Hey yall, I have a old woodstove, real heavy cast iron unit from the 1950s. Its solid, no rust or holes. Hardly been used. I currently have a LP forced air heater in my shop which is about 40x40. Looking to possibly add the wood stove for supplementary heat to cut back on my gas bills. Any thoughts?
- Thread starter T-Nason
- Start date
Paul Janke
Member
I have been told that insurance companies may require a minimum height off the floor to prevent fires from fumes which are heavier than air from igniting. Others may know more.
In general a good idea. You need to check with your insurance provider along with seeing if building codes apply where you live. In terms of found money I don't know that you will save a lot once the purchase and operation of a chainsaw, splitter, tractor, truck or trailer, etc. are figured in. If you already own the property where the wood supply is then that is a point in your favor in terms of control versus any rationing of purchased energy (propane) that might come down the pike.
Oregon Tractor Jack
Member
Any open flame heater should be 18 above the floor if it is in a garage/shop that will contain cars, truck, tractors or anything that burns gas. This is to prevent a flash fire if there is a gasoline leak. I had to build a stand for my pellet stove to pass inspection when I installed it in my shop. I would strongly encourage you to check with your insurance provider before you install a wood stove. Saving a few buck is nothing if your shop burns to the ground and the insurance company refuses to pay because of the stove.
OTJ
OTJ
Janicholson
Well-known Member
For max efficiency supply cold air from outside the building to the air regulation damper (intake). 4 inch aluminum duct will do. I also believe in elevating the fire as noted below. Jim
rustred
Well-known Member
heavy cast iron unit i call them a wood and coal heater. stoves are what they used to cook on back then. but anyhow set her on the floor and use sense about your wall spacing and maybe a heat shield behind it. those do get hot . sure funny how the old timers had all these heaters and stoves in their houses back then to survive on pretty well every quarter of farm land. thin single wall pipes and a brick chimney in the house with two and 3 heaters going. chimney fires and all going on and i have seen them too. now its ooohhh better tell your insurance what your doing! i just installed a little wood heater in my house porch and got rakes over the coals here. but thats ok i know what i am doing to not create a fire and followed the stove installation instructions right on the stove. then people telling me thats not correct,... humm. best thing i did here, cut down on that gas bill and enjoy the real heat. plus never ever saw one of them old heater mounted off the floor, u want the heat down not up... heat rises. and they have dampers on the bottom of the heater and the top.plus them old heater also had dampers in the pipe above the heater which is needed to not allow the pipes to get too hot plus let all your heat out the chimney. i am all for that heater . that is what i will be putting in my garage also once i find one i like.
rustred
Well-known Member
i am kinda lost on this cold air thing. they just use the air thats in the building. or are you saying to have a cold air duct installed in the wall? kinda seams weird cause then your just cooling the shop more. plus the doors on a shop are opening and closing anyhow and there is no such thing on them antique heaters as a cold air damper.
bsolutely! Any open flame heater in a building where the possibility of gasoline leak/spill exists is simply asking for great loss up to and including life. rustred isn't likely to have gasoline on his porch! Building code in some places are so strict that you are not even permitted to have natural gas piped into an automobile garage.
Russ from MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Bemidji MN
Modern wood stoves have a flange on the bottom where you hook up a pipe for outside combustion air, that way your not sucking in cold air around your doors and windows. Old stoves didn't have that option, and shops with big doors aren't tight enough for it to be a problem.
lee little
Member
I usually heat my living room and majority of my house with a wood stove. I get a certain amount of satisfaction from taking down trees that would otherwise go to waste and using them to heat my house. Loren the ACG put the feeling into words better than I ever could in times past. I miss him. Lee
My insurance agent called me and asked if I was interested in saving $720 per year on my property insurance. It took about a half second to jump on that.He said to remove the wood stove as after 2022 Travelers will not insure a wood stove in a shop with the real reason being that the fire is left unattended while burning down and out. Needless to say it's gone and I'm wondering what to do with the 19 inch tall platform I built out of bricks to elevate. And all the wood!
Goose
Well-known Member
We had a wood furnace in another house on a different acreage we once owned. It sat beside the propane furnace, had it's own fan and thermostat, and ductwork from the wood stove cut into the ductwork above the propane furnace. We could do about 80% of our heating with wood.
HOWEVER, I sat down once and put some numbers together. I figured out that considering the time I spent cutting, splitting, and handling firewood, plus the time it took to maintain the wood furnace, compared to what we saved on our propane bill I was working for about $3.00 per hour when I was working with the wood.
I finally decided that if I wanted to do something with that time, I could do something that paid a lot more than $3.00 per hour.
HOWEVER, I sat down once and put some numbers together. I figured out that considering the time I spent cutting, splitting, and handling firewood, plus the time it took to maintain the wood furnace, compared to what we saved on our propane bill I was working for about $3.00 per hour when I was working with the wood.
I finally decided that if I wanted to do something with that time, I could do something that paid a lot more than $3.00 per hour.
Crazy Horse
Well-known Member
After reading some of the insurance comments here, I wonder how many of us are heating our homes or shops with wood and maybe should not be (due to whatever reasons)? You sure wouldn't want to find that out the hard way.
caterpillar guy
Well-known Member
Outside wood furnace solve both problems the heat is inside while the mess and fire are outside. Can heat both house and shop with them. I've had one for close to 20 years and dad has had his for more than that.
Janicholson
Well-known Member
Russ is on target. Supplying combustion air from the outside of the building or crawl space, not only prevents burning heated air it reduces the need to bring cold air into the building from windows and door seals. From 15 to 30% increase in heating efficiency can be expected. Reduced drafts, as well. Insulating the piping from a source to the stove can also help. Jim
mjsnodgrass
Member
i have a wood pellet stove in my 48x36 ft shop. it draws air from the outside of the building, and i never have to open the firebox to add pellets. it doesn't put out the heat like a wood stove, but a lot safer.
A lot of interesting comments on this subject. The bottom line is - what will be the response from your insurance company [if you have insurance] if you have a fire in your shop. My agent told me that my insurance was worthless - in other words - I was wasting my money on the premium. It's hard to prove, after the fire, that the woodstove was not the cause of the fire. He offered me a rider - about $25 per year - that would give me coverage with the shop woodstove. It's just almost too simple - do it right or throw your premium money down the drain. By the way - the agent didn't even want to look at my wood heater installation. Pay for the rider, and he was happy. He knows that I have heated with wood for nearly all of my life. Yeah, I know how to operate a wood heater, but that rider on the insurance policy determines whether I have coverage or not.
We just had a guys shop burn up here because of a propane leak. Another had an electrical issue take out his shop. I know of others where whatever was in the shop caught fire. Wood, coal, gas, oil- plus all the torches, welding, iffy electrical installations, overloaded circuits, etc. It's all a fire risk. If you want wood, go for it.
BarnyardEngineering
Well-known Member
- Location
- Rochester, NY
Just keep in mind that cutting the wood to feed it will cut into your shop time.
You'll say, "Oh I already cut wood for the house, I'll just use that." Then you don't have the wood to heat the house. No matter what you'll have to cut more wood.
Myself, I'm over wood heat. I'm a rookie at it, and I'm not learning anything. Haven't slept in 5 days now, up all night tending the fire trying to keep the house from freezing. If I let it go it's all day fighting with it to get it burning again and get the house warmed up. Then it's go to bed, wake up to an empty stove with the fire almost out, house freezing, and start the whole dance all over again.
You'll say, "Oh I already cut wood for the house, I'll just use that." Then you don't have the wood to heat the house. No matter what you'll have to cut more wood.
Myself, I'm over wood heat. I'm a rookie at it, and I'm not learning anything. Haven't slept in 5 days now, up all night tending the fire trying to keep the house from freezing. If I let it go it's all day fighting with it to get it burning again and get the house warmed up. Then it's go to bed, wake up to an empty stove with the fire almost out, house freezing, and start the whole dance all over again.
Carlmac 369
Member
That's par for the course on just about any topic.
This post was edited by Carlmac 369 on 01/18/2022 at 06:24 am.
I live in North Central Wis. (Go Pack Go) and have heated with wood for over 40 years. The last 35 years have been with Outside wood burning stoves. I echo the earlier comments about what will your Insurance Policy cover. I pay an extra $50 dollars for a rider that covers a wood burner 25 feet away from House and shop. We own 80 acres and have 35 of that wooded, so get enough wood off our own land. When Our Sugarshack/Shop was built 3 years ago, we put lines in the concrete floor. If you have access to free wood and already own chaisaws, and are able to physically make your wood OK. If not, you may be better off with Lp or Natural Gas. Steve
Richard G.
