Wood Stove Install in an Uninsulated Pole Barn: Cost and Time

Can this US Stove Vogelzang 2500 wood stove keep my entire uninsulated pole barn warm in the middle of the winter? I'm going to show you how to install it, tell you how long it took, and how much it cost.

Why a wood stove

This DIY pole barn is about a thousand square foot. It has no insulation, so it gets super cold, especially this time of the year. I need some heat that's reliable, dependable, and I prefer that it not require electricity. The good thing is I live in the woods. That's where this Vogelzang wood stove comes into play. It's a perfect solution to my problem.

It's super solid and it weighs like 350 pounds. It's built right here in the USA. It came from Tennessee and got to my house within a week, all free shipping.

I chose this particular model because it can heat up to 2,500 square feet. I want more than I need. It's a super simple design. It really doesn't need electricity unless you want to add a blower, which isn't necessary. You've got a couple different options. You can go with the pedestal if you choose to, or you can just go with the legs like I did.

Materials

Tools

Step 1: Place the stove

We're going to place this stove in the corner right here, so the stove is sitting in a position where it's going to heat the area perfectly. The manual says I have to make sure these two corners are 10 inches off the wall. I drew two lines, 10 inches over and an additional one inch, both here and here, so the back legs don't go inward of those lines. 12 and 3 quarter. Close enough. I'd rather be farther away than too close.

Step 2: Frame for the ceiling box

First thing we have to install is the insulation box, because I have a vaulted ceiling. This goes up in the ceiling, so I have to modify my rafters. We know this is where our pipes are going to go straight up, so we put a block right there for now and use the Huepar laser to shoot a dot straight up. Unfortunately, we're on a purlin and we're too close to our rafter, so we have to do some framing work.

We make sure the pipe on the stove lines up perfectly with this box in the ceiling. The transition between the stainless steel double wall and the single wall black stove pipe happens inside the box. I have to have at least two inches of this box hanging below my finished ceiling height. Fire code.

Step 3: Cut the hole in the metal roof

We turn our laser up and mark the hole up through the roof, so now we have a reference point. There's definitely a couple different ways you can do the flashing on the outside of the roof. Which one do you think will last longer?

The first thing we do is find the hole, 51 and a half from the edge of the building. We match up the center hole lines with the center lines on the flashing, take the level across, and line up all our marks. I want the circle bigger than the flashing itself. Then I cut it with the metal cutting blade.

Now we cut these lines with the jigsaw. That's the slot for the flashing to slide up into. It slides under the top and goes over top of the bottom. The only leak spots are these two little cracks here. Everything else should go up and around. Then we cut out the rest of the purlins. We don't really need them.

Step 4: Set the ceiling box

I cut a couple of 2x6s that fit in between the rafters. That's the blocking to screw the box into. It's not taking forever to do this. It's just taking a lot of time to think it out, make sure I know what I'm doing and how it's going to work.

Got the angle cut. Got a magnetic level on there. It's not perfect. I probably should have used the plumb bob, because the plumb bob is more accurate than the laser in this particular application. Box is in. Nice and secure. We're definitely clear.

Step 5: Chimney, brace, and cap

Now we pack in each side here. The flashing will keep it in the right position. Got to put the brace on at about five and a half feet. It had to be this tall for fire code. Then the storm collar, which covers the gap, and the chimney cap. This is the part that has to be siliconed to keep it waterproof. The brace has to be 45 to 60 degrees. 47 right there.

I got this metal caulk. It's supposed to bond metal to metal. Like I said, this little spot right here is the only spot that could possibly leak, so we make sure we hit that real good. Then silicone. This is what makes it waterproof. Let's get off this roof.

Step 6: Connect the stove pipe

The crimped end has to be facing downward. Make sure that first one's in there nice and tight. Then the extender piece slides up and makes that connection tight. 89.45. It should be 90. I'm happy with that.

Step 7: Cure the paint

To cure the paint, you have to run three smaller burns. The first two are 250 degrees for 20 minutes each, with a cooling phase in between. And then the last one's 500 degrees with a 20 minute cool off. Then you let it all cool back down and you're ready to put the big fire in.

The result

It's working like a champ. It's four degrees out and it's hovering around 50 degrees in here after about five hours of running my wood stove. In the middle of the winter, no insulation. I'll take it. When I add the insulation, this thing will have no problem heating this thousand square foot building.

What it cost and how long it took

The stove was about $1,300 delivered to my house, I had about $1,000 in pipe, and about another $700 in supplies to make the install complete.

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