shop stove(s)

[tule peak timber]

My old shop stove was pretty much sagging steel and coming apart, so I decided to buy another big wood burner and found out they are getting very hard to find. My answer was to get a large propane tank and cut in in half. I ended up with a 6 foot long almost chest high stove. In case it is not enough heat I'm putting in two of them at each end of the shop. No need to cut up large pieces to stoke anymore. Looking at the idea of wrapping tubing around the body for hydronics also. It is easy to get into with room for another person or two, not lit of course

[thecfarm]

Put a big fan over the stove.

[scsmith42]

Rob, I like that!  Shop is nice and clean too.  What is the blue thing above the heater - it looks like a well tank?

I've got radiant heating in my wood shop, but have been playing around the idea of building a wood fired hot water heater from some old large propane tanks to serve as a heat source for the radiant heating.  

Probably use a smaller one as the firebox and install it inside of a larger one.

[DDW_OR]

wrap the exterior with metal to form a box
add a squirrel cage fan to blow air into the box
add duct work to put the heated air where you want it.

[tule peak timber]

The blue thing in the background is a waste oil injector system I've been playing around with for the last couple of years. When conditions are right in the fire box, I can drip and splatter into a steel cup and burn off old lube oil from all the different machines. The last big stove I had in here had a half box plenum with a pipe going to a high temp fan and hot air ducting to another part of the shop. I made the ducting from 1/2" construction foam board taped together with HVAC aluminum tape. It worked pretty darn well for the last 10-15 years. I had a fire box that would hold 3' logs, but rather small mouth and I tend to stuff it with oak and what not and it literally started to melt the 3/8 steel plate sides. The whole thing started sagging and coming apart so I had to replace it. 

Fast forward to now; I tried a small fire above cast iron grates in this new stove and it is amazing how much heat is radiated from the large surface area. It's going to be really interesting this winter when I want to get a real fire going! I think it will work pretty well. The thing with the hydronics, vs piping hot air; you can get an old radiator to run the hot piped water through and pretty much stick it anywhere. It's a lot cleaner than having all these box like structures in the overhead with hot air ducting. So far, so good. Don't forget I built another one, identical size, that is going into the outer part of the shop. I have no idea how many BTU's I'll be able to crank, but we'll see. I recently added another 1000 sq. ft. to the shop and it's going to have a high ceiling.

[Old Greenhorn]

That's a honking stove Rob! How cold does it get there in the winter? You might want to consider a heat shield of some thin sheet metal behind the stove against that wall. Radiant heat can really do a number.
 As far as moving the heat, first, consider commercial ceiling fans in your high ceilings. I have had one running in my shop non-stop for 35 years now and the air movement has kept anything in that building from freezing in all that time except once, and that was with no heat running. Just moving the heat held in the thermal mass from solar heating the floor through the windows. Makes for more uniform heating when I am running the stove.
 Second, going with a water coil might be your most efficient choice. Running the water to a radiator with a fan behind it will really work well and I have been considering this the get the heat around my small shop for a while. I just haven't figured out how to handle the water and expansion yet. My Dad would have had this all figured out for me with off the shelf stuff in 15 minutes, but I am at a loss.
 Whatever you decide, you are off to a great start with that heat source.

[21incher]

Nice looking  stove. I am surprised that you can install  a non UL & EPA woodstove in your state these days. Here in NY you can't legally and loose fire insurance coverage also if you do.

[tule peak timber]

We were unloading the teak container 4 days ago with smoke billowing by us all day.

[47sawdust]

Was the smoke from your new stove?

[aigheadish]

I'm so jealous of you guys with room for a stove. I'd love to heat with wood but can't commit the space for even a small stove. 

[tule peak timber]

Was the smoke from your new stove?

Good one! The pic was to reference fire insurance as we are on fire here frequently and the insurance company fled the state a couple of years ago .

[mudfarmer]

Nice looking  stove. I am surprised that you can install  a non UL & EPA woodstove in your state these days. Here in NY you can't legally and loose fire insurance coverage also if you do.

Got any more info on this? The NYSDEC does not regulate indoor woodstoves per their site: https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/air-quality/residential-commercial-wood-burning

An article from after all the fear mongering:
https://wpdh.com/heating-of-firewood-ban-new-york/

Insurance yes, state law no is my understanding. Your county/town/city/village may have their own rules or I may be missing something, possibly in the building codes?

[21incher]

Nice looking  stove. I am surprised that you can install  a non UL & EPA woodstove in your state these days. Here in NY you can't legally and loose fire insurance coverage also if you do.

Got any more info on this? The NYSDEC does not regulate indoor woodstoves per their site: https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/air-quality/residential-commercial-wood-burning

An article from after all the fear mongering:
https://wpdh.com/heating-of-firewood-ban-new-york/

Insurance yes, state law no is my understanding. Your county/town/city/village may have their own rules or I may be missing something, possibly in the building codes?

The DEC has nothing to do with stoves up here.  It's NY state laws passed by legislature,  EPA regulations, uniform building codes, and insurance companies.  I went through this year's ago when I put an addition on my pole barn. Had a old 55 gallon drum double barrel stove that had to be removed because of no UL listing's and replaced with a ul listed model. Changing a structure means bringing it up to code. Also in order to get a certificate of compliance for our house woodstove installation had to be a UL listed model to current EPA standards. The insurance company needed the certificate of compliance to cover the fire insurance and also sent out an inspector to take pictures of the UL tag and serial number to check compliance.  I think the DEC is more for hunting licenses and enforcement. 
I heard recently a law has been passed banning propane and natural gas furnaces from being allowed in new houses starting in a couple years. Won't be able to get a certificate of occupancy if one is installed after the kick in date.