Heating My Workshop, Looking for Advice

Hello everyone,

I've been reading / lurking for quite a while now - first of all, thanks for all of the great information on this site.

Anyway, I'm looking to get my shop heated this winter - it's a 40'x25' detached building that is decently insulated. I installed a ceiling with R30 above it and am working on getting the rest of the exterior sheathed (was just metal paneling screwed onto a stick built frame when I first moved in). I don't have any gas lines, electric heat is too expensive, and I don't want to deal with the headache of keeping a wood burner happy (along with the extended warm up / shut down times, creosote, hotter stack temps, etc.) As a result I've landed on an auto-fed anthracite coal stove as a good solution.

I was considering the Alaska stoker II stove with a direct vent system and had a few questions I was hoping those with some experience could chime in on.

- This might seem like a very elementary question, but I've never used a coal stove before and really have no understanding for how much heat they're capable of throwing. Is this enough stove for my application? Ideally, I'd like to have a some headroom so I don't have to run the stove flat out all the time. I've played with BTU calculators and the like to try and get a guesstimate but they can be made to give you any value you want. The stove itself says to be rated for 2500 sq. ft......do you feel like this will keep up with my 1000 sq. ft. of reasonably well insulated space? I'm hoping to be able to get up to at least 60 degrees on cold days when I'm working, and maintain a minimum temperature above freezing for when I'm not out there.

-As for the direct vent, I was considering it mainly because I intend on positioning the stove along the wall to maximize interior workspace, which places it at the farthest point possible away from the peak. Apart from it looking terrible and requiring lots of material, the installation would be much more difficult than a direct vent through the wall. A DV allows me to skip the labor involved with going through the ceiling, framing out a chute in the rafters, going through the roof, flashing the penetration, getting everything braced on the roof, etc etc. Normally I wouldn't complain but my free time is in short supply at the moment. I do recognize the advantages of the passive nature of a chimney, but I'm not living in the garage so it's not the end of the world if the power goes out and I lose my fire. Aside from the additional maintenance incumbent upon the DV systems, are there any other factors / potential downsides I'm not considering? Which system (DV vs. Chimney) would you guys prefer in this situation?

- If I end up with the DV system, can it's blower be made to run off of a rheostat reliably? I've read of some doing this without issues, but others saying that throttling the blower down causes it to draw more current, heat it up, and ultimately reduce its service life. Either way I will be permanently installing a manometer to monitor for proper draft.

-Anyone have a lead on a source for anthracite coal in the Pittsburgh area?

Thanks for your time, and sorry for the novel.

Chuck

Click this >>> Coal in Pittsburgh?

How high is the ceiling and what is the side wall r value?
With a 8 to 10 foot ceiling and a wall r value of 13 that stoker will keep you way above 60…

I'll let others coment on the dv but from what I know and what you already understand about them it should be a good fit

Thanks for the replies!

The ceilings are 10'. The walls are uninsulated (for now) - open studs on the inside with 7/16" osb > tyvek > steel paneling gapped with 1" furring strips on the outside, so whatever R value that provides (probably next to nothing).

For what it's worth, it seems to be a pretty tight structure. I've had a lot of windy nights up there and there aren't any drafts. The garage door is insulated (R18) and I installed a new man door that seals up nice as well. No windows. Obviously insulated walls would be ideal, but this is what I've got to work with for the time being.....I'm renovating as I go along here as time and money allow. Last year I had open rafters and any heat would go right out of the ridge vent - so I didn't even bother trying to heat it.

I heat my 1200 sq Ft pole barn with a Alaska Stoker 11 w d/v just fine. My walls and ceiling are insulated with 2" foam under osb. It does a great job, a little noisy with the direct vent if your up close but not really a issue.
Get the D/V that is recommended by Alaska and be done with it. A few hrs in install time and you have heat.
Dave
Stockbridge Mi.

i heat my 40x80 shop with a efm af-150 hot air furnace.