heating for a shop

was thinking on a wood stove till i got to priceing flue kits
shop is 14x34 and will be insulated, thinking on a vent-less lp wall heater.

We use a Clean Burn used oil furnace with a chimney that the smoke goes out. We have had it several years and we like it. Not a cheap up-front option but long term it seems to pay for itself. The propane companies we heat our poultry houses left us sit too many times. They let us run out of propane and yes we have self monitoring tanks but something wasn't working quite right .

One time expense. You will always be buying propane and seems the price keeps going up like everything else.

Djon't forget to check with your insurance company in regards to having a wood stove vs other types of heat. Wood might be cheaper for heat but the insurance to have may change your mind.

Well here is some figures a guy sent me in 1979. I retyped and copied so hope I didn't make any mistakes. Remember you will have to adjust for inflation and other things such as insurance.

Stove, pipe and installation, etc.=============$458.00
CHAIN SAW======================================$149.95
Gas and oil and maintance of saw===============$ 44.00
4 Wheel Drive pickup with no frills===========$8379.04
Maintenance on truck==========================$438.00
Replace rear window on truck twice=============$310.00
Fine for cutting unmarked trees in state forest=$500.00
Fourteen cases of Michelob=====================$126.00
Littering fine=================================$50.00
Tow charge from creek==========================$50.00
Doctors fee for removal of slinter from eye====$45.00
Safety glasses=================================$49.50
Emergency room, broken toes (dropped log)======$125.00
Safety shoes===================================$49.50
New living room carpet=========================$800.00
Paint walls and ceiling========================$110.00
Worchester chimney brush and rods==============$45.00
log splitter===================================$150.00
Fifteen acre woodlot===========================$9000.00
Real taxes on woodlot==========================$100.00
Replace coffee table(burned while drunk)=======$75.00
Divorce settlement=============================$33,678.22
Total first year expenses======================$54732.21
Savings in conventional fuel===================$62.37
Net cost for first years wood burning==========$54.669.84

The only question I have is, where are you buying your Michelob that cheap!!!

lol foxpaw is so many things on that list i wouldn't be paying ifin i was burning wood

wouldn't be heating the shop all the time, just when i was working or had some wood panels glued up and drying.
lp gas is pretty high and going up all the time tho

pellet stove?

Pellet stove for me. Look for a good quality used one. Have one in the house and in the shop.

I have a 30 x30 with 10 ft ceiling. I have 2 sources off heat. One is a 30,000 btu propane wall mount heater. The other is a thru the wall/window unit that is heat and air condition. 85,000 BTU. IF your building is insulated top to bottom this is all you will ever need. In the winter I leave the heat / air unit set on 50 degrees. But if it is really cold out I then kick the propane heater on. I use about 3/4 of a 120 lb cylinder each winter. Plus I'm in it almost every day.




Best thing is right now with the heat index its 101 out side (yes hottest day on record for Oct) But my building is 72 !!!
Another important item is a ceiling fan. Get a cheap one from lowes. I have one on each side of my building . It pulls the heat down from the high ceiling in the winter . Plus moves some air in summer.

The air conditioning raised my electric bill about 40-50 bucks a month. But worth every penny this summer as we have had 84 days and counting over 90 degrees. It doesn't run much once it cools down because there are no windows in the building and insulated between the trusses and the walls.....
R-19 in ceiling

I always say wood stove. But then, since my shop is primarily a wood shop, that makes sense for me.

don't go with no vent heat ,I try an had bad moisture problems

more i look more i like a small wood stove lol

I have a 20x16 insulated shop built in my 40x40 pole barn. I like to keep it between 50* -60* during the fur season. A small electric "milk house" heater with thermostat does this with no problem, and doesn't produce moisture like propane. If it gets really cold, single digits, I will kick on a 35,000 btu propane torpedo heater for a half hour or so . Wood burners are nice but are so hard to regulate temps in a smaller space. Go from to cold, wait for the heat, then to hot open a window, then just right then to cold repeat. Always tended to it.

