I currently have trouble working in the winter since my shop is also my garage. The walls and ceiling are insulated. I have an oil filled electric heater that doesn’t work very well and pulls alot of electricity. Translated pops breakers when I use some of my tools
I need ideas on ways to heat the shop. It would seem that an open flame is not a good idea with all the sawdust.
Replies
I use an infra red heater that screws into the top of a 5 gallon propane tank when my shop needs a little heat. But, I'm in Houston, and rarely have to use it. Last winter I had to use 2 cans of propane. Bought the heater at Lowe's for $40. Circular shaped, with the element being about 4-1/2" in diameter. Has 3 settings and I run it on the low setting.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy
PlaneWood
I would agree with the open flame not being good around a shop with a lot of sawdust , or a garage atmosphere where gasoline and other volatile vapors can be present in the air.
I had a direct vent garage heater (reznor) installed in my shop. the direct venting was something I personally wanted since I was concerned about the saw dust and vapors from using a lot of finishes/thinners. The combustion chamber is fed outside air for combustion purposes so your interior air only passes over the tubes of the heat exchanger to be warmed. Another benefit is there is no need for make up air to take the place of interior air used for combustion.
Cost is relatively high. Closed combustion heaters generally cost about $400-500 more than standard garage heaters (Modine, Reznor, andother makes). Depending on how deep the pocketbook is.
Many heating sources with open flames contribute water vapor to the room as a by product of combustion. Salamander type heaters and infared radiant heaters are examples. Varying moisture makes woodworking more difficult, as well as keeping tools from rusting more of a problem.
I use a boxwood heater with a 6" chiminey. The wall around the stove is covered with one layer of cement board with another held about 1/2" out from the first. I have a 2' wall at one end - the other is clear. I use a insulated quality chimney.
The stove: $165
The chimney: $400
The cement board etc: About $60.
Not cheap. However, we have a small property with a pistachio orchard and a couple hundred eucalyptus, various wallnuts and fruit trees, and a bunch of old olives. The fuel costs nothing but a lot of work.
The cars never go into the garage and I don't spray with a fire going. I varnish inside, but clean brushes outside and I stay very aware of the fire and the can of finish.
This is not to code. With a garage potentially having a tank of gasoline inside, wood stoves, indeed, exposed flame stoves, are not to code. Even a gas water heater has to be 18" off the floor.
That said, it's wonderful to heat the garage and the tools and work in comfort. It's been a cold, foggy weekend and the stove made the shop just toasty and the Met did Carmen! Making a router set up for a new table saw - well, life doesn't get better!
Here is my heating method. I live in Western MA. I have a 2 car non-insulated garage with an 8 foot extension off the back. I started out with a Mr Heater radiant heater, (propane, mounts on the top of a 20 gal tank). I put this in the front of the shop and have a fan blowing the convection heat around, (yes they do produce a good amount of convection heat!). I also have a small ceramic heater in the back. The Mr heater is rated about 30-35 thousand BTU's. The ceramic heater is 1500 watts I think. This setup is good to about 25 degrees. I can get the shop up to about 45-50 degrees after about an hour or so.
A relative just gave me an old 90,000 BTU kerosene salamander heater. Does this thing blow heat. I use it to initially heat up the space and then let the electric and propane heaters maintain. I can now go out there in 0 degree weather and get the shop up to 50 degrees in about 20 mins. Slight kerosene smell at startup and shut down but it's not too bad. The down side to this is that it's noisy and produces a lot of water vapor. I have a CO detector just in case.
Edited 1/21/2003 6:40:59 AM ET by BillM
Tom,
Can you provide a few more details? Where do you live? Garage attached to house?..if not, how far from house? Do you work in there all say long or how frequently/duration?
Don't know if this helps.
I hung a Modine Hot God heater, 45000 btu, propane fired unit in my
2 car garage shop.
No cars in shop, just work space.
Works quite well here in Vermont.
If you want more info, just ask.
