Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove

   / Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove #1  

woodlandfarms

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So getting the final steps together for the shop, realizing I am going to needs some heat Now, I live in a temperate climate. Seldom below freezing, but it highs in the winter are wonderful if they hit 50. The overall shop size is 3000 sq ft with 26ft to the peak.. The area I am probably going to use pellet for is 2000 sq ft with 26 to the peak, the rest will get enclosed into a woodshop one day. Also, I want to buy used, its a shop, not a house.

So what size do you recommend? Any thing to look out for?

I would go woodburning but I am not getting any younger. No, not enough sunlight for solar. Radiant is too expensive and really doesn't make sense where I am at.
 
   / Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove #2  
Do you really want to handle a couple tons of pellets in forty pound bags?I think the worst source of heat ever created.Price a ton of wood pellets;I would go gas.
 
   / Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Insulated. R-19. Its a steel building, though. My neighbor has the same sized shop, but has this big beasty wood burning stove. I guess I could go wood, I have a ton of it but am not up for the labor it takes to maintain it.
 
   / Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove
  • Thread Starter
#5  
I am intrigued at the gas comment. Does anyone have a comparison link? I could do a yearly propane dump at the property. Would rather honestly. Just figured it was crazy expensive compared to wood / pellets.
 
   / Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove #6  
Woodland, I have a brand new 50K BTU condensing type gas unit heater. I bought it on sale and then decided it was too big for my garage. It is set up for natural gas but can be converted to propane. It costs something like $1500 but will sell for $900 to get it out of the way. If you are interested I will dig it out of the pile and send you the install manual and other details. Reply by private post if you want. I believe the efficiency was 95% on NG.

Ron
 
   / Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove #7  
have you looked into waste oil? you could make your own pretty easily.
 
   / Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove #8  
I have a pellet stove in my basement and I do not recommend them. They are not as great as they sound. If I had to do it over (and one day I will) I will go with a propane stove.
 
   / Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove #9  
I have an Envirofire EF2 in my insulated pole barn shop that is approximately the same size as the shop you are planning. It will run me out of the shop on the coldest days if run on more than medium heat. I will burn a full bag of pellets on a cold day, run the stove on high for the first hour and then turn it down for the rest of the day. Turn it off at night, and the shop stays well above freezing in our coldest weather. Mine is a through wall installation done by a professional, 18 inches off the floor to comply with our local fire code for potential of gasoline fumes from a project drifting across the floor, done with a permit and inspected to comply with code and to satisfy my fire insurance carrier. I am near Silverton, Oregon, temperature drops to the 20's in the dead of winter, but most often in the 30's during the heating season. Insulation is 6 inch fiberglass in the walls, 2 inch drape under the steel roof, with 6 inch below that. Floor is 6 inch fiber reinforced slab, and the floor to wall union is sealed with closed cell fire resistant spray foam from Lowes.

I was going to burn wood, but my farm fire insurance carrier would not approve that installation.

Very happy with the installation. Had propane in my other shop and would blow through $50 a day worth of propane in a day, had the unit cycling on and off all day long and wavered from too cold to too hot with every cycle. The pellet stove burns a $3 bag of pellets a day, is quiet and does not cycle between hot and cold all day long. Also makes a hot spot for friends that drop by out of the cold rain, to sit and warm up, drink coffee, and shoot the breeze.

I have used the Canadian built Enviro stoves for 18 years, purchased one timing module in all that time, just use my shop vac and vacuum it out when it is stone cold once a year, and oil the motors once a year. The tray under the burn pot is emptied after a ton of pellets is burned, and the burn pot is scraped with the tool once a week. This stove was removed from the house after being used as a primary heat source for 18 years, and has the auto-start feature. A pellet stove must be run on high for 45 minutes every day to get the heat exchanger hot enough to blow the fines out the exhaust vent, and a vertical chimney has to be swept out after a season of heating. The horizontal direct vent clears itself and I have yet to have any soot build up in it.

I did install a ceiling fan 12 feet out from the stove, and at the bottom of one truss, hooked the power to my lighting circuit so it turns off with the lights. Run it on low and it forces the hot air down and circulates it throughout the entire shop. Without the fan the heat goes up and stays there.
 
   / Heating a shop.. How big of a pellet stove #10  
I started with a wood stove(1982) - went to a pellet stove(1987) - been using radiant electric heat for the last twenty five years. Chopping up my ancient Ponderosa pines became too labor intensive - wood pellets became too expensive - electric heat is clean, no labor involved, absolutely quiet and easy to regulate inside temps. And its far and away the cheapest method of heating the house here.


If you do go pellet stove - consider this. A smaller pellet stove running hotter will have significantsly less buildup of clinkers and residue than a bigger stove running cooler. Unless the laws of physics and combustion have changed - a pellet stove with a glass window in the door will look nice for the first hour of burning. Thereafter it will cloud over with smoke residue and ash........observations from my experiences.
 
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