Heating a new metal building

[DJ54]

I have two sources of heat. One is a 140,000 btu waste oil furnace, and the other is a wood/coal stove. Haven't gotten the WOF set up in the new shop yet, so just heating with the coal stove. The furnace is one of next years projects.

In the shop at the other farm, the WOF kept it nice and toatsy in my 32' X 36' shop very easy. I could heat all winter on between 350 and 400 gallons of used oil. It does need the heated nozzle mechanism cleaned about every 750 hrs. of burn time, which usually falls about the end of Jan. Takes about an hour to do, which seems like forever if it's close to zero outside. That's why I put in the coal stove, so as to save on oil, and a source of heat when servicing it.

I learned long before using the WOF, and when using a regular oil furnace to heat the shop, the big secret is to keep the concrete floor fairly warm. So when not in the shop, I set the thermostat down to about 45º -50º. Otherwise, you're only warm from the knees up until that floor gets warm.

I wouldn't be too concerned with creosote buildup if you use dry wood, ideally cut 2 years ahead. Coal is fairly reasonable here in price. I can get it from the mine for $75.00 per ton, and can hand pick for that price. I worked out there a lot last winter, and although the temps weren't all that severe, probably went through 1-1/2 tons, and the shop is not completely insulated, and sided, even yet today. It kept the shop at a comfy working temp of 60º to 65º, and not firing it real hard, just keeping the optimum burn temps on the stove at around 500º.

 

[AndyG]

Rhett's post has had me looking at youtube videos of rocket stoves for an hour and a half. I'm a wood stove fan but I'm always looking for more heat from less wood = less work for me. I use a waste oil drip system in my wood stove and its easy to see that it would work with the rocket stove. You might even fuel the rocket stove with propane. Insulate your building and seal it up from drafts. Does the ridge cap has a closure seal under it? Do you have a sliding door on the building? Lots of wind will come in around the top of a sliding door if you do not seal it. The edges of an overhead door also need to be sealed.

 

[rhett]

If anyone is interested, below is a link to a 61 page document that gives a little more detail about Rocket Stove principles and instructions for building.

http://gse.cat.org.uk/downloads/Practical_Document_Rocket_Stoves.pdf

 

[enterprisebbc]

If it's insulated well, I don't think you need 100-200k heat. I heat my 24x42 shop with an 80 K BTU NG furnace. I used round metal pipe for the duct and cut holes in it

This bld. is not insulated or is it sealed being the sides are corrigated. Next yr I might change that.

 

[enterprisebbc]

Rhett's post has had me looking at youtube videos of rocket stoves for an hour and a half. I'm a wood stove fan but I'm always looking for more heat from less wood = less work for me. I use a waste oil drip system in my wood stove and its easy to see that it would work with the rocket stove. You might even fuel the rocket stove with propane. Insulate your building and seal it up from drafts. Does the ridge cap has a closure seal under it? Do you have a sliding door on the building? Lots of wind will come in around the top of a sliding door if you do not seal it. The edges of an overhead door also need to be sealed.

The cieling is insulated but the sides are not and there are holes at the corners where the corrigated metal meet. The doors have large spaces espiecialy at the top. They have a broom type insulation I will use on the doors next year. Yes the ridge cap is sealed. These doors are the roll=up type.

 

[AndyG]

The cieling is insulated but the sides are not and there are holes at the corners where the corrigated metal meet. The doors have large spaces espiecialy at the top. They have a broom type insulation I will use on the doors next year. Yes the ridge cap is sealed. These doors are the roll=up type.

Last winter I gave up working in my shop (48X30 pole building) on windy winter days because I couldn't fire the stove hard enough to warm it up. This winter I'm concentrating on sealing the building better so that the wind doesn't blow through. The 10X15 sliding door is on the NW corner where the cold winter wind comes from. I noticed a LOT of air blowing in around the door. Go inside with the lights out and see where the sunlight is coming in. If light comes in so does cold air. You can also go outside at night and look for light coming out of the building. I recommend concentrating on stopping the wind before insulation.

 

[muddstopper]

I would probably just buy a barrel stove kit and heat with wood. Barrel stoves put out a lot of heat really fast. we used to have a 5gal bucket hanging on the wall we would dump our waste oil in. We used a small pitcock valve and copper line and ran it into the barrel stove. This let the oil drip down onto the wood. You could throw a large round in the stove, turn on the oil, light a paper rag and throw in and pretty soon you have a roarinfg fire. Seemed as long as the oil dripped, the wood never burnt up. One log would last all night. Throw a pot of beans or stew beef on top of the stove and cook your dinner while you work.

 

[JJZ 109]

That price is CRAZY.I bought a 100 lb tank at the local farm store for $99 bucks

I was thinking the same thing. I bought 2 - 100 lb. tanks, one at Lowe's and the other at my local indy hardware store. A little over $100 at each place. $320 for a 100 pounder is crazy alright.

 

[DeereMann]

+1

I installed a 125,000 BTU propane heater in my shop, and was toying with the idea of using small tanks. Had the figures run by a heating contractor friend of mine.... no way did i want to mess with that. I contacted my propane supplier and asked about renting an additional 250 gal tank that could be filled when they fill my 500 gal tank at the house. They recommended just running a high pressure line underground between the existing tank and my shop. This run is about 300 feet. They told me if i provide the trench, they would supply and install pipe for free.

Boy, i jumped at this offer. I was running new power lines to shop anyways.

Now, as for elbow chimney stack. there is nothing wrong with using an elbow. As a matter of fact they make a special cleanout style 90 bend that allows for very easy creasote cleaning when needed. Alot of my neighbors use them without any issues.

Exactly what I did, except we have pipeline natural gas in our area. I have wood burners in basement - as long as you burn DRY hardwoods, no creosote. Decades worth of usage.

Good luck!

 

[3238dpw]

I would probably just buy a barrel stove kit and heat with wood. Barrel stoves put out a lot of heat really fast. we used to have a 5gal bucket hanging on the wall we would dump our waste oil in. We used a small pitcock valve and copper line and ran it into the barrel stove. This let the oil drip down onto the wood. You could throw a large round in the stove, turn on the oil, light a paper rag and throw in and pretty soon you have a roarinfg fire. Seemed as long as the oil dripped, the wood never burnt up. One log would last all night. Throw a pot of beans or stew beef on top of the stove and cook your dinner while you work.

This is interesting to me. Did you have to clean your chimney more or less with this system? Do you have any more details on this? Pictures etc... Is there any concern about the oil igniting and traveling up the tube into the bucket?