Any one have any thought on a wood burning stove in a shop 32' x 36' Brand of stove they use and safety concerns, Gas cost me $200.00 / mo during the cold months. Current furnace 65,000 BTU updraft. Does the job easily, but cost. I create alot of scrap wood, small pieces. Any ideas of using saw dust for fuel.
Ken
I heat my shop exclusively with wood. A quality, UL listed stove, UL approved pipe and installation and you'll be warm and happy. Be sure to clean your stovepipe regularly.
I wouldn't use sawdust as a fuel source though. Seems both inefficient and potentially dangerous.
Rick
Simply throwing sawdust into a wood stove isn't really dangerous. The bigger problem with the stuff is a decent delivery system so that you don't snuff the coals and still provide enough combustible to generate any significant heat.
Insulate.
More work up front, but worth it.
Trying to burn sawdust is a PITA.
You need to aerate it and deliver it pneumatically.
Lew
Check with your insurance company, you'll probably find your rates take a significant jump with a wood burning stove. If you don't tell them you're installing a wood stove and then you have a fire don't expect them to pay.
Still, if there was a practical way (meaning affordable and relatively simple) to compress sawdust into logs or blocks (without using wax or chemicals) it would be an attractive prospect for some folks.
"Ken" wrote
Damn, son ... it's 94 outside and here you are trying to make us look bad by thinking ahead. What I need for the foreseeable future is a woodburning AC.
You got that right. For the three or four days I actually need heat I can gut it out.
Think for my next shop, I'll build it dog trot style. Half on one side, half on the other, of a breezeway. See if I can get Bernoulli's law to help me out a bit.
Frank
Considering that you can run a refrigerator using a gas flame there is no reason except efficiency that you couldn't run a wood fired air conditioner. It would take a lot of wood though maybe you could blow the saw dust in a burner.
Dave
I think it's been done. Isn't that what wood pellets are made out of? I agree with Lew. Insulate first and whatever heat source you use will be much more efficient.
I'm in the process of doing that now with my shop. I've added an exterior skin, insulated between the original and new walls, and a pellet stove is waiting to fire up for the winter.
Something I see from time to time here is just what the OP has suggested; using scrap to feed the stove. If I used scrap to keep warm, I'd lose my testicles. It doesn't last long, doesn't give off a whole lot of heat. The house takes about 12 - 16 facecords (a facecord is 16" x 4' x 8') of wood per winter here. Granted I live in probably the coldest climate of anyone who contributes to this NG, but even so, stoves take a lot of wood to keep burning.
Check with your building code people, run the stove and stay warm but be aware that you'll need to have a stock of it somewhere (hopefully under cover) if you want it all winter long.
There's really nothing to compare though. The heat is fast, it's soothing and it's a good way to keep warm.
Tanus
I have an outdoor wood furnace, I heat my house, domestic hot water, wood shop and dry kiln all off the same furnace. I have in floor heat under the slab in the shop, it's great. I haven't bought propane outside of for my grill for years. check it out
I mean practical for the consumer, especially a consumer who produces a few cubic yards of sawdust a month. I used to buy a brand of sawdust logs under the Hi-Energy name, great stuff, just compressed sawdust unlike those naplam bombs sold under the big brand names. If there was a practical way to make something like that in the garage, well, hello wood stove.
Yeah, I think "practical" is the key there. I don't know what process the pellet makers use, but I expect it involves a fair amount of pressure, more than an average shop can generate.
Tanus
The stove itself is fairly safe. Most fires occur by things around the stove or fumes that hit the hot coals. Installation can be very straightforward or may require some shielding to comply with codes and chimney codes.
As for using sawdust fur fuel, it does not burn well if you just shovel some in. I've seen "logs" made by spreading sawdust on newspaper and rolling it tight. Burned well, but very labor intensive.
I used to fill the bottom of my dust collector, (a round drum) with thick card board tubes my wife got from work. The tubes were from a paper wrapper machine that rolls of paper were wrapped around for wrapping ice cream bars and Popsicles. Very similar to the cardboard tubes that carpet is wrapped around. Anyway, I would cut tapered wood circles in scrap wood on the Band Saw and pound them into one end of the tubes, then put the tubes in my dust collector drum with the plugged end down so the sawdust fell into the opened end of the tubes. When they were full I would compact them with the handle end of my wooden mallet, let them fill more, and when filled and compressed with saw dust, I'd cap the other end with a tapered wood circle. This got rid of my sawdust and small scraps of wood. The cardboard/sawdust logs burned perfect in my wood stove.
If you can get the cardboard tubes, perhaps from a carpet place, and have a drum on your dust collector you could be in business:-)
There are wood-burning stoves. I would lean toward a smaller cast-iron type, perhaps a double-decker. If you have a very limited budget, consider buying a metal drum barrel and vent it to the outside. The drum will eventually burn out and you'll need to replace it. Personally I haven't seen sawdust for fuel, but I'm sure it can be done. I use my sawdust for making compost or spreading over muddy areas in the backyard.
Find a restaurant that isn't selling it's used fryer oil. Mix that with your sawdust and you'll have a great burning product.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.