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FlyQXCRJ

Member
I have about a 550 square foot shop that is detached from my house - that means I have no heat. It being winter in Oregon - I'M COLD!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to efficiently (cheaply) heat that kind of workspace?

Thanks,
 
Matt, see this thread.

I ended up purchasing a small 1500W electric heater with a fan built in from HD. It takes the chill out, but on the coldest nights I still need a sweatshirt. For your shop, you probably want something with a little more power.

On a related note, find an old piece of carpet or similar to keep you feet somewhat insulated from the cold concrete (assuming that's what you have), you might be amazed at what a difference it can make. Your body can loose a lot of heat through your shoes/feet.
 
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Matt,

I solved that problem by moving my shop to Texas. It was 85 deg F last week. I use a small electric heater when it gets really cold (all the way down to 45 last Saturday morning). Does that help?

Tracy.
 
thallock said:
Matt,

I solved that problem by moving my shop to Texas. It was 85 deg F last week. I use a small electric heater when it gets really cold (all the way down to 45 last Saturday morning). Does that help?

Tracy.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Tracy - I've already had the pleasure of living in Texas. If it stopped raining here for just a few minutes, I might stop missing it!
 
Modine Hot Dawg

I have a 20' X 20' detached garage and heat it with a 45,000 BTU Modine Hot Dawg garage heater on a thermostat. It runs on natural gas (or propane if you like) and vents to the outside. Since I work for Modine, I get a significant discount. I usually keep it at 40F unless I?m in there, then I heat it to about 55F.

Regardless of the heater, I think that it is important to insulate the workshop and attempt to seal the leaks around doors & windows.
 
Matt,

I spent 4 years in Vancouver, Wa, and loved it there. You can't beat the country. We got the same amount of rain as Austin, about 30-35 inches. The difference was that Vancouver spread it out amoung 330 days, whereas Austin does it in about 20 days.

Sorry for making you homesick. At least you can drive over to Van's when you need a part.

Tracy.
 
Matt,

I'm in the process of installing a Sterling SF045 45,000BTU natural gas heater for my 3 car garage.

My original thought was to install an electric heater that hung from the ceiling since I ran a 60amp subpanel to my garage while getting it ready for the build. However, I calculated that it would cost approximately $.80/hr to run a 15,000BTU unit. Even a best case scenerio that it ran only a few hours per day, the cost would very quickly add up. (I plan on keeping the garage at a steady 50F throughout the winter. I hate cold tools.)

Eventually I found a gas fired unit that draws it's combustion air from the outside for around $900 including shipping. The 45,000 BTU unit will burn gas at a rate of about $.30/hr. Still not cheap, but I figured over the course of the entire build process the choice to go with gas vs. electric would more than pay for itself. (Especially since the output is more than twice with the gas unit, thus reducing the amount of time it runs.)

If you want more information, check out this site: Click Here

I eventually bought my unit from these guys and am very satisfied with them: H-Mac Systems

I'll hopefully have the gas and electric finally completed tonight and will let you know how it work.

--Ken
 
Garage Door Insulation

When we lived in the best kept secert of New Mexico we had a two car garage (shop) that had this .0 too thin metal two car sized door that just sucked the heat out of the area like a sponge. We found some 4 x 8 sheets of rigid panel type of insulation which we cut and glued into the segments of the door. That along with a new weather strip at the bottom of the door and one of those oil filled heaters from Target made the place quite comfortable all winter long.

Now, in Texas its ice tea and a fan all year long.

Steven L. Hild
La Vernia, Texas
RV-7, Fuse
 
I used a mini-flame thrower from Coleman. It runs off a propane tank.
heater.jpg

Cheers
 
FlyQXCRJ said:
I have about a 550 square foot shop that is detached from my house - that means I have no heat. It being winter in Oregon - I'M COLD!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to efficiently (cheaply) heat that kind of workspace?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
I use one of these:
http://www.comfortglow.com/blueflame/cb20t.html

It's been in the garage for 3 years now and really warms up quickly.

It's a wee bit fumey during certain times of the year (change in Natural gas origin?) but generally it's not noticeable.
I'm in Columbus, OH and our winters are fairly mild but the heater is up to the task even in below zero weather.

-mike
 
I have a 240 sq ft workshop in the backyard. I have two electric baseboard heaters - they do a respectable job. But we're here in GA where it's not as cold as Ohio (grew up in suburbs of Youngstown). If I know I'll be heading to the shop, I'll turn them on 1-2 hrs beforehand.
 
work shop heat

I have been doing without heat since I insulated the shop but with our temperatures (South Dakota) that means I haven't been working on the 7 much. I got my back ordered corn burner two weeks ago and hope to get it installed sometime in the next couple of weeks. Approximately 50,000 btu output for 1,200 sq feet which is more than I need currently but it will be useful later on.
 
Shop goes boom

Think about the method of heating you are going to use and some of the chemicals and paints that will be used throughout construction.

Some of them don't play well with fire.

