Stove Size Questions

PAwhiteboy wrote:I don't do enough oil changes to make that feasible and a hand fired I'm not really into.

There is insulation on the walls and that is exactly what I am going to do with the duct work. Over to the corners by the garage doors, down to the floor and then out across the floor.

You do understand that hand fired only needs tended to every 12 hours, don't you? They ain't like that barrel stove w/ wood.

Go with the LL. Hand fired is cheaper, but just a step toward a future stoker.
If you really want to go balls out, get a boiler for the house and a modine for the garage.

I agree with the hand fed suggestions. Its not like wood. twice a day easy tending with a handfed will keep your floor warmer than you ever imagined. You'd be surprised how easy it is. And not much after purchase expense. A few hundred dollars invested plus a fan and if you don't like it, sell the stove and get a stoker. Not much $$$ invested and you'll get it back if you don't like it. A lot of us were wood burners before we discovered the black rocks.

A hand fed stove is great for a building without huge air exchanges taking place periodically thru the day. A tstat controlled stoker that will fire to max when the overhead door has been opened & a huge flush of cold air comes in.A hand fed stove will not react to that change & will keep plodding along at the preset damper setting.The tstat controlled stoker will react quickly to try to get the temp back up to comfortable while you continue to work . Sorry guys, a hand fed coal stove just does not make the grade or pass the test in this application,no way. If hand fed then it might as well be a wood stove as then it could react to an adjustment within a few minutes,altho it still can not match the stoker for bringing the temp back up.

OP hasn't said if the local Bituminous coal was a consideration...if it was that pretty much takes a stoker out of the mix, unless one can be found.

Maybe OH door isn't raised often...and bigger problem is hold overnight temp and fire.

I can only speak from my experience, open the overhead door to get a vehicle or piece of equipment out,close it quick,open it to get the next piece in,close it quickly & freeze for the next 1.5 hrs. When it is brutal cold out even a tsat controlled stoker or boiler has to hustle to get all that air mass warm again.I have nothing against a hand fed stove,but they have their place,in a shop is not a good place for one unless we are talking in much milder climate than the OP is dealing with.Regardless of the type of fuel used a hand fed stove is not a good choice for this shop,gotta have a system that will run flat out until the temp is back up again.

Experience is one of the best teachers.

The absolute BEST heat for a shop is radiant floor heat,BUT, when you buy a building without radiant floor heat the most economical thing to do is to try & get as close to that as possible. That is why from my experience I am now leaving the tstat set 24/7 to keep the mass warmed up ,& that means a much better "feel" temp-wise.