In this cold weather my thoughts have turned to workshop heating. It is hard for me to justify turning on electric heaters just for one person when we are being so careful in the house so I am thinking of fitting a woodburner. If you have done this can you any recommendations for a small (and cheap) stove and any advice on fitting the flue? The flue fitting looks as if it should be straightforward but in my experience things are rarely as simple as they look. The flue components also look horrendously expensive. My workshop is built of concrete blocks and has a flat roof so the flue can go straight up through the roof. Thanks.
Wood burning stove for the workshop?
- Thread starter Bodger7
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Big is better - as large as you can conveniently fit. A small hot fire burning fast in a big stove is much more efficient and heats up much faster than the opposite. Though you have to feed it more often - it's a trade off, but you can fill it more and burn slow if you need to.
Flue - best to have as much as possible exposed with no insulation so that it also gives out heat.
Ours is a Dowling Sumo, which also burns all sawdust and chippings very efficiently. The pyramid like shape means easy top filling and tight packed with saw dust it burns from the top. It takes 3 or 4 coal hods of chippings/dust. You have to let it burn down before you refill or you can get blow back, but no prob with larger pieces of wood. Not cheap though but worth it we think - fabricated steel is totally superior and maintenance free compared to cast iron and fire bricks.
Last edited:
Jameshow
Established Member
Our house stove is an ecosy ottowa.
Steel construction, good sized ash pan easy to use.
There 5kw version would be ideal about £400.
https://www.stoveworlduk.co.uk/ecos...ZlFE4H3VNlriUDyDFttpKDWOZNhkKaZwaAs9xEALw_wcB
Steel construction, good sized ash pan easy to use.
There 5kw version would be ideal about £400.
https://www.stoveworlduk.co.uk/ecos...ZlFE4H3VNlriUDyDFttpKDWOZNhkKaZwaAs9xEALw_wcB
Last edited:
Yojevol
Clocking on
Just come in from lighting up my stove.
Agree with Jacob's notes on size and management.
Going straight up through your flat roof may not be the easiest solution. Making a seal is not straightforward and if you've got wooden structure you have to provide a 75mm (?) clearance all round. Going through your non-combustable concrete wall may be the easier option where the seal is not so critical.
Brian
Agree with Jacob's notes on size and management.
Going straight up through your flat roof may not be the easiest solution. Making a seal is not straightforward and if you've got wooden structure you have to provide a 75mm (?) clearance all round. Going through your non-combustable concrete wall may be the easier option where the seal is not so critical.
Brian
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
A stove supplier will tell you (or work out for you) the heat output the of stove you need for a given application then advise you to buy one smaller. A smaller stove burning at maximum output is more efficient than a large stove damped down and is better for the flue as well.
SLM
Established Member
In a workshop, one which burns sawdust/chips, as well as larger off cuts is useful; I fitted one such burner in my father’s large workshop, and it does the job very well. I’ve also boiled kettles on it, and even fried some pork chops on it once. That one is from a company in Hereford, made from steel, and has sand in the bottom. I’m sure there will be other manufacturers elsewhere.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Yes it makes sense but based on my own experience I think it's wrong.
A large stove NOT damped down but burning a small fire will be more efficient, burn cleaner and hotter. It's the "rocket stove" principle. I lit my stove 5 minutes ago this morning and it's roaring away with just a few bits of wood.
I've also got into the habit of reducing everything down - no big smouldering logs , nothing thicker than say 2".
I've had wood stoves for years now and feel that I've only just worked out how to make the best of them.
The worst thing you can do with them is attempt to have a fire burning overnight. It means slow and inefficient and only serves to save having to light it again in the morning.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Be aware wood stoves and multi fuel stoves are designed differently - the vents are different. If you burn only wood, a woodburner is more efficient but will probably cost quite a bit more.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Mine's supposed to be multifuel but I only burn wood. If some coal came my way I'd do the same - aim at having a small hot fire with more frequent recharging.
This is what they do in Siberia with those massive brick stoves in the middle of a building - a small fire burning hot and heating great thermal mass of the stove which emits heat over night, long after the fire has burnt out.
In fact the only point in closing one down is if it's too hot for the room, or last thing at night - then you may have some nice charcoal and unburnt stuff all ready to re-light in the morning
Last edited:
niall Y
Established Member
At present I have a Tecnik woodstove, It burns sawdust as well as wood, and being of a solid construction. should last a lot longer than my previous one. My first stove, a circular, Spanish made type, with a stand -off, square, metal grid , wrapped around the outside, performed well , but only lasted 9 years, with lots of patching up towards the end.
The stove shops should be able to advise on the relevant flue and the correct seal around the flue as it exits your flat roof. You can, as has been mentioned, exit through the block wall instead. Though I find a straight flue a lot easier to sweep. It's also handy to have a wind cowl fitted, to help in gusty conditions.
There are a few downsides to using a woodstove. One is that you have to be quite disciplined and organised, as it can be a bit of a pain lighting it, if you are only in the workshop for an hour or two. The other is that you have to have somewhere to store the wood and sawdust, bearing in mind you will be generating the waste during the summer, when the stove is not on. During a working day I get through at least a sack full, of off-cuts. Also, its a lot easier when you are burning sawdust, to start with this and refuel with wood and off-cuts, rather than sawdust. That way you are spared the muffled explosions, and the lid lifting off, which can be quite disconcerting
The stove shops should be able to advise on the relevant flue and the correct seal around the flue as it exits your flat roof. You can, as has been mentioned, exit through the block wall instead. Though I find a straight flue a lot easier to sweep. It's also handy to have a wind cowl fitted, to help in gusty conditions.
