can get into the upper 70s by noon so I'll close the doors and just add a log when the last ones just about burned out.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

Knothead62, my kerosene heater doesn't have a bad odor. I know what you mean though. I have been around them and when you burned diesel in them they would make your eyes burn etc. Mine is clean as a whistle. I started with kerosene but that is cost prohibitive. I switched to diesel the second or third year and have been well pleased. I am totally satisfied with it. I bought it from Amazon I believe. You can get the same heater that runs on propane. That is clean burning.


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## shawnmasterson (Jan 24, 2013)

The old salamanders stink. I have a newer one that burns k-1, 1-2 diesel, and jet b, and it really has very little smell unless I let it run out of fuel. in the case of run out it will blow a large cloud of black smoke. as for propane they really suck down the fuel. most of the time the bigger ones (100k+ btu) require 100lb + tank, not a grill tank.


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## Kennyl (Apr 20, 2013)

Here is a suggestion Empire DV-55-IP.This furnace draws combustion air from outside,much safer,also is a counterflow so heat comes out bottom of furnace,heat rises.I found a web site,www.vmisales.com which has free shipping.Do not install standard furnace with no duct work,you will be in danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.I have 38 years experience as a first responder for gas utility,plus I was a service tech. for hvac with same utility.I have seen idiot contractors install standard furnaces in garages with no ductwork,one call I responded to the customer was lucky to be alive.Yes I am preaching, what ever you do for heat make sure it is properly installed.


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