Just a word of caution.
 
Use Radiant

Unless you have a really air-tight building, use gas or electric ceiling mounted radiant heat. It heats the objects, not the air and is very comfortable. I wish I had it in my leaky old hangar at KDET.
h
 
Long-johns, Gortex isulated boots, Thin workgloves and an old down parka. Only thing that gets cold on me and is the way I can tell that I have had enough is my nose. I'd wear a ski mask, but our good for nothin' airport manager would take me for a terrorist and have me arrested.

I would have insulated and heated my hangar, but I honestly thought I would be flying by now. Silly me!

I have slide-by doors on my hangar presently and will need to replace them to adequately insulate and heat my hanger. Has anyone had experience with the hydrolic swing out/up doors that are availabe? I would go with a bifold, but I am afraid I will lose too much headroom clearance.

Hey...I'm starting to feel my nose again................


Regards,
 
You didn't say if you have gas service or just electricty. Gas is by far more economical. A hanging gas heator of 45,000 to 60,000 btu would work wonders for you. Make sure you have good insulation in ceiling and walls. One poster mentioned insulating the garage door, excellent advice. I installed a 11/2 ton heatpump in my garage for both heating and cooling and insulated my door and attic space. Works great, but then I live in Las Vegas. Mike
 
When I built my second hangar I looked at the hydraulic swing-out door. Two problems I saw was that you have to be really careful when you open it. Nothing can be parked close, thereby necessitating a window. The other factor is being able to open it if you loose electricity or hydraulic pressure. Most of the electric doors have a mechanical back-up. Not very practical but at least usable. I ended up getting the "Hi-Fold" door. Less money than the hydraulic and you loose very little headroom since it will fold up completely flat.
Mel...DAR
 
Sporting goods stores carry small red & black heaters by "Mr. Heater". These put out insignificantly small levels of carbon monoxide. There are 2 models, a single burner & a double burner.

A single burner unit (8,000 btu?) doesn't adequately heat my insulated attached 22X36 garage, located 30 mi. SE of Portland at 1,200' elevation. A -9 builder in Milwaukie, OR with a small attached garage has a double burner unit & says he doesn't have to fire up more than one burner on his.

I also have a 35,000 BTU unit that produces unsafe levels of CO & stinks. I fire it up for 20-30 minutes before I go out to work, then turn it off. Last week with outside temps at 39, inside the garage at 49, it went to 54 in about 30 minutes. 54 was OK while working & if I needed I could have fired up the small unit to maintain the temp.

The single burner unit frequently goes on sale at GI Joe's for about $69, but you still have to buy a tanks at Costco ($22) and a hose kit. Haven't seen the double burner unit on sale.

Hope this helps.

Richard Scott
RV-9A Wings
EAA Ch. 902, Mulino
 
I'm using a 55,000 btu jet-a burning salamander. Temps in KY are falling to about 20 at night. Works well for my 20 x 30 insulated shop.

Sometimes I worry about the fumes, but I just start typing on the computer and it seeeeeemsss tttto ggggog aaipoabbvcz.

akfj alkvhblbahlf pqpqiuer ;ksajbn

:p
 
I use a 150,000 btu propane heater ... uninsulated hanger ... will take the chill out of the air. Since the hanger isn't insulated no problems with flumes.
 
Mr. Heater

I'll second the votes for the Mr. Heater. I have a three burner one that I don't ever light the 3rd burner on except to take an immediate chill out of the air. I have a 24 x 36 metal building that's not well insulated and I can keep it 65-70 in there when it's down to 28-30 outside.
I have a roll-up door which is notoriously leaky. I got a ceiling fan for Christmas that really helped. Instead of all the warm air staying in the ceiling (3:12 pitch) it's circulated around. Fumes have never been a problem, as evidenced by a CO2 monitor.
I use a 65# portable LP tank that I get from my local welding supply house.
For what it's worth.

Paul
9A 91300
waiting on wings
 
I decided that if I was going to build my 7A in an attached two-car garage I may as well be comfortable for the next 5 to X number of years. In the past year the 45 year old garage has received new insulated man door, windows, roll-up door, 23 bales of insulation, vapor barrier, drywall and lights. Heat is by a 30,000 btu gas suspended unit heater vented out the roof. I can now keep the garage heated throughout Canadian winters. I keep the heat at about 8 to 10C all the time (eliminates condensation and rusting of tools and parts). Heatup to working temp takes just a few minutes.
I'm sure the neighbors thought we were building a meth lab or grow-op when they saw all the materials going into the garage.
The advantage of an always warm garage is that if I have a spare 15 or 20 minutes I can get some building done rather than use the "no time to heat up the shop" excuse.
If I were starting from scratch on a new shop I would have hot water heat in the floor.
 
I use a big fire blowing karesone heater to heat the hanger. I am lucky to be able to get jet fuel to burn in it from a local distributor who saves his sump drain fuel for me in five gallon cans. Days that I don't have fuel I work on other parts elsewhere.
 
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