There are a few downsides to using a woodstove. One is that you have to be quite disciplined and organised, as it can be a bit of a pain lighting it, if you are only in the workshop for an hour or two. The other is that you have to have somewhere to store the wood and sawdust, bearing in mind you will be generating the waste during the summer, when the stove is not on. During a working day I get through at least a sack full, of off-cuts. Also, its a lot easier when you are burning sawdust, to start with this and refuel with wood and off-cuts, rather than sawdust. That way you are spared the muffled explosions, and the lid lifting off, which can be quite disconcerting
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
With sawdust I let mine burn right down before opening. Glass door helps!......Also, its a lot easier when you are burning sawdust, to start with this and refuel with wood and off-cuts, rather than sawdust. That way you are spared the muffled explosions, and the lid lifting off, which can be quite disconcerting
Just checked the prices on Dowling stoves - much higher than most, but we have one 20 years old and still in perfect nick. Broke the glass once by accident.
i got mine from the Hotspot many years ago. It's a solid cast iron job. They are great for consuming general waste and sawdust although you will have to keep them topped up during the day. A pipe to funnel air to the base seems essential and I would also try to get one lined with firebricks. If I throw in a few chunky pieces the iron is soon glowing red hot !.
Overall they are useful but time demanding. Nothing beats flicking a switch for heat !.
Overall they are useful but time demanding. Nothing beats flicking a switch for heat !.
Agent_zed
Established Member
I've grown up with open fires and stoves in the house but weirdly I am somewhat nervous about putting a woodburner into a workshop. It feels a bit like tempting fate with all the sawdust, wood and chemicals kicking around.
I would certainly put a smoke/heat alarm in, and consider some kind of sprinkler system e.g in its simplest form just a plumbed in pipe you can turn on from outside.
My garage is on the side of my house so it has a mains heat alarm all linked up to my house fire alarms, so if my garage is merrily burning away at night at least I get a warning.
I would certainly put a smoke/heat alarm in, and consider some kind of sprinkler system e.g in its simplest form just a plumbed in pipe you can turn on from outside.
My garage is on the side of my house so it has a mains heat alarm all linked up to my house fire alarms, so if my garage is merrily burning away at night at least I get a warning.
niall Y
Established Member
All the stoves I have had in the workshop, so far, could be classed as 'workshop stoves' as opposed to the 'wood burning stove' I have indoors. One of the differences is, that they are loaded from the top. To burn sawdust/shavings , you have to stand a column ( in my case a section of100mm waste pipe ) in the centre and pack the sawdust firmly around this, before carefully removing it This airspace is central to the proper burning of the fuel. Needless to say. this is not something you can carry out when the stove is burning. Hence the need to change to wood. On the plus side, a full charge does last till lunch-time
In my old work shop I used to have a sawdust burner full to the top and lit on the top it burned for about 2 hours warming the shop , Crude but effective 18" cylinder blanked at the bottom with a small door for raking out dust the top was domed with a lid and two small openings one with a tube welded to it running down inside about 12" and one just hole both had caps on so you could regulate air flow and it had a 4" flue coming out the top of the cylinder , bought it from a car boot for a 10 er sadly left it when we moved "wont need it in Devon it will be warmer than Manchester"
Drifter2406
Established Member
I have the Greenheart stove in my log cabin wood/ shop, it has worked perfectly burning dust, wood chips, off cuts and everything else that is waste in the workshop, only sits about 600mm off the floor and similar in diameter, once it gets going I turn it down and it gets almost too warm in there and it also burns from the top down. Admittedly it is not the biggest work shop (6mtrs by 5mtrs) but I would not be without it.
johnnyb
Established Member
I'm just burning a load of waste osb that was flytipped in the lay-by opposite the workshop. burns lovely and hot. much hotter than wood. I've got about 15 3 by 4 sheets left.
I start with 2 big shovel full of sawdust. cos mine is front opening I can chuck sawdust on 3 or 4 times a day with little blowback. I light mine using a good splash of heatingl.
saves a lomload of
I start with 2 big shovel full of sawdust. cos mine is front opening I can chuck sawdust on 3 or 4 times a day with little blowback. I light mine using a good splash of heatingl.
saves a lomload of
Robbo3
Established Member
My 5.5Kw burner was sized for the gap it had to go in not its output. The single skin flue goes through a twinwall polycarbonite roof using a self stick flashing which can be molded to suit the roof contours. I used the higher temperature rated flashing but with hind site only needed the lower rated one.
I had a wood burner in my workshop for a few years but eventually realised that I got warmer chopping and sawing the fuel than I did from the stove and wasted time keeping it going.So last year spend under £100.00 and installed a diesel cabin heater. Brilliant no mess ,no smell 1 press to start and simple knob to adjust temp. Simple 25mm hole in wall for exhaust and 'luckily' 1200 heating oil tank (mine) to nick the odd liter from.
