24 replies to this topic

[Ryan313]

Yesterday I was at my uncle's house and I saw the little wood stove he has in his garage. Apparently, he has had it for years, but every time I was in the garage it was during summer when it was buried. It is tiny to say the least. So small that big stuff for him is what most of us use to get out larger stoves going. He says that in the winter he goes out there (from the house) to warm up! Lol!

I got thinking and I might (definitely) want to put one into my garage. Right now my garage is completely unheated. The garage is only 14 feet by 24 feet. So it would not take much to heat it up. Instead of buying one, I think I might just make a stove. After all, they are not complicated. I want to use a big propane tank and cut down to length, and put it on it's side. Then, put a grill in it about 1/3 from the bottom for ash collection. I would most likely put the pipe out of the top with a baffle in it.

The big problem is that it needs to be 3 foot from the wall. In a garage that is only 14' by 24" space is precious. I have a 55 gallon drum that was cut in half, long ways. The other half of the drum was made into a BBQ grill/ fire pit about 8 years ago. The other half is still floating around and I thought it might make a perfect heat shield. With this type of heat shield, do you think I could get it any closer to the wall? How close?

[NJKen]

Check your home owners insurance policy.


My Insurance company would drop me like a hot potato if I put a wood burner in my shop/garage.

[tractorman604]

Well, i would just like to say , Ryan when you get it built have someone that knows about thease home made jobs to check it over for a thumbs up .Make sure when cutting into drums you know what was in them and clean them out really well.I like reading your posts so BE CAREFUL!!

[Team_Green]

Mine is the same as Ken's.. My buddy Dave put one in his shop and his wife mentioned it to the insurance lady.. They got a letter a week later stating their garage will not be covered till the wood stove is removed.

[David Brown]

I always considered this but several things, including taking up usable space, always prevented me from doing it. What I've been thinking about lately is putting one outside and getting an inline heat reclaimer piped into the shop for heat. I would build a concrete block enclosure with tin roof to house the woodstove so there wouldn't be any fire hazard. This way, I have one register on the wall of the shop. Now, I haven't thought this through completely to know if this is even feasible but so far it sounds good. The one problem I do have is my shop is so small I would probably sweat to death.

[Ryan313]

Well, i would just like to say , Ryan when you get it built have someone that knows about thease home made jobs to check it over for a thumbs up .Make sure when cutting into drums you know what was in them and clean them out really well.I like reading your posts so BE CAREFUL!!

Yes, I know. I don't know how I would cut it anyway. I am not sure what would give the best and straightest cut. The last thing I would want is for my cuts to be off after I got all the way around it.

I always considered this but several things, including taking up usable space, always prevented me from doing it. What I've been thinking about lately is putting one outside and getting an inline heat reclaimer piped into the shop for heat. I would build a concrete block enclosure with tin roof to house the woodstove so there wouldn't be any fire hazard. This way, I have one register on the wall of the shop. Now, I haven't thought this through completely to know if this is even feasible but so far it sounds good. The one problem I do have is my shop is so small I would probably sweat to death.

That does not sound like a bad idea! Can you tell me more about this heat reclaimer?

[Titus]

Be sure it's up to code.

[Nato77]

Check your home owners insurance policy.


My Insurance company would drop me like a hot potato if I put a wood burner in my shop/garage.

Up here a home made stove with not be accepted by any ins. company. They have to have a UL tag with a serial number on it for them to even consider you having a stove. My brother was dropped by his company last year because of the stove( and he has 2 Rotts running around). Finding a company to take you is like a needle in a hay stack. He is now building an out door boiler in one of the sheds that is atleast 20' from any other structure. Waiting for him to get it done to build mine (waitng to see how much $ he spends on it).
I built a stove for my shop with a surround on it so I can pipe the hot air to my wood shop and shop. It's about 10" from a work bench and it doesn't get even warm, but I got a fan hooked up to a thermal switch.

Edited by Nato77, October 14, 2012 - 08:58 PM.

[David Brown]

Something like this. Just pipes right into the chimney about 2 feet above the stove. My woodstove is in my basement and I have one of these on it piped right into the duct work.

[HydroHarold]

I have a garage similar size to the OP's and my insurance company told me wood stove's a no-no-NO-NO! So, I rewired my idea and found a "Mr. Heater" @ Northern Tool http://www.northernt...78724_200178724 that was just right for the job. (They sure jacked the $ up on this one in 5 years!) It's propane, noisy because of the constant spark plug, but it heats that shop nicely. With no insulation I can rev up the heat from 20º to 55+ in less than 15 minutes and then I just shut it down for an hour. Take that "State Farm"!

[BairleaFarm]

It's not pretty but I love it. 50$ kit from tsc. I can get the shop over 100*. Works well when I'm baking paint.

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[Reverend Blair]

I like the outdoor boiler idea. They are pretty simple to build and, if done properly, there is no fire hazard at all. Also, they don't take up valuable shop space.

I know there are some big farm shops that use really big outdoor boilers that burn flax and wheat straw...those big round bales. Those are set up with in-floor heat too. A warm shop floor is a beautiful thing when you have to crawl under a truck or something. I also know of one shop where the heat exchanger is an old radiator from a truck with a cheap house fan behind it to blow the heat into the garage. It was comfortable when I was there, and it was about -20 outside.

There are plenty of plans available on the internet, and something to heat a space like Ryan's should be fairly simple.

[Farmlife]

My shop is 12x15, not very big but has 16ft ceiling. A friend has the same size shop & he uses a grill propane tank with a 2 pod heater in the top. His shop gets so hot we have to crack a window. So this will be the same way i heat mine this winter. Keep in mind, his shop also has NO insulation and STILL gets that hot. Mine has insulation only in the ceiling so i believe i should be alright......just an idea if your idea isn't feasable before snow falls. (my 2 pod heater was $79 @ Valu)

[Bmerf]

Ryan,
Talk to your insurance agent, I did before installing a wood stove and was told no problem as long as the company knew about it, was a manufactured unit, and I was willing to pay an extra $25 a year.
In your case with a small area to heat, I think I would look into a torpedo type heater, would cost a little more to run on kerosene or propane, but would heat the area quickly and you would be able to shut it down when not needed. I don’t like leaving the garage with the stove burning, so sometimes it is necessary to wait until the fire dies down.
Whatever you do, make safety a top priority. Be very mindful of any fumes from gas/paint etc. and remember the burning of fuel gives off stuff that is not oxygen that can build up and make you pass out. (not usually a problem in a drafty old garage, but something to think about.)
P.S. a portable heater comes in handy later on if you install a wood stove, helps to get the temperature up while waiting for the stove to get hot.

Edited by Bmerf, October 15, 2012 - 07:58 AM.

[HydroHarold]

It's not pretty but I love it. 50$ kit from tsc. I can get the shop over 100*. Works well when I'm baking paint.

Sent from my HTC One X

Back in the '70's when we were all scrambling for alternate heat, my neighbor and I built a double 55 gal. stacked barrel wood heater for his basement "whole house" warmer. It heated so well that after a month he took the top barrel off. They heat quick and fairly long with properly sealed door and draft control, but they lose heat quickly as soon as the flame ceases.

Folks who worry about the thin nature of drums should know that most burners have split firebrick or sand as the fire bed. This adds a "little" bit of heat sink storage, but not much. I've see several of these drum heaters that have lasted 10 years or more when set up in low humidity/dampness areas in the off season. If anyone considers making a double, get a removable ring lid for the top barrel so you can easily clean out the vast amounts of creosote the top barrel will generate.