Third page of the first flyer. Anyone have one of these Vogelzang "boxwood" stoves? How are they for a garage? It wouldn't be running all the time, just when I expect to spend a lot of time in the garage. It's cast iron, but thin enough to get hot fast. I don't know if it has any firebrick or not, which for quick heat I don't want firebrick. It has to be safer than the 55 gallon drum stoves... doesn't it?
On 12/5/2010 7:55 PM Tony Miklos spake thus:
I completely missed that. But there it is, in all its cast-iron glory.
Heh; looks like the copy of a Jotul I bought many years ago for my house in Flagstaff. Some Taiwanese/Japanese copy (this was the late
19-ought-80s, before the influx of Chinese goods). Relatively well-made.Haven't seen this one, but at a guess: no firebrick, probably not airtight, but still very usable. (So long as the smoke port is relatively airtight, no problemo anyhow.)
I'd buy it.
You get what you pay for. I'd pay a little more, and get a better one, a safer one, maybe even an old used one. Buy a good one, try to get a deal in today's market, and don't be buying one a year from now because the HF POS isn't what you need and you just wasted that money.
If you weld, build one. If you don't weld, maybe it's time you learn.
What I'd do.
Not necessarily. A 55 gal drum might fail in a few months- but you'll see it coming. [and I've seen some that aren't abused lasting years and years]
Cast can fail rather dramatically & with no warning. While you're in the kitchen pouring a hot cup of coffee, giving the fire in your garage a while to get going, the *fire* in your garage can be getting going.
I haven't looked at these stoves & am overall a supporter of HF quality when it is suitable. . . but a wood stove probably surpasses my risk/reward boundaries.
I'd look on Craigslist for something slightly used. [and BTW-- if you're buying wood- forget it. Wood is the least efficient, most dangerous way to heat your garage. Even LP is cheaper if you're buying it. That's why there are lots of woodstoves on Craigslist]
Jim
They are fine for garages if properly installed. Remove your gasoline cans.
Can I change my vote? Every time I go to Costco, and walk under those gas heaters they have hanging from the ceiling, I think, "I want one of those." Heating in a shop is a very spotty thing. From my experience, shops vary wildly in their design, and efficiency of heating and cooling just because of a lot of empty space. Unless you have rooms that can be closed off and the heat kept in, one is spending a lot of time contributing to global warming by trying to heat the out of doors. If there's a roll up, or people going in and out a lot, forget it. Wood stoves are acceptable, but most shops I have seen don't have the extra square footage all around the stove to safely operate it, and then there's the tending of it and bringing in all the wood. And sometimes the best thing is just to heat small areas or wear warmer clothes.
Steve
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Agree. I have one of those little "mr Heater" LP gas, radiant heaters.
2 burners that go on top of a 20lb propane tank. [about $100 on amazon] It tosses off a lot of heat- right away- and is *off* when I leave the shop.I learned the hard way that it heats *things* before the air. I had a crescent wrench in the back pocket of my coveralls- facing the little heater. The end of the wrench was soaking up heat for 20 minutes or so - and then I grabbed it and it discharged a lot of that heat into my cold hand. Ouch!
For about $300 you can get a 25k btu one that goes overhead and uses a
100 gallon propane tank.Jim
Before the "greenie" weenies there were a lot of stoves that were not fire brick lined and none of them were EPA certified. When I was a teen we used an unlined four burner flat top, laundry stove was what I heard it called, to heat an old kitchen. The darn thing could not hold a fire overnight, you don't want that anyway, but once stoked in the morning things got cozy warm fast.
After an in store look to make sure the joints fit well especially around the smokestack, I would not hesitate to buy one of these for a garage or workshop.
For your safety, do follow modern safety standards for your heat shielding at the wall and floor.
I have a portable job site type propane heater (bullet, 'jet engine type)and 2 100 gallon tanks that I can take to get filled. LPG costs almost as much as electric here. I wouldn't be buying any wood, I have a few acres of woods.
Fast is the key word. I would keep the fires fairly small as to not overheat it and warp it. I seldom work out there for more than 3 to 5 hours, and a great high quality wood stove with firebrick takes 2 or 3 hours until it really starts cooking. That would be great if I wanted the heat the garage/shop everyday, all day. But I don't, so when I do want it, I want it fast.
I don't know anything about their stoves, but if they are built like most of their tools I would not buy one. Just would not seem safe enough for me to use, especially if I had to leave it.
I do have a wood stove in my basement that seems well built and I don't have any problem leaving it going while I am upstairs. There is nothing next to it that can over heat and burn.. Cement floor and the wall behind it is block. Over 5 feet to the nearest thing that could burn. I don't burn it very much but have it incase the power goes out. Hard to run a heat pump with a 5 KW generator. I may burn a cord of wood each year. Usually much less. As I live about the middle of North Carolina it does not usually get below
25 deg F for very long at a time. I did fire it up this afternoon as I was off work today and tomorrow and plan in being in the basement some. It is suspose to get below 20 deg tonigh.
Any blueprints for a safe, efficient wood-burning stove out there?
No experience with the Vogelzang boxwood but with the Vogelzang barrel conversion. Not great quality, impossible to make air tight.
Had a friend that loaded one up in a very drafty uninsulated "house". A wind blew up outside and although he had it choked down it ran cherry hot and he had to open all the windows! And it was cold out there!
You may wish to look at some of the better quality 30 gallon barrel conversions. 55 is too big. You may be able to find stainless drums surplus.
Jeff
Mad Houser Wood Stove:
Jeff
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