Workshop heating - wood burner?

[misterdiy]

This surprises me since I installed a woodburner some 18 months ago and it was a godsend this last winter. We are on oil so clearly anything to save some of that was useful. The woodburner was easy to install. I put my own concrete plinth in, designed my own flue to relevant standards and got the landlords builders to install it. Total cost, including the stove was about a grand. The stove gives out up to 8kw but you are feeding it for that heat level.

getting rid of offcuts is expensive, since unlike cardboard, waste carriers wont take it for free. We do sometimes burn MDF offcuts, but not morso chippings. We dont stockpile MDF though so this winter we may continue to dump this, especially as its a bit smelly. We stockpile offcuts all summer and burn when it gets cold , normally around mid to late October. The big enemy of mountboard is damp so heaters that use propane are not on. We have no dust issues and also there are no issues with the insurance company.

Wished I done it a year earlier

[Smudges dad]

Apologies, double post caused by mobile broadband slow connection

[Smudges dad]

We have installed a couple of woodburners in the house and the dust gets everywhere. Smudges mum has enough problems getting rid of the final speck of dust on the glass without having to carry pans full of ash through the workshop.

Make sure the place is properly insulated first and then heating will be easier and cheaper.

[The Jolly Good Framer #1]

Make sure the place is properly insulated first and then heating will be easier and cheaper.

^^^^^ what he said

[Trinity]

You've probably thought it through Grays as it's fairly obvious, but I've built insulated boxes inside old sheds, factories and barns, or sometimes overlaid the floor (local to work station) with a concrete screed incorparating electric or wet system heater mat - feet warm all warm. If its a landlord the screed is laid on polythene.

[Graysalchemy]

Carpet on the floor by the bench helps. But as I said it is impossible to heat and the cost of insulating the building would be a non starter as they are only giving us 2 yr leases at the moment, so I'm not prepared to spend money on it. I do have some rooms in the workshop for kitchen and office and a large room for the press and CMC. These tend to be a few degrees warmer it is also where I store mount board so this stays dry and damp free.

[Grahame Case]

do you have any staff Grays? - there is a minimum temperature you have to keep the place heated at if you do

[framemaker]

Certainly lots to think about here
If it was just me in the workshop I would be happy with a little infrared heater that I could use whereever I was working! But I do think if you can maintain a relatively warm in winter, and cool in summer workshop, then this can have a real effect on workers production. Storage conditions are also a factor for artwork and materials, and extreme temperature and humidity has a great effect on making gilded frames.
I don't think insurance is a major issue (famous last word perhaps!), my NFU policy has a section regarding wood burning heating, and while there are conditions, they are far from extreme.

Given that every furniture makers/woodworkers I have every been in has a wood burner of some sort, I don't think it is that unrealistic for a framer to stockpile wood waste (if you have room), and burn during the colder months.

Conditions by landloard are a registered HETAS installer, and as long as everything complies with the insurance.

Which are the burners that create dust? so I can avoid them

[Graysalchemy]

do you have any staff Grays? - there is a minimum temperature you have to keep the place heated at if you do

No only me and my machines, which is another good reason not to have staff and buy more machines. However most of the units on my estate have staff and all seem to use infra red heaters. I think rules apply to shops and offices and not industrial units and warehouses.

If I did have staff I think a group hug would be in order

As long as I wrap up warm I don't mind the cold, I spent three years on the West Coast of Scotland with my arms up to my elbows in freezing cold water.

[Graysalchemy]

The The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 says

Temperature in indoor workplaces

7.—(1) During working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable.

(2) A method of heating or cooling shall not be used which results in the escape into a workplace of fumes, gas or vapour of such character and to such extent that they are likely to be injurious or offensive to any person.

(3) A sufficient number of thermometers shall be provided to enable persons at work to determine the temperature in any workplace inside a building

What is reasonable i don't know but I doubt you have to maintain a specified temperature it would be impossible in large warehouses and workshops.

[Grahame Case]

Reasonable - surely thats 24 degrees C

[Graysalchemy]

Not if you are paying the bills.

Anyway it is not unreasonable to ask employees to where a jumper.

[Framerpicture]

Were just opening up a new workshop area and have been looking at the idea of burning offcuts etc for heat.
Its about 750sq ft and will be solely used for cutting and joining mouldings but heating with electricity is going to cost a small fortune.
Its going to cost about £2.5k to install gas supply and boilers so it would seem if we can burn waste wood etc

There is an environmental issue with burning finished/coated wood but I beleive there is a range of very efficient burners which use a secondary ignition process combined with catylitic converters to elimanate this. Trouble is all the ones I've found so far are in the States.

As Richard stated if the burner is installed by a HETAS engineer there isn't a issue with insurance.

If anybody nows of any waste burners I'd also be interested to know, otherwise I'm going to buy some plans of the internet and get a local blacksmith to make me one!

[Ultima Thule]

I fitted a dessicant dehumidifier last year after burst pipes from the flats above, and it has made a big difference to the atmosphere and temperature- putting out warm dry air and getting rid of bone seeking damp. We stopped using other forms of heating once this was running (electric panel heaters and halogen swivelers), and got ours from Meaco- shttp://www.meaco.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DD122FW

It works for us, with 500sq ft workshop situated halfway to Iceland!

[iantheframer]

Yes dehumidifiers are a great help. It is much easier to heat drier air than air that contains a lot of water

[Tim]

Warm is Expensive. End of.

Lot of reports of firewood poaching in the forestry hereabouts. When have you ever heard of that before?

Sorry for the quote, but I've been busy framing this week, and only just (Friday night) got to play catchup.

A few years ago, when I was responsible for trying to rescue a couple of acres of badly neglected Scottish woodland, we thinned out a load of dead wood (whole trees!), and carefully laid down the larger branches (cords?) in lengths of around six foot, with an average diameter of 10 inches or so, for drying, in BIG stacks. Think tonnes, not lbs. We had something like three YEARS worth of firewood for the main house slowly drying and maturing, but woke one Sunday morning to find the lot had disappeared overnight.....

...we never heard a sound. Still don't know how the local neds got it away.

[Roboframer]

Were you a forum member then? Maybe you logged out

[Trinity]

Enough for me really. Get gas, get electric, get heat pumps but get business so that you can work in the conditions that most people enjoy. Beggar me but if you need to burn waste to make it pay then you should be really looking at increasing your sales or doing something in addition. Unless, that is, if it's your choice to work in cold conditions, or to save a couple of grand a year by becoming a slave to solid fuel. There will be situations were wood burners are fine, but not as the compromise for cheap heat. Not intending to offend by the way.

[Framerpicture]

As we currently pay to have our waste wood removed and sent to landfill it would seem sensible to try and convert it to heat. I suppose it depends how much waste wood you get.

Although there are large upfront costs for the boiler its now cheaper per KW to heat with wood (pellets, logs or chippings) than it is with oil and it won't be long before its cheaper than gas. There wil also be large tax breaks for those that convert to heating by wood, although it will require the right sort of boiler to be used.

[Custard]

I've heard a few complaints that wood burners are dirty, but if the flue/chimney is set up properly they're clean as a whistle. Any and all smuts/dust should evacuate up and out the chimney. I've got a woodburner in the workshop (believe it or not it's made by Morso) and two in my house, no dirt problems at all.