A wood stove is a great way to keep any space warm. There are a wide variety of different fashions and styles, making them match just about any decor. These burners give off a good amount of heat to help any home save on their electric bill, making them a lot more eco-friendly than the electric alternative.
One of the best things about a wood stove/burner is they are versatile, and you can set them up just about anywhere you would like to add a little extra warmth. An excellent example of this is your garage. People use their garage space for so many things other than to store their vehicles:
- Woodwork
- Child’s playroom
- Craft area
- Tinkering around with tools
- Man-cave
Because these spaces are used for so many different things and may require someone to be in there for long periods, you must have an efficient way to keep them heated. These are the cases where the wood stove steps in.
Can I Put a Wood-Burning Stove in My Garage?
You can absolutely install a wood-burning stove in your garage. These stoves are ideal for keeping you warm while fixing your car or tinkering around with tools.
When you set up a wood-burning stove, you should always place it on a non-flammable, fireproof surface. The ideal spot would be on top of a concrete slab, which you will likely have in a garage.
Another fundamental rule of heating a garage with a wood-burning stove is proper ventilation. A well-ventilated fire is safer and more efficient. A vent will not only keep smoke from backing up into your garage but will keep your fire from going out.
How do I circulate the heat from my wood stove?
“The best way to circulate the heat from a wood stove to keep your entire room warm is by using a fan. There are a few different types of fans you can use to do this, and you should always do your homework before making a purchase.“
Floor Fan
If you plug an average-sized floor fan or oscillating fan in front of your stove, it will blow the heat further out into the room, distributing the warm air equally in every direction. You use the fan to guide the air away from the wood burner before it starts to rise.
Be sure your fan is kept a safe distance from your stove. Not only can it melt or overheat, but placing the fan right near the source of heat could cool it down rather than circulating it.
Using a floor fan is a prevalent way to circulate heat around a space and is very efficient.
Wood Burning Fan
These wood-burning fans are eco-friendly fans that sit right on top of the stove, and the fire’s heat generates them.
Naturally, heat rises, and as the fire gets hotter, the faster the blades will start to spin, pushing the warm air around the room quickly. These fans are one of the best options for a garage wood-burning stove because the room area is smaller than an entire house, so just using this simple product can warm your garage up quickly.
Ceiling Fan
As we all know, heat rises, making the ceiling fan a great choice when trying to find a good way to circulate air in your garage. When a fan rotates in a clockwise direction, you will get a highly effective flow moving around the room.
Consider the height of your ceiling before making a final decision with the ceiling fan. These fans are great for pushing all air, not just hot. As heat rises is also cools, so the higher it travels, the colder the air will be once it reaches the blades, which could counteract the intentions you had for the fan circulating cold air rather than hot.
Placement
When installing a wood-burning stove into a garage, placement of the stove is vital. Do not place this heating system too close to the windows or doors leading to the outside. If you place it near one of these locations, the cool air that can seep into the room will cool down the warmer air as it is coming off the stove.
If it is possible to place the wood burner in the center of the room or close to the center, the air will circulate itself pretty well (this isn’t easy when attaching a chimney). Without having a wall to stop the air from spreading, the heat will come off of your wood-burner in all different directions.
Finally, never elevate the stove too high off the ground. Because heat rises, placing the burning up high may push the heat up-wards and a lot less of it out-wards.
What Size Wood Stove Should I Use?
When purchasing a wood stove for your garage, you will need to know the total square foot area of the entire room. The average garage shouldn’t need a huge wood stove.
| Area of garage per Square feet | Size of woodstove |
| 600-1000 Sq. ft | Small |
| 800-2000 Sq. ft | Medium |
| 800-3000 Sq. ft | Large |
When choosing a size, you may want to consider how drafty it is in your garage if there is a lot of air seeping from windows, doors, or cracks, you may want to go up a size when purchasing the wood stove to accommodate for the warm air loss at these points.
Can You Vent a Wood Stove Horizontally?
Ideally, it would be best to vent your wood stove vertically, reducing the chances of soot build-up and fires. With that said, you can vent your wood-stove horizontally if there is no other feasible way to do this.
To vent your unit horizontally through the wall of your garage, you will need to connect a stove pipe off of the woodstoves chimney and extend it upwards, then horizontally to the hole in the wall. When you do this, it basically creates a long tall chimney. It’s crucial to insulate where the pipe meets the wall to keep the fire from breaking through this area.
Wood Burning Stove in Detached Garage
Putting a wood-burning stove in a detached garage is definitely possible, but keeping it warm in there may be a little trickier than the attached garage. Insulation may not be as good in a detached garage, and setting up a chimney for ventilation can also be a little tougher and costly.
“When considering a wood stove for your detached garage, you should consider getting a more significant size stove recommended for a larger square foot area.“
If you choose to hook a wood-burner in a detached garage, keep an eye on the ventilation and make sure the stove is set up in a safe area on a hard concrete slab nowhere near flammable materials.
Popular Examples of Wood Burners For Garages
1.Drolet High-Efficiency Wood Burning Stove
This Drolet wood stove is compact and efficient. It can burn for up to 10 hours and will heat a room up to 2700 square feet. The heavy-duty firebox holds logs up to 22’inches, giving you more burning time before adding more wood. The output from this product is 110,000 BTU/h, guaranteeing you will be nice and warm the entire time you are working.
2.U.S Stove Company Wood Stove
With 54,000 BTU/h, this small wood stove would be best in a 900 square foot area, making it perfect for a smaller garage. It is a heavy-duty cast iron wood stove that looks vintage and will not only heat your space but make it look great. It will hold logs up to 19 inches and has a sizeable cast-iron cooking top.
3.Vogelzang Plate Steel Wood Stove Durango TR008
This medium-sized wood stove cranks out 74,000 BTUs heating up a garage 1500 square feet or smaller. This EPA-approved stove can burn 26” logs for up to 12 hours of continuous heat. The Durango has over 75% efficiency ratings making it a very reliable unit.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Purchasing a Wood Stove for Your Garage
To sum things up, here are the questions you should ask yourself before you start searching for any wood stove to place in your garage:
- What is the size of the area you plan on heating?
- How well is the area insulated?
- How much time will you be spending in this area?
- Where is the best location to place the woodstove?
- How high is your ceiling?
- Do you have access to wood to burn?
- How can you properly ventilate the woodstove?
- How tall are the ceilings?
- Are there drafty areas of the garage (i.e., windows, doors, cracks, and crevices)?
Conclusion
A wood stove is a great way to warm up your garage, making it a comfortable and enjoyable place for anyone when you want to spend hours in this space. Whether you are using it in an attached or detached garage, big or small space, well-insulated areas, or not so much, there is a wood-burning stove for you.
Alright, that’s it for this article guys, if you found it useful then a share on social media or your website would be cool!
All the best
Steve
ps here’s a few articles related to this one you might find interesting:
Can Fire Pits Be Used on Wood Decks (Important Facts)
Can Patio Heaters be Used on a Screened-in Porch? (Quick Facts)
