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Technical Winter shop heat

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Gearhead Graphics, Dec 16, 2015.

  1. Gearhead Graphics
    Joined: Oct 4, 2008
    Posts: 3,890

    Gearhead Graphics
    Member
    from Denver Co

    So its that time again, its cold out.
    How do you guys heat your shops?

    I've got a decent sized 2 car garage I work in. The walls and ceiling are insulated and sheeted, its not perfect but its better than nothing.

    I have been using a propane "mushroom" heater to get it warmed up, then an electric wall mount to keep it there. This really isnt ideal and I know it.

    I dont have 220, nor do I have a gas line or ability to use a wood stove. I'd really like waste oil, but thats not in the budget.

    Cheap safe heat, does it exsist?
     
  2. patmanta
    Joined: May 10, 2011
    Posts: 3,872

    patmanta
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Woburn, MA
    1. MASSACHUSETTS HAMB

    I mentioned it in my build thread and over on OT, HOW TO HEAT YOUR SHOP IN WINTER
    already, but I'm building a solar air heater box onto my shop in hopes it helps. Otherwise it takes several 5k BTU electric units to heat my little shop and that runs up my electric bill quite a bit.
     
  3. how hard would it really be for you to run a natural gas line out to your garage? i did it myself and use a Reznor hanging unit heater. ran the vent out the roof , the whole project took me a day. now i just adjust the thermostat to where i want it...no used oil to look for , wood to chop , LP bottles to exchange etc

    is your garage insulated? that would be a big help
     
  4. chaos10meter
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 2,191

    chaos10meter
    Member
    from PA.

    Propane Reznor hanging units
    Explosion proof/outside air intakes and exhaust.
    Don't want to go boom when painting.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2015
    scotty t likes this.

  5. It doesn't get as cold here as some parts of the USA but it can get cold enough to be uncomfortable. My 12 x 20 workshop is well insulated and I use a combination of an oil filled electric radiator, a 2Kw hot air blower and a paraffin (kerosene) heater - see below. Has the added advantage that I can boil a kettle on the top of it to make a cup of tea...

    [​IMG]
     
    LOU WELLS and Bruce Fischer like this.
  6. I have used Kerosene heaters like this one before. They work really well here if you can get the initial chill off.

    I use a propane convection heater that I bought in an ice storm in the '90s. it is 80 or 90 thousand BTU as I recall. You can't leave it run it gets too hot in my garage, but if you light it for 10 or 15 minutes about every hour or two you are golden. Even when the mercury dips down into the single digits.
     
  7. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,377

    indyjps
    Member

    If you point a kerosene salamander out the door until it gets up to temp, it cuts down on the fumes significantly.

    I bought a downdraft house furnace from habitat for humanity, it was a take out that wasn't very old. Blows across the floor, and run a ceiling fan to circulate air.

    If you can get gas to the shop it's worth it.

    What prevents a wood fire stove, easy enough to vent double wall exhaust pipe thru roof or sidewall.
     
  8. If Denver is anything like KC insurance keeps the wood stove out of the garage. Around here if you burn wood insurance cost goes up significantly.
     
  9. I sold and serviced the old Aladdin Blue Flame heaters for many years and they were a quality made product as long as they were manufactured in England but when Iran started making them they went to crap.

    I have 2 that were made in the mid 60's.

    The real beauty is you can cook on the heater and stay warm at the same time.HRP
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  10. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,377

    indyjps
    Member

    Good point, I've never had a wood stove, just helped install a few. No clue if the homeowner squared up to the insurance co.
     
  11. When I built my shop in installed a heat pump,so I have heat and air,If I have a power failure I just lock up and go inside. HRP
     
    yruhot likes this.
  12. Insurance law varies from one state to the next. here if you install wood heat and do not divulge to your insurance company they can and often will cancel your policy, makes it really difficult to get another policy.

    Not preaching doom and gloom here.

    A few years ago you could install a pellet stove and not get the hit from insurance like a wood burning stove. I don't know about now though.
     
  13. 1934coupe
    Joined: Feb 22, 2007
    Posts: 5,051

    1934coupe
    Member

    I have a Reznor type infra-red heater mounted at 14 feet high and its propane I really love it. No fumes, noise, wind, it heats the objects in the shop. In my little garage I bought a oil fired furnace ( a scratch and dent special) and an 275 gal oil tank total cost under 2 grand. I like the infra-red the best.

    Pat
     
    jazz1 likes this.
  14. roundvalley
    Joined: Apr 10, 2005
    Posts: 1,776

    roundvalley
    Member

    If you have a forced air heater in the garage for the house, get a floor register that you can open and close. Cut and install it into the heater box and then you can use the house heat when wanted.
     
