How long does it take to get your garage / workshop warm with your pellet stove

No.
You can run a gas furnace in your garage...
I guess gas is a lot safer than pellets..
I have four gas appliances in my basement.. I can see open pilots on all of them.
I see no open flame on my pellet stove...


Dan

 

in alluding to garages, I believe its SOLID fuels which are prohibited.....going on memory here though, and cant comment on gas.

 

Hello

I think you are correct about solid fuels LW
However if pellets are accidentally dropped on the garage floor, is that so much more dangerous than oil or gas leaking on the garage floor? Are they not more flammable???
Just trying to make sense of it all but time is a factor about when these codes were developed like ArtC said.
Maybe there is not enough effort in making a relatively safe pellet stove into acceptable garage heat with a specific type of install?
Anyway here is what I just found on acceptable garage heat! Hope this helps Artc ?
Look at the time when some of these codes were written
Late 1950's !!!
Code Acceptable Garage Heaters
Heating (§ 13-108-080)—Chicago Decoded—Chicago Decoded

 

I think, yea, gas and oil are considerably more flammable than pellets, not to mention the flammable vapors. I would drop a lit match in a 5 gallon bucket of pellets all day long.....drop a match in a 5 gallon can of gasoline though? I don't think so. I think the pellets are considerably less flammable, but I have to guess that its the vapors that are dangerous. Do you think the stove, or glass, can get hot enough to ignite gasoline? (that's around 495 degrees) I know burnpot temps go way above that......

 

I thought the deal with solid fuels is that you can't stop them with an off switch. My oil boiler in my basement has a red emergency off switch. The ability to immediately stop the flow of fuel to a heating appliance is likely the issue here. If some authority was to say, "you can't heat a garage", more people would violate the code. If they said you can only heat a garage with radiant floor heat, they wouldn't be allowing for self standing garages without requiring that the heating appliance be stored outside. The ban on solid fuel heaters is likely a compromise as a gas, oil or kerosene appliance can ignite lingering vapors just as easily as a wood or pellet stove.

As with anything there are many interests involved. Often times, it is the insurance companies who determine what they will and will not insure. I think in the case of a pellet stove or wood stove in a garage, it would be up to the individual to understand that a related claim would be denied due to code violation. Doesn't mean a garage can't be heated with a solid fuel device safely. It just means that it's against the grain and not an accepted practice. Now for a licensed installer to do the job, it could be business suicide. The liability carried with a potential problem would cause cancellation of insurance and likely a lawsuit no matter how much paperwork was signed and how many warnings were given.

Why isn't it against code to build a house at a beach that sees 12 feet of water every time a category III hurricane rolls through? Perhaps that's where the insurance company owners want to vacation so their special interests allow for insurance and federal relief every time they lose their second or third homes.

I like to think that I do a pretty good risk assessment of my daily activities, but in doing my assessment, I do things that would be frowned on and could come back to bite me. One headlight out? Car shouldn't leave the driveway.. But I'll still drive it for a couple days til I can get it fixed. I've driven on tires past their useful life and I've leaned a step ladder against a wall and climbed up two steps (OSHA violation).

Best thing to do is to stop and think about the potential risks of every decision, heed sound advice and consider the legal implications if things don't go as planned.

 

That is correct...

Dan

 

I guess the vapors from the gasoline are the main concern. The old wood stoves did not have outside air kits. Therefore if the pellet stove has an outside air kit to bring in fresh air for the fire then it is much safer than oil or gas and Kerosene appliances that use room air with flammable vapors they can pull in and ignite!
That is why the gas heater must be higher than 8 feet in the code to be above the vapors!!
So that settles it!

 

unless you open the front door of the stove........then, well, direct contact with the vapors

 

I believe that is so you can't hit it...
I think the fuel rail on a furnace has to be at least 18" off the floor...

I agree LW:

Dan

 

What does it take to make it classified as a room and not a garage?
Then a pellet stove would be easily approved.

 

In our town, its an overhead door........overhead door=garage

 

I have a friend that has a nice detached 2 car garage. Not much room for a pellet stove with the 2 cars rolled in. There is a gas grill with a nice hood vent in the back on one side and a fridge and TV on the other side in the back. Therefore he got a nice US Stove Wall mount pellet stove on the left side. This way he can still get the truck in there.
The stove works great and takes up zero space!!!
The venting is like the Selkirk DT that brings in fresh air thri a 3 Rd wall
He did have one of those Window Pellet stoves which worked fine but this Wall Mount Pellet Stove is so much safer and the wall mount puts out much more heat!

 

my answer is "never". I have a completely uninsulated detached 2 car garage. starting temp is always whatever it is outside. If i were to put my 25pdvc in there it could run all day and probably bring it up just a few degrees. Thats just a guess. For the garage i use a large torpedo heater with either kerosene or diesel in it. That raises the temp in a hurry if i want to work on something. If im there an hour it can hit 80 and really start to melt the snow off the roof.