I’ve got to move out of the wharehouse that I lease space in and into an old adjoining brick building. Since the building is unheated I’ve got to figure out a way to heat roughly 1000sq.ft. of shop space without venting stacks and major electric use(electric is included in the rent). I’ve been looking at a propane fed unvented infered heater that suspends from the ceiling and pumps 60,000btu’s. I know of some of the drawbacks that always plague woodshops,sawdust and ventilation being the worst. I actually have a separate space in the building to do finishing that does have electrci base so at least I don’t have that explosive solvents worry. I was wondering if anyone else has dealt with this type of heat before and can provide any feedback. It’s going on a thermostat that will get reduced or shut of completely at night. Thanks. George.
Discussion Forum
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast -
Our favorite articles and videos -
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
Your proposal of radiant heat, likely focused on the central work-space would be a good choice, be it gas or electric. The separate finishing area you mention, served by a baseboard heating unit? sounds safe and may well be ..... however, every electric heater of any kind, even the finned tubular electric baseboard type, rely on a set of contacts, either within a thermostat &/or a switching contactor, to turn the power on & off to the element. This switch can, and will spark/arc when making and breaking the current flow. You might retrofit it with a mercury contactor, but they have fallen from favor, due to the mercury, and last I checked, they were outrageously expensive. Check it over closely before you spray volatile finishes and heat at the same time.
Thanks for the input. Actually there is an unused 25'x30' space connected to my shop space. The guy I lease from said I could build a 8'x8' insulated box against an exterior wall with a window that would vent to the outside . I was going to have my brother,an electrician, install a 6'length of electric baseboard on a thermostat to keep 24 hr constant temp on pieces getting finished. Does this fall in line with the mercuty contactor or would you suggest an alternate source of heat. I'm open to suggestion and am fairly iggnorant about this stuff. Thanks.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled