Eric
We've been heating our house with a wood stove for 30+ years, and I really like it.
I have thought many times about putting a wood stove in my garage shop, but just never could get it to work really well in my head. The clearances required for fire code and moving around it, along with the chimney and thimble specs to install it properly, just don't work for me. I know how dry our house can get on certain days in winter, so the variations in humidity are a negative also. The cost is not small, at least not here in Connecticut, to do it properly and not risk burning down your shop. There is also the mess that goes with burning wood.
I've been looking at putting in a propane heat system lately, because I really would like to work in the garage shop during the winter. With the advantage of zero clearance heat panels, outside air collection and venting, the shop environment would stay consistent. They're also not really that expensive. Propane is, but it wouldn't have to run all the time.
I've also tossed around the idea of a pellet stove for the shop. The clearances are less, and the thimble piece, and chimney, is much less expensive than putting a triple walled, insulated, stove pipe thimble through the wall, and the chimney sections. Pellet stoves gather air from outside, which is a benefit for shop environment.
I love my QuadraFire 5700 in the house, but a wood stove in the shop just doesn't work for me no matter how hard I've tried to make it. The Chimney and Thimble have been big stumbling blocks for me.
Last edited by Mike Cutler; 02-10-2018 at 7:24 AM.
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