Wood burners

Greedo · 15 Nov 2012

Is there a reason a lot of folk have woodburners in their workshops.

Mine has always been centrally heated. Moving to a bigger premises soon that has no heating but I'm stripping it out and starting from scratch.

What are the advantages of wood burners, what do you use in it and is it not bad for the timber with fluctuating heat as the heating in mine was low and on all the time.

Also when you go in in a freezing cold morning how long does it take to heat your place up?

Nick Gibbs · 16 Nov 2012

I have had a Relax woodburning stove from Hot Spot for many years. They are designed to burn shavings, and I used to do that, but it is very time consuming and dusty. These days I fill the stove with shavings in the morning (on the advice of Peter Sefton), and then use logs and offcuts. It gives off amazing heat, with very quick boost if you need more warmth. I do also have an electric blow heater if I have to go in there of an evening for a few minutes, but burning wood is free and the finest of heats. The only problem is that the smoke might be a problem with close neighbours. The Relax stoves are top-loading, which means you can put almost anything in them. They also have a retro-fit boiler you can add if you want to heat water or another radiator. Stoves Online also sell workshop stoves of similar design. You get a lovely heat which is controllable. I can have my workshop warm within 20 mins or so in the morning.

Nick

hammer n nails · 16 Nov 2012

i would love a wood burner but having a wooden shed 12x8 a bit risky i think so have to make do with my oil filled rad

Nick Gibbs · 16 Nov 2012

You can buy various very small woodburners that would be fine in a small shed (though oil-filled rads are probably the next best thing, or even better in many ways). The Frontier Stove from Bison Bushcraft and the Old Tool Store is portable. Otherwise have a look at Windy Smithy or KP Stoves for small stoves. The most common mistake with woodburning stoves is buying one that is too large. They are best when burning at near full power, so you're better off with one that is smaller and more controllable. Small stoves can even use 3in or 4in flue, which is easier to put through a roof or wall, though you will have to use a double skin at that point, and outside, otherwise it will burn the wall or roof and too much condensation will build up inside the flue.

dickm · 16 Nov 2012

No experience of really small woodburners (we have a 4.8kW Morso to heat the entire house) but 12 X 8 does sound a bit too small for even the smallest stove not to cook the occupant

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An important issue if the OP has a large enough space to justify a wood stove is then Building control and smoke control; not all woodstoves count as "smokeless" so can't be used in smoke control zones. The other general issue is controllability and convenience; Nick is absolutely right that it's important not to have too big a stove, which would have to be run inefficiently and less controllably than a properly sized one. And they do need regular attention, which might be a problem when you are in the middle of that difficult job which needs glueing up with 147 clamps!
But in the right place they are brilliant.

Nick Gibbs · 16 Nov 2012

A mate of mine bought a tiny stove for a bell tent. I think it was called a Pipsqueak. It is rather cute, and is actually best used with coal (smokeless potentially), but I'm not sure if it mightn't need too much feeding for you. As **** mentions, even a small stove will give off a lot of heat. You could look for an old pot-bellied stove. We did an article in Living Woods magazine's Complete Guide to Woodfuel, which is still available as a free download at www.living-woods.com. The next issue of British Woodworking comes with the updated version of the Complete Guide to Woodfuel, but doesn't have the same special feature about workshop stoves.