wood stove or forced air heater for garage?

[mn man]

i've been looking into heating my garage so when im out there working on something im not freezing my butt off. I was leaning towards a john deere multi fuel heater since i figured my insurance would jump way up with a wood stove. So my questions are : #1- what would be a small stove for my garage that would be fairly inexpensive, easy to install, and also things to look for when looking for one ( epa bs )... I've never had a wood stove before but i have lots of firewood avaialble to me. The garage is roughly 1000 square feet.

 

[Oldman47]

Let's start at the beginning. Since Jan 1 this year it is illegal to sell, even as a used unit, a non-compliant stove in the US. That means you are looking for an EPA compliant stove. Both the NC13 and the NC30 have a decent reputation as economical stoves but do not limit yourself. Try to figure out what your heating needs are in terms of BTU/hr. A garage is typically badly insulated so that will affect your needs quite a bit. A garage seldom is well sealed to prevent lots of outside air entering so again that will affect your needs. I think I would start by looking at a stove with an estimated capacity of heating at least 2000 square feet and adjust from there.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

First I hear of this illegal to sell an old stove deal. Just sold an old Franklin stove last week.

As far as the stove, too many options and they pretty much will all make decent heat right? Make sure the stove is pretty tall... at least 18" off the floor (that is normally building code)

 

[Oldman47]

I have no idea how anyone who is on this or similar forums missed this.

 

[reddogrunner]

Forget all of that nonsense about selling compliant stoves, etc. Most insurance companies won't allow a wood burner in the garage, for obvious reasons, that is attached to the house. May not even like it detached from the house. My insurance company would drop me like a hot rock.

Now if its all cool with the insurance company, then go buy a good used stove and rock on.

 

[Oldman47]

First I hear of this illegal to sell an old stove deal. Just sold an old Franklin stove last week.

As far as the stove, too many options and they pretty much will all make decent heat right? Make sure the stove is pretty tall... at least 18" off the floor (that is code)

What you did last week and what is legal to do are not necessarily related. If you did not know about the new EPA rules, try using that to defend yourself.
I frankly cannot believe that anyone who spends time on this or similar forums did not know that rule was coming.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybe...r-many-rural-people/#2715e4857a0b513c85c818bb

Let me quote one paragraph from that posting.
"Most wood stoves that warm cabin and home residents from coast-to-coast can’t meet that standard. Older stoves that don’t cannot be traded in for updated types, but instead must be rendered inoperable, destroyed, or recycled as scrap metal."

 

[reddogrunner]

Are you trying to justify your purchase of a new stove? That's bull puck. Basically they want to eventually strangle the supply of non-compliant stoves. Nobody is going to come to your house and arrest you, fine you or otherwise if you are burning in an older stove. At least not yet. Can you show where that is listed from the legislated government enforcement agency? Have yet to see that.

 

[greenskeeper]

The EPA can shove it. There will always be a market for non-compliant stoves...ever hear of craigslist? HA!

As for the OP, a forced air unit would be best because it will help circulate the heat better than just a stove. Of course they are more expensive and you'd have to add the duct work as well.

 

[Oldman47]

It doesn't need to be legislated. The EPA operates outside the legislative process. I agree that enforcement would be difficult, as you have implied but I could not log onto any wood forum any time last summer without finding tons of references to the new rule making coming out of EPA. I merely did a 30 seconds search on Google to find the reference I gave you. They banned new non-compliant stoves being manufactured after last April if I recall correctly and banned any sale of a non-compliant stove at the first of the year. That gave dealers a long time to sell off all of their non-compliant inventory. Here is another article relating to the rule making and please note the date on the article.
http://www.independentsentinel.com/...of-wood-stoves-fireplaces-are-not-far-behind/
Even this article that refutes the press implied impact of the new rules admits it is going to hit homeowners after Jan 1.
http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/05/15/the-worst-media-myths-about-epas-move-to-cut-wo/203667
How about an EPA posting that says the new rules do not affect those who already have non-compliant stoves but do not even begin to address what you can do with that stove you already own. Talk about soft peddling the impact.
http://www.epa.gov/residential-wood-heaters/understanding-residential-wood-heater-rules
How about this on the EPA site?
http://www.epa.gov/residential-wood...ary-requirements-woodstoves-and-pellet-stoves
Let me quote one of their bullets:
To ease the transition to cleaner stoves, EPA’s final rule will allow woodstove retailers to sell existing inventory until December 31, 2015. After that date, any new woodstoves sold at retail in the U.S. must meet the Step 1 emissions limit.

 

[Whitespider]

Let's start at the beginning. Since Jan 1 this year it is illegal to sell, even as a used unit, a non-compliant stove in the US.

First I hear of this illegal to sell an old stove deal.

