O/T but with winter coming, what do you guys run for heat in your shops? Gas seems too costly for a large area and my old wood burner (homemade) really cannot keep up unless I fire it up 4 hrs before I want to work and it stays above 30* outside.
my shop is small about 540 sq ft and i use a dayton 240 volt electric heater. luckily when i built the garage i went with 2x6 construction and insulated the snot out of it.
Been thinking along the same lines. Most of my shop is insulated and sheeted, hopefully all of it will be before snow flies. I have looked into waste oil burners and a couple wood burners. oil sounds like a great idea but they are all huge and $$. Not to mention the potential fees and such to get one allowed here in hippy ass Colorado. Last few years I've just ran a big kerosene heater. It works to make it workable, but not enough to do anything like body or paint work.
that time of year again when we sit back and chuckle.... Insulation is your friend, keeps my shop between 50 and 80 year round when the temp outside varies from teens to 100s.
I had a small shop (28X32) in Pa. I had a set up using 2- 55 gal drums, mounted horizontally, with one mounted on top of the other- lower drum was half filled with sand and had a door clamped to where the lid went, and the upper barrel was full of sand. flu pipe ran from the bottom barrel, lengthwise thru the upper and exited through top and up through the roof. Burned wood in the lower barrel for about an hour or so, and once the sand in the upper barrel warmed up, the shop would stay warm for quite a while.
I tough it out. I got a quartz heater in my garage once I get it up to a reasonable temp it keeps up. I use a propane convection heater to get it up to temp takes about 10 minutes.
i used the kerosun type kerosene heater for a long time and when it finally died and i had to pony up some $$$ for a new heating device i wanted one that i didnt have to worry about any fumes igniting. the dayton seemed to be a good choice because it was a sealed unit that was probably 5-6 years ago and i dont regret it.
Oil forced hot air when I open the door in the AM, then get the wood stove going. Uses almost no oil per season. Maybe 20 gallons if that. Also I seal off 2/3 rds of my 25x90 in the winter, with a drop down plastic sheet.
I'm just about to install a 45,000btu reznor in my 20x24 garage. It's well insulated so should be nice in there this winter when it's -30C outside.
What's this shop thing you speak of? There are few things that can compare to the fun of having a wrench stuck to your fingers when it's 5 below.
build a bigger wood burner I converted an old oil drum, like the ones used for heating oil, into a wood burner,with an ash pit, and reversion shelf.. heats up my 30X32 with 12' ceiling in no time flat , holds it to temp easy too. you should have some slow moving fans to keep the heat moving It gets cold up here in Michigan , and all I have to do is work for the wood its right behing my welding assistant, never mind the steel arch leaning up against it, picture was in the spring so its not in use
I have an oil fired hot air furnace that I keep at 45 degrees when I am not there. Flip the switch and its 75 in no time. I burn about 200 gal a season. In the summer I use a 25000 btu AC. 4'' insulation in the walls and 14" in the ceiling, all sheet rocked, no drafts aprox 35 x32'. Twin insulated overhead doors. At my age it pays to be warm and cool at approiate times.
My shop is 30x50. concrete block w/ almost 11' ceiling height. I have two overhead doors (10x10 each, insulated), one man door. I know I need to close in the ceiling and insulation would be nice too. There is no easy way to insulate the block walls. I think I will start out by closing in the ceiling and adding a couple large, slow moving overhead fans. I do have a bathroom inside and I heated it with a 10,000 vent-free heater with just the pilot burning. Of course that was before the buried gas line rotted and I had to disconnect. I might have access to a house furnace but would only want to run it on the coldest of days due to cost of Natural gas.
built this last winter, bottom pipe is 30 in. dia. by 50 in. long. top pipe is 30 in. dia. by 24 in. long, I mounted a fan on the wall that has a thermostat on the back of the stove. It will heat an uninsulated 24foot by 30 foot shop from 30 deg. to 85 deg. in 30 min.
course it helps to have an insulated shop, I have two rooms, both are heated with electric base boards, my large room [ 1100 sqft ] is heated with a single 1500 watt heater but because the ceiling is 13' 7" I use ceiling fans ,also I don't have windows which makes a difference.
Here's what I use: http://www.modine.com/v2portal/page.../building_HVAC/market_level_3_content_013.htm Gas fired, 40,000 BTU. I keep the thermostat at about 45 degrees F all winter, keeps the slab and the building contents somewhat warm. I can heat the air to 65 F in ten minutes or less (about 530 sq. ft.) Fan's a little noisy, it's cheap to operate. Insulation is necessary, I think the key is sealing the building up well so there's no drafts. Foam rubber pipe wrap makes a good seal around one piece garage doors.
With Los Angeles having a couple cold months, and yes the puddles do freeze over for a few days lol, I used to just wear insulated coveralls I bought in Utah. Mostly because the garage was converted into an office and shop with 2 rooms. I do all my wrenching in the open air of the driveway. Before moving to a house, we lived in apartments with a car port so I've never really known what a garage is! lol At least the car port had shade! Since I am enclosing the patio for a shop and I'm soon going to be opening the garage door again, I will make a heater for those cold blustery days we do get here. I found this oil filter incinerator in the trash can of a Public Storage last year. It has the 230v igniter and a basket on a plunger. I'm going to add a stove pipe to the exhaust thing and have a wood burning stove. I have another lid I can make into a stove top and I'll have to cut a door in the front as well as add racks on the inside. I can get those rotating vent thingys from the hardware store to adjust the breathing.
I have in-floor hot water heat with an electric boiler and gas forced air backup in my '41 x '41 shop. Once that slab is warmed up, the place stays a comfortable 65 all winter, and the gas furnace hardly ever runs, even on the days when it is -30 F and the wind chill is somewhere south of -60 F.
I have heated water in my floor with an electric boiler. I keep the shop 55 unless i have some reason to warm it up. It did well even with my poorly sealed up door. My shop is 26' x 46' and 9' ceiling.
I have a 20x22' shop with a 9' ceiling. I use a 4800-watt 240V construction heater set on low. Keeps the shop about 55F even when it's -40 outside.
Try this link www.garagejournal.com and check out the heating and A/C section. There are over 3K threads and 30K posts...it's all there and more, especially if you don't mind reading.
I have a well insulated garage that is about 800 square feet. I have a 22000 btu K1 vented ( outside ) Monitor . A friend gave me the heater and I had my doubts whether a 22000 btu unit would be enough, but it does a good job. It easily keeps the garage at 65 when its in the 30s outside.
1200 sq. foot garage with high vaulted ceilings and large fans up top. I use about 700 gallons of propane each winter. It is well insulated. Still better than freezing, but it's costly.
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