Well-known Member
My insurance agent has stood by my stove in my shop and enjoyed the heat.
Right this week, a lot of people would have been very cold in parts of our county without wood heat.
Power has been off for many because of snow storm up in the mountains.
And many still don't have power yet.
My Grandma heated with wood till she died at 91.
Put in correctly, wood heat is as safe as anything.
Right this week, a lot of people would have been very cold in parts of our county without wood heat.
Power has been off for many because of snow storm up in the mountains.
And many still don't have power yet.
My Grandma heated with wood till she died at 91.
Put in correctly, wood heat is as safe as anything.
I built the original 1440 sq. ft. of my house on a 36x40 grid back in 1979 and in the center was an Earth brand wood stove, vertical stack. My design of the house was specifically for heating with that stove and minimizing external exposure....functionality, not flattery. I used that stove till a couple of years ago when I decided to quit fooling with wood due to several circumstances, none of them safety related. i did sweep my 8 dia. chimney annually before the cold season.
Wood isn't all that plentiful here so some folks used 55 gallon steel drums with used oil drip to heat their shop. Get that steel hot and it radiates really well. 1600 Sq. Ft. is big but at least you can warm part of it. Only concern I have is running a horizontal pipe through a wall for venting...need to manage any conducted heat to the wall.
Wood isn't all that plentiful here so some folks used 55 gallon steel drums with used oil drip to heat their shop. Get that steel hot and it radiates really well. 1600 Sq. Ft. is big but at least you can warm part of it. Only concern I have is running a horizontal pipe through a wall for venting...need to manage any conducted heat to the wall.
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
Really its the safest because the person using it is 100% in control of things.No sneaky gas leaks or hidden electrical shorts,wood doesn't blow up.Just have to use some common sense like keeping flammable things away from the stove,keep the chimney clean and in good condition just like with anything else.
teddy52food
Well-known Member
People need fresh air too.
Janicholson
Well-known Member
Making an adapter for the air intake is just using a register boot or other prefabbed tin work to connect to the existing intake. The throttling component can remain with a rod to control it, or a butterfly damper can be installed in the new duct. It just makes so much difference. Jim
redforlife
Well-known Member
I think you got a good idea. But, another vote here to check with your insurance provider. See what they allow, don't allow. See what it'll do to your premiums. Or if installing a wood stove would disqualify the building from being insured.
Insurance companies may vary. If your current provider won't allow it, you might be able to change companies to one that will. But, there is no guarantee that you'll find one that will.
Insurance companies have gotten to be a little finicky on this. And they all seem to want to require triple wall pipe (expensive) for a chimney.
You'll just have to investigate. See if cost of installation and insurance premium increase pencils out for ya. It vary well could pencil out to more expense than your gas savings would be.
Some people just excempt thier building from thier insurance coverage, and do what they want to do. But, in my opinion, this is not a good idea. Keeping building insured would be for the best. It cost to much to replace a building these days. Not to mention its contents. That's an avenue that I don't want to go down.
Insurance companies may vary. If your current provider won't allow it, you might be able to change companies to one that will. But, there is no guarantee that you'll find one that will.
Insurance companies have gotten to be a little finicky on this. And they all seem to want to require triple wall pipe (expensive) for a chimney.
You'll just have to investigate. See if cost of installation and insurance premium increase pencils out for ya. It vary well could pencil out to more expense than your gas savings would be.
Some people just excempt thier building from thier insurance coverage, and do what they want to do. But, in my opinion, this is not a good idea. Keeping building insured would be for the best. It cost to much to replace a building these days. Not to mention its contents. That's an avenue that I don't want to go down.
In addition to supplemental wood heat to reduce heating costs, also consider adding some extra insulation to your shop or add a curtain wall so you don't have to heat the whole building every time you use part of it.
It can be tough to budget time so you don't loose too many naturally comfortable shop days to cut, split and stack wood, so you spend time in the shop when it it needs to be heated.
It can be tough to budget time so you don't loose too many naturally comfortable shop days to cut, split and stack wood, so you spend time in the shop when it it needs to be heated.
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