It goes further than that...
Any stove that is not 2016 EPA certified (the new 2016 certification only) cannot be sold, given away, moved, or installed. The only pre-2016 certified stoves that are exempted from the new rules are those that were installed and in current use before the new rule took effect. If you have an older stove (even an older EPA certified stove) stored out in your shed, you cannot sell it, you cannot give it to your son, you cannot install it anywhere on your own property. If you have one installed in your home and sell your house, you cannot move it to your new home, nor can you leave it for the new owner of your old home... the stove must be removed and destroyed. The new EPA rule defines "sale" as any change of ownership or location... your pre-2016 certified wood stove has been legally rendered worthless (except as scrap iron).

There is no way in hell I would advertise, sell, or buy an older stove through any public venue such as Craig's List... that leaves a permanent trail I wouldn't want ending at my door.
*

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Some insurnace companies are anti wood stove period, while other's don't mind. Around here the local insurance companies normally don't really question it as they know the area and for many people it would either be wood heat or no heat.

Forget all of that nonsense about selling compliant stoves, etc. Most insurance companies won't allow a wood burner in the garage, for obvious reasons, that is attached to the house. May not even like it detached from the house. My insurance company would drop me like a hot rock.

Now if its all cool with the insurance company, then go buy a good used stove and rock on.

 

[esshup]

If natural gas or propane was available at the garage, I would install a counterflow or down draft forced air furnace like are put in some houses. Build duct work that directs the air horizontally across the floor of the garage. 1) It'll warm up the floor faster 2) Heat rises, so it will heat up the garage faster too. Dad scrounged around for one that someone threw out because they were updating the furnace in the house. Plumbed in an exhaust and it's worked for years and years. No reason to go with a fancy 90% one, any will do.

2nd choice would be to install one of those units that hang from the ceiling. You can get a low temp thermostat, that operates from around 30-35 degrees to 65-70 degrees. Honeywell makes them.

 

[Whitespider]

Some insurnace companies are anti wood stove period, while other's don't mind.

A lot of that has to do with what the State allows (or regulates)... what's OK, legal, or otherwise, varies from State to State, county to county, township to township.
*

 

[flotek]

Aside from the legality and insurance issues let me tell you what works great for a 1,000 ft garage . I use a englander nc13 with the blower and it keeps it at room temperature even if it's 10 degrees outside . It's a 24 x24 two car garage with insulated walls and Celitex fiber board on the ceiling . Burns around 6 hours on a full load . They are around 700$ EPA certified and usually on sale at end of January in lowes or Home Depot

 

[autoimage]

I heat my house with wood but garage with propane...100 gal tank off clist for 50 the heater is very effecient and quickly warms my 700sqft garage to 60..last year my bill was 65.00...it will vary on ur location..heres my setup its just hooked up to a normal honeywell thermostat

 

[greenskeeper]

It doesn't need to be legislated. The EPA operates outside the legislative process.

There in lies the problem with the EPA...they are out of control on a lot of "issues".

Don't get me wrong, I like clean air, water, etc. but the EPA has lost touch with what it needs to put its hands on and what it needs to keep it's dirty government fingers off.

 

[Henry and Wanda]

Hello,
I recently built a 2 -story building.....3 car garage on the bottom.......woodworking workshop and storage on the top floor. I put a wood burning stove in the second floor workshop. I have State Farm insurance. My insurance man came out to look at the building. He told me that since the workshop is just as nice as most houses inside, that they would insure the building. However, if the woodstove would have been down in the garage part (1st floor) that the company would never insure the building. He said since a garage has gas powered vehicles in it and the possibility of gas cans being in there, the risk of fire makes it uninsurable. Just thought I'd let you know my experience. Good luck.

Henry and Wanda

 

[Philbert]

Anyone use radiant heaters?

Philbert

 

[VW Splitter]

I believe the building code says that in a garage that 18" and below is a classified location because of fuel fumes. I know in the electrical buisness, anything below 18" must be explosionproof, $$$$$. Avoid it. I dont think a fire down low in that 18" space would be a good idea. A fire takes a while to build, then heat up the space. Which is fine if you are going to be out there in the garage all day. I tend to often work in the garage for a couple of hours in the evening. I have a natural gas unit heater that is actually much bigger than the space requires, but it will heat the garage from 34 F to 65 F in about 15 minuits. That's what works for me.

 

[T. Mainus]

Do you plan on heating the garage all the time? If not I would think hanging an LP Modine type heater from the ceiling would be the way to go. Turn it on 1 hour before you go out and it will have the garage up to temperature. A wood stove is going to take longer to get up to heat unless you keep it going all the time. I have a radiant tube type heater in our shed building shop. I love it. No noisy fan and it is pretty economical to run. We have a lot of dust in the shop so the modine with the fan wasn't an option for us. But we keep it on all the time.