workshop woodburner

[yashin57]

Anyone got a recommendation for a make of woodburner for the workshop? No size restrictions etc., I would just like some suggestions before I take the leap!

[GBF]

I would check with your insurer first my Brother Chris was going to put one in his workshop and insurance was a problem because he does not live on the premises

Regards George

[michaelb]

Have had a Wood burner in my brick built workshop 8 meters by 7 meters and 2.4 meters high with a  FireFox woodburner with an output of 8kw is more than ample as the building is brick/block no issues with insurance . I don't burn shavings only logs and failures . If your workshop is wood suggest you place on concrete slabs and extend at least 750mm all round with stainless double insulated chimney.   
Outside temperature today 4 inside shirt selves and shorts 

[BrianH]

BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE
In a previous life I drove a red lorryfull of ladders and in my 18 years attended two burnt out workshops. Yes a concrete base is essential but it is the tiny layer of dust where your main, but unexpected, fire risks probably lie. A woodburner in a workshop? Not worth the risk in my book.
Brian

[bodrighywood]

I know a few people with these but personally I agree with Brian. The one I know best however has an amazing dust extraction so there is literally no dust to speak of in a very large workshop. The burner is made from an old boiler and is massive.

pete

[Percy]

My workshop has a small pot-bellied stove in it (which I got from Machine Mart) and it works very well to keep the chill off in the winter. I think if you are careful and don't cut corners with installation and maintenance then its a good way to heat your workspace, not to mention a good way to recycle your waste wood. Without it, a lot of my work making furniture, etc. would be impossible in the winter months as the glues and finishes just don't work if its too cold. If there is no other heating solution available, I think its worth considering.

[Les Symonds]

...a small pot-bellied stove...Without it, a lot of my work making furniture, etc. would be impossible in the winter months as the glues and finishes just don't work if its too cold...

I just don't get it...are you suggesting that such a heating source is the only available source of heat for a workshop? If so, you are comprehensively wrong. There are many other solutions to this problem which do not rely upon a naked flame, albeit encased within a stove.
Les

[bodrighywood]

I have a little fan heater which works fine even in the sub zero temperatures we had last year. Mind you I am fortunate that the workshop has insulated walls and double glazing.

Pete

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

I was a victim of a workshop fire, the company I worked for burnt to the ground and everyone working for them lost their tools. In my case I lost the tools that my father had given me and his father had given to him. Now, over 30 years later I still go to my tool chest looking for kit that I once had.
When I built my present workshop I did install a small wood burning stove but removed it after the end of the first winter as it was uncontrollable, really it was too hot for me to work comfortably. I now use an oil filled radiator with a thermostat fitted,works a treat.
Whatever system you do use to heat your work shops please be careful. (I speak from experience)

[michaelb]

Reading the post all make sense, workshops can be dangerous places, but it is about managing the risk whatever your heat source is , electric fan heater has open elements etc, is your dust extraction earthed, do you smoke, if you have central heating where is the boiler etc ,the question is what is best for you both financially and risk.  Evaluate the risk, then minimise the risk . 
I am lucky logs cost me nothing, failures only cost me time (these are getting less)   have I minimised the risk I hope,  so all machines attached to central extraction which is in another room . 2 jet air filters on timers, most of all clean up each day/evening with vacuum attached to central system . All comes at a cost but I have environment which is pleasant to work in .
As woodworkers and turners all the equipment we use has dangers and we minimise the risk by understanding, do so with your heating whatever you chose.

[BrianH]

Since I first mentioned that dust was one of the main problems when it comes to workshop fire risk a number of folk have talked about an efficient extraction system being the solution. Once fire is present the extractor is merely a forced draught machine encouraging the heat etc along a dust-lined pipe to a storage bin full of ? .
I am pleased to see that all shades of opinion have surfaced on this thread and it is for each of us to make our own judgment. I have seen a grown man cry as his beloved workshop went up in flames so woodburners in a woody workshop? I'd rather wear two more jumpers or, if that's not enough, take a  day off...… but that's only my decision!!
All the best for the New 'Ear
Brian

[Tim Pettigrew]

Just to add my two-pennyworth, I use a small 2.5Kw electrically powered thermostatically controlled oil filled radiator which has proved more than adequate for keeping the workshop warm, and which is safe as well as compact. Mounted on castors, it can easily be moved around the workshop as required.   Spec is:

• 13 Fins
• 6 heat settings and 3 power settings up to 2.5Kw
• Adjustable thermostat
• Built-in timer, ensuring you only get heat when you want and need it
• Mounted on castors
• Dimensions (LWH): 580mm x 250mm x 630mm
• Weight: 15.3kg

I have also insulated the workshop which makes a big difference.
       
   
   

[burywoodturners]

I have a little fan heater which works fine even in the sub zero temperatures we had last year. Mind you I am fortunate that the workshop has insulated walls and double glazing.

Pete
I had a fan heater, wonderful for redistributing dust through out the shed! I now have an electric patio heater from Aldi which despite having the same wattage, is no as effective, but is not recurculating the dust which get in every woodorkers shed
Ron

[bodrighywood]

Good poit FRon. I tend to put the heater on for half an hour before going into the shop and that is enough as once the shop,is warmed up it stays like that for the rest of the day.

If I had a wood burner I'd be turning in the nude it'd be far to hot and that would be a whole set of different H&S problems LOL.

pete

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Since I first mentioned that dust was one of the main problems when it comes to workshop fire risk a number of folk have talked about an efficient extraction system being the solution. Once fire is present the extractor is merely a forced draught machine encouraging the heat etc along a dust-lined pipe to a storage bin full of ? .
I am pleased to see that all shades of opinion have surfaced on this thread and it is for each of us to make our own judgment. I have seen a grown man cry as his beloved workshop went up in flames so woodburners in a woody workshop? I'd rather wear two more jumpers or, if that's not enough, take a  day off...… but that's only my decision!!
All the best for the New 'Ear
Brian

Brian you mention seeing grown men cry, when I heard that our works were on fire I got in my car and drove there,naively thinking that my boss may have needed a hand to board things up and secure the place overnight. I could see the glow in the sky and smell the smoke a mile away. One of the lasting images of that night is seeing my boss stood at the bottom of the yard where the water from the hoses was flowing downhill and the bottoms of his trouser legs were frozen to the ground. Asbestos from the roof had been blown off in some of the explosions and had landed over 300 feet away.
The wall, behind which was my bench,had collapsed and I saw my tool chest burning.Eventually the police moved us away to a safer distance. I went to work the following day and we set up a canteen of sorts amongst the ruins, so that the men could get out of the cold and have a hot drink but most just sat or stood around, not talking or making eye contact with anyone and some just sat and cried.I was in my middle twenties then with a mortgage to pay and a young family to support but together we rebuilt the company, allbeit in a different location but there were some that never worked with wood again. So when I say I speak from experience it comes from the heart with a voice full of emotion, you don't just lose a shed in a fire you lose a part of your being, tools that through time become familiar friends in your hand  and in my case part of my family history. Just be careful...please.