Jeff
Are you looking to install a permanent heating system or a portable heater? As far as portables go I recently bought a 5000 watt heater (runs on 220) which keeps my uninsulated garage shop fairly warm during a Canadian winter.
If you're looking for a more permanent heating solution would it be possible to run a heating duct from the house to the shop?
Andrew,
Can you provide more details about your 5000 watt unit?
What's the brand, initial cost and approx cost to use it?
I'm researching heating options for my shop and I think
electric or wood are going to be my main choices.
Thanks,
Matt
Matt, it's made by a company called Dimplex. it cost around $70 canadian, and around here power costs around 10 cents/Kwh, so that works out to about 50 cents an hour to run it. you will need a 20 amp 220 v circuit to run it on which may or may not be a problem.
Are you planning on keeping your shop warm all the time, or are you just going to have a heater on when your working?
Andrew,
It would just be while I'm in there working. But, I really want
the option of just turning on a switch (thermostat) and letting
it run and cycle (on/off) while I'm working. Wood is an option
just becuase the fuel is cheap and available, but I don't like
that option because of having to tend to the fire. Takes me
back to an electric option. I realize electric units can be
expensive to use, but I don't see any propane units that are
any more cost effective. I'm talking about mounted units, not the
portable propane heaters.
My shop is 24 X 14, but has a 10/12 gable ceiling that I don't plan
to close off. I'd like to keep that all open.
Anyway, it sure won't happen this year.
Matt
Here's a wood heat option than doesn't require a lot of fire tending.
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/messages/?msg=8443.10
I recently had to move back to my home workshop after several years. It’s located in my garage (no cars only work space) and for the first time in a while I had to deal with cold weather and had the same problem your having. I was running two electric heaters (15 amps each) and if I ran my table saw at the same time I would pop a circuit breaker. My garage is attached to my house and insulated so I ran ductwork into the garage from the house furnace no intake (force hot air system) and it seems to work well. I don’t know if you have that option but if you do it’s easy enough to do.
Good luck and stay warm.
RickL
I like your idea of running duct work and it is possible. The garage I'm working out of is attached to the house and insulated.
My concern with the duct work is the furnace is undersized for the house and basement now so adding the garage may only make things worse. I'm going to check with an hvac company to see what adding the garage to the system might do.
Idealy I would like to find an old heater rated direct vent fireplace and put it in the shop.
Thanks for all the ideas. This was my first time using the forum and I'm hooked!
Checkout these overhead radiant heaters at Lee Valley:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=2&page=44590&category=1%2C43456%2C43465
"Capable of warming objects in an area measuring 14' x 14', the heat intensity of the quartz elements has two settings – 750W and 1500W, producing 2560 and 5121 BTU/hour respectively." $59.50 each.
I haven't used these myself, yet... I intend to try them shortly to heat my 20x35 temporary (until I can tear it down and build anew) shop.
Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon
On the Redwood Highway
Lee, I also have one in my shop, and it's nice if your standing under it, but it doesn't warm the air or tools very well, making it impractical for cold weather. It does work well in the fall and spring though, when things are just a little cool for comfort.
This is the heater I use to warm my one car garage (attached and insulated). It does a good job of warming up the 200 square foot space. I'm able to get the temp to the mid 60's even when the temp is below freezing outside. It normally takes an hour to bring the temp up (the garage never seems to drop below 40-45F.) I angle the heater towards the intake of my Airtech 2000 to help distribute the heat. Just make sure you blow out the unit every so often with compressed air. Dust does accumulate on the hot surfaces.
--Rob
Tom,
You should consider making a solar thermal heater. Of course you would need some room to the side or back of your garage. I can provide a link if you would like to see one of these and how it is constructed.
John
Hi Tom,
Just info here, but I have one of those gas fired overhead heaters. They are not considered furnaces--not sure what the technical difference is. Anyway, This is great for heating the waist up. Doesn't work worth are darn for keeping feet warm. This thing is a real demonstration that heat rises. Normally this may not be a problem, but this winter has been brutal so far comparded to the last so many years.
Don
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