The woodstove in my house hiked my insurance bill by $20/ year.

There's nothing like working on fur with wood heat in the dead of winter. Other heat sources just don't compare...and fur dries quite abit faster. BUT does it get that cold in VA to justify the expense? It does up here, however.

Those ventless heaters are cheap and 100% efficient. I use acetone to clean the O2 sensor every couple years. Dust gets on them and the heater wont work. Unless you already have a splitter there is another purchase you will need. With all the health issues you have had over the years I somehow doubt you want to split wood by hand. Its nice to put that black knob at about 2 1/2 , and not build and feed a fire with wood you gave up several weekends to cut haul and split. Plus the money spent on that endeavor. P.S. those ventless heaters produce radiant heat just like a wood stove.

mine run on natural gas not propane but moisture isn't an issue

all the health stuff is in my mind too danny reckon when the time comes to put in the heat a wall mount lp heater will be going in the shop.
i drive a 2 wheel drive truck now and can still split wood just not as fast lol.

I delivered propane for 12 years. During that time Vent Free heaters came on to the market. Vent free heaters are designed to be a supplemental heat sources not as stand alone units. One of the byproducts of combustion is water vapor. So often when over using a vent free heater moisture is first noticed beaded up on window panes. In extreme situations of over use the moisture can get very severe. If using a vent free heater in a place where you using any strong smelling products (paint, stain, strong cleaners etc.) the odor from those products can be burned and then the heater emits a strong smell similar to a kerosene smell. I'm not trying to run down the vent free heaters I own one myself a person simply needs to be aware that they don't work in every situation.

Because of the water vapor a vent free heater is not a good choice when drying fur.

Never had an issue with moisture. Only ones I have seen with this problem is metal roofs that aren't insulated and/ or moister barrier. Don't think the propane burns long enough to produce that amount of moisture , rather the roof is sweating from the temp difference between the inside and out....
Also seems natural gas users have more moisture problems.

[quote=Foxpaw]Well here is some figures a guy sent me in 1979. I retyped and copied so hope I didn't make any mistakes. Remember you will have to adjust for inflation and other things such as insurance.

Stove, pipe and installation, etc.=============$458.00
CHAIN SAW======================================$149.95
Gas and oil and maintance of saw===============$ 44.00
4 Wheel Drive pickup with no frills===========$8379.04
Maintenance on truck==========================$438.00
Replace rear window on truck twice=============$310.00
Fine for cutting unmarked trees in state forest=$500.00
Fourteen cases of Michelob=====================$126.00
Littering fine=================================$50.00
Tow charge from creek==========================$50.00
Doctors fee for removal of slinter from eye====$45.00
Safety glasses=================================$49.50
Emergency room, broken toes (dropped log)======$125.00
Safety shoes===================================$49.50
New living room carpet=========================$800.00
Paint walls and ceiling========================$110.00
Worchester chimney brush and rods==============$45.00
log splitter===================================$150.00
Fifteen acre woodlot===========================$9000.00
Real taxes on woodlot==========================$100.00
Replace coffee table(burned while drunk)=======$75.00
Divorce settlement=============================$33,678.22
Total first year expenses======================$54732.21
Savings in conventional fuel===================$62.37
Net cost for first years


... buy a real saw, steel toes, chaps, helmet, and a cheap truck for wood. You wouldn't have half of these problems.

put in a vented LP and be done with it

If you leave out the divorce settlement, the cost drops way down. I'm still single.

Nobody has discussed the coal option yet.

not sure where to buy coal anymore

Do you happen to have a Tractor Supply Company store nearby? I did a Google search and Tractor Supply popped up.

I think to dry fur with lp or propane , u need a vent system, years back, I did it in garage I rented of duplex, with a propane heater an i believe 20 lbs cylinders gas, not sure why coon would not dry good, was something do with non vent system, a wood stove be great