Shop heat....

[rusty ol ranger]

My wood burner now is a coal burner, made in the 90s I suppose, by American Stove Company. Named a Wonder Coal, I believe prior to that Wonder Wood or something, but Regulations made them add a Catalytic converter to wood stoves of that type, so they just changed the name, but it burns either extremely well

Thats what mine is, one of the wondercoals.

@PetroleumJunkie412 i didnt know you could make a waste oil burner, but the issue with that one for me would be coming up with waste oil to dump in it. Lol. I keep some around to start brush fires with, but i usually give what little bit i have to my mechanic to run their waste oil burner.

@Dirtman my horse doesnt shit enough to fuel a shit fired furnace lol.

Maybe i will look more into hooking up the woodstove, ill definatly consider that option a bit harder.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Wood stove is a good option.

Believe it or not, a DIY waste oil burner will devour anything, unlike commercial units that freak out and die over coolant, etc.

Hell, the hot water tank ones will eat literally any semi flammable liquid. Start em on kerosene, get em hot, and switch to used motor oil, fryer grease, etc.

Fryer grease sounds amazing. Working on stuff to the smell of fried crap all day.

No matter what you choose, put a heat robber on the chimney. Massive savings on whatever your fuel source.

Ever see a rocket mass heater? Fastastic freebie to build and run shop heater

 

[97RangerXLT]

I second the Rocket Mass heater. that is a definite winner in the frozen north

AJ

 

[19Walt93]

I have 2 heating systems in my garage, a direct vent propane wall furnace that draws outside air and exhausts outside, and a wood/coal stove from a mobile home that a friend gave me. I hooked up the propane furnace with a remote control so I can turn the heat on after breakfast and drink another cup of coffee before I go out. Unless it's above about 40 degrees I kill the propane when I get out there and burn wood because I hate listening to the fan run while I'm working. I usually cut up and burn whatever trees fall down so this year I have mostly poplar, it gets hot quick but doesn't burn long. I'll even burn pine and hemlock, they just have to dry a couple years after I split them.

 

[91stranger]

Well after reading all the posts I think I may have some good input as I heat my house ONLY with propane wall heaters and a nice fireplace insert with wood burning all day. You can get propane wall heaters for pretty cheap and they are easy to maintain and work on. Propane is easy to install and get too. I would get one wall heater and then have a torpedo heater to just get the chill off. BUT..... Not having it insulated means you are losing more heat than what the heaters can make up for. I would definitely get some sort of insulation even if it is cardboard boxes cut flat and laid against the walls. ANYTHING is better than nothing on a pole barn. I would get it insulated for sure unless you like sweating in the summer and freezing in the winter. I would stay away from electric heaters just because its expensive and doesn't heat as good as the other options...

 

[sgtsandman]

Why yes... Almost none of us would like to know.

FIFY

 

[ExploreNW]

I don't have gas on the property yet. My shop, about 20 x 30, has a 220 electric hanging heater. Looks like the old Modine gas units that hang from the ceiling. Seems to heat the shop up in about 30 minutes or so. Power is 5.7 cents/kW here so I haven't bothered with gas yet. I keep a couple propane wall heaters around as backup but they make the house smell like a forkie driver's heaven.

Far as woodstoves go, Quadra-Fire makes the best in the land. They pipe cold air into different parts of the stove using its natural draw to get the most complete burn and the most heat possible out of regular firewood similar to a rocket stove. Pretty slick.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Fact is sir, it's a coal burner which also burns wood

Oh, I see. That explains it.

By the way, I don't generally answer to "sir".

 

[1990RangerinSK]

I don't have gas on the property yet.

You don't eat beans when you're at home? Or go home after you've eaten beans? (Dang! We don't have a fart emoji!)

Guess this'll just have to do, then.

 

[ExploreNW]

You don't eat beans when you're at home? Or go home after you've eaten beans?

Beer and Taco Bell guarantee my peace and quiet in the evening... "OUT to the SHOP if you're gonna do that in here!!" Hell yeah, you bet
Problem is... It's not in compressed form...

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Oh, I see. That explains it.

By the way, I don't generally answer to "sir".

...........

I wonder what that means...

 

[Josh B]

...........
I wonder what that means...

In my case sir, it means I'm trying to offer some amount of respect

 

[Josh B]

I find it intriguing that a wood burning stove could also burn coal as well as it could burn wood. Bear in mind, by the time I came along, everybody in the cities was heating their homes with natural gas, the coal suppliers had all disappeared. Out in the country, where natural gas wasn't available (and there are still areas where it isn't), most people use propane or oil as their primary heat source. I've only met one person in my lifetime who still burns coal for heat (and that was in the last year or two).

This might answer that question SK. There's a vent built into the fire door that I've always kept closed for burning wood.
I've never used coal in it but think this gives the coal a better oxygen supply up top in the fire box

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

In my case sir, it means I'm trying to offer some amount of respect

I mean is he... A lady?

Cause a whoooooole Lotta stuff would start making sense.

 

[91stranger]

My fireplace insert is a quadra-fire and it's the shit! It was a gift from my father in law. He said he got it for cheap and cleaned it up. All we had to do was get a new Kevlar mat for the top of it to help with heat. Looked it up online and it has actual gold plating around it. Pretty bizarre to have real gold on a fireplace insert. Mine is exactly like this one. All the gold you see is actual gold.