I would like to install an old pot belly wood/coal stove to provide heat in my garage during the winter months. My hobby is working on old cars. The question is this: Can I safely store my cars in the garage with the gas tanks topped off and fuel stabilizer added, while I have a fire going in the stove to heat the garage? If this is possible, what precautions should I be taking? Thanks, Charlie
Coal burning appliances are used all the time in garages. They have to be installed with the fire box 24" off the floor, if I remember correctly, according to labor and industry standards in PA.
It's your insurance company who might give you a hard time. Some will build a small room in the garage, sealed off from the rest of it, with an outside entrance and separate air intake. It's then called a shed, not a garage.
I'd like to see any kind of code, other than a local code, that states you can't have a wood stove, coal stove, or other in a garage.