  15. seb fontana
    Joined: Sep 1, 2005
    Posts: 8,442

    seb fontana
    Member
    from ct

    I am plumbed into the house hot water base board heat, hanging units in two corners..half of shop underground, half three wall out with 12' ceiling..Own zone and thermostat..Keep at 58° from Oct 15 to April 15 then shut off for summer, stays at 65° mostly unless we get a real hot spell and may touch 75° but slide back down in September and by the 15th of October will be down to the 58° range..I usually turn it up to 62° for the longer jobs [I don't make much internal heat thinking!] but the short jobs I usually leave at the 58° setting..Usually I add one long sleeve shirt and good to go..
     
  16. Mine was made in England and bought reconditioned from a specialist. When I fire it up, the smell kind of reminds me of being a kid in Liverpool in the 1960's. It was the only heating we had.

    Being able to cook in the workshop is handy ;-)
     
    lothiandon1940 and hipster like this.
  17. Gearhead Graphics
    Joined: Oct 4, 2008
    Posts: 3,890

    Gearhead Graphics
    Member
    from Denver Co

    Worse than insurance, the environmental inspections here... they get real strict on wood fires. Shop is detached, so cant steal from house heat. Gas line is just a giant PITA for the distance and elevation changes. I'll have to look into those propane jobs
     
  18. blazedogs
    Joined: Sep 22, 2014
    Posts: 535

    blazedogs
    Member

    A Danger to consider

    Be aware if you are running any kind of heater that the waste gases are not chimneyed outside you are breathing them in. Got sicker than hell years ago with a kerosine salamander/torpedo type heater.Yup doors were partially open but it still got me Gene
     
  19. Good advice Gene - any live flame heater is dangerous in a workshop.
     
  20. Binger
    Joined: Apr 28, 2008
    Posts: 1,734

    Binger
    Member
    from wyoming

    Lots of good ideas here. I think the standard is the salamander heater I have seen in many shops. @blazedogs is right about the exhaust too. I didnt even think about that. You may also take a look at the Garage journal site. There is always great ideas over there. would it be possible to build a used oil heater reasonably?
     
  21. not cold here.........yet.
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  22. tallhtrddr
    Joined: Nov 30, 2010
    Posts: 131

    tallhtrddr
    Member

    When it gets cold. Wood and coal.
     
  23. jazz1
    Joined: Apr 30, 2011
    Posts: 1,534

    jazz1
    Member

    When I built my garage i heated with a old carb type oil stove burning a mixture of 70% free used motor oil and 30% heating oil to reduce viscosity so it would flow. For insurance reasons had to use a insulated chimney. No problem heating my 24 x 30 insulated garage. Switched to wood because we like the ambiance.. Whatever you choose get the approval of your insurer.
     
  24. Currently have a top loading down-draft woodstove-It works good as long as you tend it and it provides a nice comfy heat-But a natural gas radiant tube heater is in the future to replace it.
     
  25. dan31
    Joined: Jul 3, 2011
    Posts: 1,097

    dan31
    Member

    For the last 20 or so years i have been working cave man style in a uninsulated pole barn . You can get it up to about 60 degrees with a diesel fired salamander heater but you have to deal with the noise and the fumes and not to mention it would use about 9 gallon in 8-10 hour day.Im just finishing a pole barn at my house and decided to spring for a "split unit", getting old i guess.
     
  26. pnevells
    Joined: Sep 5, 2008
    Posts: 546

    pnevells
    Member

    heat pump, heat and AC in the shop, it is small but cozy, kick it up when i get home from work, it is 65 after dinner summer or winter.....
     
  27. Bader2
    Joined: May 19, 2014
    Posts: 1,143

    Bader2

    ImageUploadedByH.A.M.B.1450310115.153172.jpg ruby is loving it! Wood is good!
     
  28. Reznor tandem Infra-red 35K units (70K total), hooked in series to thermostat, thermostat triggers both units to come on at the same time. They were closeout items at a HVAC contractor supply house through CL, so price wasn't too bad. Had to run a natural gas line out to the garage after renovation, easy to do, need to come off the meter though for supply.
     
  29. Bearing Burner
    Joined: Mar 2, 2009
    Posts: 1,107

    Bearing Burner
    Member
    from W. MA

    The trouble with wood heat is the work involved in cutting,splitting and stacking. You don"t save money if you don't
    have your own wood source. Also the fire can linger and flare up long after you leave the shop.
     
  30. alphabet soup
    Joined: Jan 8, 2011
    Posts: 2,017

    alphabet soup
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    How propane hungry are these? What's a good price??
     

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