Heating options for small cob shed

The cob shed will be roughly 6' diameter and will hold a 1lb coffee roaster, vented through the wall. There will not be room for much else other than operation.

Heating options: Since this is such a small space and one that already has a propane-fed machine I am concerned about putting in a wood stove. Are there any options for a fire outside of the structure that heats through to the inside? Any other suggestions? Thanks!

What kind of climate do you live in? In some climates, cooling that space could be more of a concern than heating it.

Simply having a lower or higher ceiling can also make a huge difference in your perceived warmth of the building.

Matthew Burke wrote:The cob shed will be roughly 6' diameter and will hold a 1lb coffee roaster, vented through the wall. There will not be room for much else other than operation.

Heating options: Since this is such a small space and one that already has a propane-fed machine I am concerned about putting in a wood stove. Are there any options for a fire outside of the structure that heats through to the inside? Any other suggestions? Thanks!

I'm not familiar with coffee roasters, but in an area that small, maybe it will give off enough heat itself for the shed?

As Jeremy said, your climate is maybe the most important factor.  Other questions I have are, how warm do you want the shed to be?  All the time, or only when you are working in it?  How much heat does the roaster along with your body heat already create?  

Is this the form of heat, you seem to have left a lot out of your initial comment?

That is one cool coffee roaster!

This video might help:



I have not watched the video though my understanding is that this guy made a wood stove out of a propane tank which is used to heat his house from the outside.

Tiny houses, cabins are small homes are commonly heated with wood stoves. Especially in an off-grid scenario. The problem with placing a wood stove in your home for some, is safety (fire, kids getting burned, etc.) or in my case, simply not enough room to safely install a wood stove inside. This approach allows for you to burn types of wood you typically wouldn't burn inside, as well as paper logs

You say 6' diameter - is that inside? How big is a 1 lb. coffee roaster? I doubt a 6' o. d. cob structure would be good for much beyond tool storage :) Your climate will make a huge difference in how much extra heat you will need, as well as the mode of use. How long does coffee roasting take? Would you need to tend it continually? If you just want to take the chill off in cool weather, the roaster itself might do it. If you can have a foot of snow on the ground when you want to roast coffee, the cob will suck any heat out of the interior without a serious heat source. For occasional use, you could build a small J-tube or batch box into the cob wall so that it only projects a foot or so into the interior. I have built rocket heaters of various sorts entirely of cob.  
https://permies.com/t/52509/Clay-Rocket-core-Bell-RMH#428887


Someone 8 years ago was trying to roast coffee with a rocket stove... I wonder if they succeeded.
https://permies.com/t/24200/Rocket-stove-coffee-roaster

Thank you everyone for your replies!

I am located in the DMV area of Maryland - Zone 7a

The interior of the cob structure will be 6' dia.

The roaster dimensions are in the attached photo

I plan to be roasting about 1.5-2 hrs per session. Initially only once per week.

I am uncertain as to how much heat it puts off but I don't believe much but I'll only need it to be heated while I am actively using it. I'll have to inquire as to the head output - it would be nice to not need an external heat source.

Will you have enough room around the machine for maintenance  is the proposed design.
I think you may need more room around it, what are your thoughts?

It will be close but I believe manageable. Thanks for presenting that as a possible hinderance