Heating the Shop

[jeremy]

First of all I want to say that this forum is one of the most helpful things going. I am new to woodworking but am absolutely smitten. I built my shop upstairs in my garage and I have it totally insulated. I am wondering what the best and most economical way to heat it would be. The room is 28' x 25' with a 10' ceiling. I don't enjoy the smell of kerosene and I know I should stay away from any kind of open flame type heaters. I have no gas service to garage right now.
I would appreciate any help on this matter now that we are getting into winter and I absolutely do not want to be forced out of the shop by old man winter. Also if someone could tell me how to attach photos in this forum. I would love to share my shop with all of you.
Thanks,
Cold in PA
Jeremy

[gegolfr]

there is a 5 kw heater that mount from the ceiling, its 220 and in north dakota i use it on off peak and keep my shop at approx 62 and the most its cost is 27.00 in the coldest month. its out of the way, its a sealed unit so there is no danger of fume explosion

[Charlie Cadenhead]

Whatever you choose, make sure it is a vented heat source. You don't need to be breathing Carbon Monoxide (CO) gas. I have a Natural Gas ceiling mounted 30K BTU heater in my shop. The only problem with it is when you are finishing, you don't need the blower fan to kick on and blow dust all over. But, I really like my furnace and it keeps me warm in the Minnesota winters. You could get the same sort of heater that uses propane instead of natural gas. I wouldn't worry too much about the open flame because most home shops don't create enough dust to have and explosion and I doubt you would have enough fumes from varnish to worry about either. You might also check out those baseboard mounted heaters that have some sort of oil in the tubes. They would be safe to use, but I don't know what the cost would be. Whatever you choose though, be aware of Carbon Monoxide.

Charlie

[Barry Simon]

My shop is in a deticated 20X22 Garage with it's own 100A Service
panel. It is separated from the other two and one half car garage by insulated walls. I have blown in insulation and vapor barier to keep the moisture under control. Now for the heating system. Since it is a garage with potential fumes, you need a sealed combustion wall mounted unit which fires up from natural gas. My wall unit vents outside and pulls in air from outside. No smell of exhaust, and no potential explosion from stains or gasoline. It sticks out form the wall 8in and is about 30inx40in in size. Even has a blower fan.

Good luck

[Patrick K]

I've read your response to the fellow woodworker about a ceiling mounted unit that runs on 220. What's the brand name and who sells it? How much does it cost new?

[John]

I have a 24'x 24' shop with a 10' ceiling. I recentley installed a 40,000 btu. radiant heater that burns on natural gas.(propane are avaiable). Works great,costs approx. $0.21 prhr. to run.
I set thermostat at 10 degrees cel. when I'm not in the shop, and turn it up to 15 when I'm in working. Very comfty.
I found this heater at www.workshopheaters.com

[john ragona]

Try www.workshopheaters.com
i purchased a radiant heater for my workshop 24'x24' with a 10' ceiling height.
A 40,000 btu heater is all I needed. works great. costs aprox $0.21 prhr tp run.
very comfty.

[Jrag]

Try this site. I found a great Radiant heater for my shop here.
www.workshopheaters.com

[Bob Savage]

My shop is 26' X 36' with a 10' ceiling. It is a separate building behind our house, connected with a concrete turnaround to our driveway. I built it myself 10 years ago.

Before I had the slab poured, I preped it as if it were going to be a house — styrofoam insulation against the block exposed out of ground on inside, 6 X 6 wire mesh, 6 mil poly on top, concrete poured all the way to the TOP of the block, separate 100 amp electric service with separate meter from power pole, Tyvek house wrap, Pella wood windows (deal - they had been ordered and not used by someone else), sill sealer under wall plates, full wall pack insulation, interior visqueen vapor barrior walls and ceiling, completely drywalled and primed/painted walls and ceiling, ridge vent on roof, continuous soffit ventilation, special floor load trusses for complete upstairs storage with 3/4" T&G plywood floor, complete set of steps going upstairs, plumbing for bathroom, hot/cold running water, utility sink, floor drain, and side loading 1200 board foot storage lumber rack. Yeah, I know, it IS nicer than our house. ...LOL

I used an overhead garage door, insulated 18' X 8', with a brick front that matches the brick on the house (that was lucky finding that).

The building is so well insulated that I am able to heat this with just baseboard heaters and my heavy duty overhead dust control system (filters and circulates just the air in the shop - not the same as the tool dust collector system). In the summer, even though I have A/C, most of the time it is so cool in there, I don't run the air - even when it is 88º outside!

So, to answer the original question, insulation and controlling air infiltration is the key to a comfortable structure. I also think the 10' ceiling has something to do with it.

Bob

[Dave Brewer]

i have a small shop....its a one car garage with an attached workshop..... no insulation and what i just started using is an electric oil radiator heater.....there is some sort of oill that circulates through the coils and gives off heat....... there is no flame to worry about and is relativey cheap to use.....i figured it out one day that if i ran it 24 hours a day at the max setting for a month it would cost $44.....now realistically i only use this a tenth of that time so it has averaged about 5 bucks a month.... keeps the shop comfortable and i think is the safest arount dust and fumes.......for a bigger shop you may need two.....i got them for $40 a piece at Home Depot

[Joe Mulherin]

Might I suggest: try using an old radiator from the junk yards and make a box with fan. Feed radiator with an small water heater, gas or electric...makes no difference. Install a small 1/6th hp pump to circulate the water. No fumes to worry about either because the water heater is already vented.
I am a retired plumber and we installed these pumps on long runs so you could have hot water right away instead of wasting cold water waiting for the hot to come. Try it...it works

[steve]

>Might I suggest: try using an
>old radiator from the junk
>yards and make a box
>with fan. Feed radiator with
>an small water heater, gas
>or electric...makes no difference. Install
>a small 1/6th hp pump
>to circulate the water. No
>fumes to worry about either
>because the water heater is
>already vented.
>I am a retired plumber and
>we installed these pumps on
>long runs so you could
>have hot water right away
>instead of wasting cold water
>waiting for the hot to
>come. Try it...it works
>

[Tom]

I put a gas supply to the shop in my garage a year ago it works great. It is a unit about 23" by 17" by 13" high it mounted to the cealing and vents streight out the wall. I hooked up a thermostat, set it at 55 degrees when the shop is not in use, than when i go out in the shop I set it up to about 62 degrees. It is mounted on the ceiling as I said so I dont worry about paint or stain fumes. Good luck I have a ball in my shop year round