Shop heat

DSM Turbos said:
I have a 768sq foot garage (wood but no insulation), was trying to think of what to do just to take the chill off when its really cold and I am working in there so it isn't crazy cold. I have plenty of 220V outlets and was thinking about something like this - ProFusion Heat Ceiling-Mount Garage Heater — 17,065 BTU, 240 Volts, Model# EH-4604 | Electric Garage Industrial Heaters| Northern Tool + Equipment.

That kerosene heater that @RobMcBee posted looks damn tempting though.
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As mentioned before, the 3, 4, or 5kW will drive your electricity up pretty past.

If you have some scrap metal laying around and enough used motor oil, search youtube on building your own waste oil heater.

I have had a wood stove, and now a propane heater in my building. I liked the woodstove for when I was out there everyday or for long periods of time, but it sucked when I was only working for an hr or 2. The propane heater is small and I keep it near where I am working. It will knock the chill off in the 480 sq ft garage fairly fast. Here is what I have: http://www.wayfair.com/Mr.-Heater-Radiant-Compact-Propane-Space-Heater-F227500-MXH1225.html. Got it from Northern.
 
I would love to have a wood or oil stove, but with only 480 sqft, space is very limited. Another reason I was thinking about an electric heater that I can hang from the rafters. Wiring one in would be no issue as I have a 200A panel and plenty of open space. Right now, I have a 120v 1500W utility heater that runs almost nonstop and barely knocks the chill off. I have the thermostat turned down pretty low though. Just thinking if I had a 5000W 240V, It would probably run less. Im not that worried about the power bill (Im not going to keep it 80* all the time). Any heater would really only cycle about 4 months of the year. Average it out over the course of a year and I dont think it will be too bad.
 
DSM Turbos said:
That kerosene heater that @RobMcBee posted looks damn tempting though.
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If you were closer I'd let you borrow it and try it before you buy one. It holds about 3 gallons of fuel and will run about 6-8 hours. I've never let it run constantly though. SOB gets hot! You also have to vent your workspace.
 
Find a chicken farmer with brooder type heaters. They run on propane and work very similar to the brooder stand heaters on restaurant patios. Plus you can hang them anywhere, run wires for the pilot light, hard lines for propane and then a flex hose from the rafter to the brooder. My dad has several that he rebuilds and has had for 15 years for his chicken houses.

Side note, kerosene heaters always give me a pounding headache. Even the new one I bought 3 years ago. Am I the only one that this happens too?
 
Fabrik8 said:
I don't think you're the only person susceptible to headaches from decreased oxygen and too much carbon monoxide. That's your head telling you something is wrong.
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Momma always said something was wrong with my head.....

Ok now back on thread

Here's what I was referring to. You can raise and lower it on a cable and use a thermostat

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If you find yourself in Concord I have a little used kerosene heater that's been sitting unused in the garage for a few years you can have. Bought it/used it during a power outage and have used it in the garage a few times but could never get comfortable with flames and potential for kabooms from the other stuff in the garage.
 
Got an old chicken house heater hanging up in our shop. Think it's around 150k btu, my shop is approx. 30'x40' that is insulated and it can get the shop feeling good in about 15-20 minutes.

Here is basically what it looks, mine is just older.
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I heated the shop for years with a big electric furnace out of a double wide. I had a heat pump installed a month ago message me if your interested in it. It has an elbow on the outlet and a simple thermostat mounted on the side making it a self contained unit just add 220v
 
This is pretty ghetto, but I'll heat the garage with my fish fryer. I just fire it up without the pot on the burner and it keeps it comfortable. It's not very safe with the open flame, but I just keep everything away from it. Like I said, it's ghetto and it probably isn't the safest, but it's cheap and works.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
As mentioned before, the 3, 4, or 5kW will drive your electricity up pretty past.
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How much are you really talking to drive up the electricity?

RobMcBee said:
If you were closer I'd let you borrow it and try it before you buy one. It holds about 3 gallons of fuel and will run about 6-8 hours. I've never let it run constantly though. SOB gets hot! You also have to vent your workspace.
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I do have a fan on the gable vent that can be used to vent the garage which would probably work.
 
[QUOTE="paradisePWoffrd, post: 1409645, member: 1358] I liked the woodstove for when I was out there everyday or for long periods of time, but it sucked when I was only working for an hr or 2. [/QUOTE]

This is my problem with my stove, I rarely ever seem to get more than an hr or two in my shop and at 1500sq ft it takes a while to heat up.

I know a guy in pa that has a huge coal furnace fed by a skid steer in his buisness(giant shop) A home built boiler is hooked to it that heats the offices and the cool part- in the main "garage area" where there could be two tractor trailers and some heavy equipment he had the biggest radiator I've ever seen mounted in the corner with a fan on it tied into the boiler as well. Said it came out of a mining loader(think BIG). It was nearing single digit lows outside when I was there and it was very comfortable inside. I wish I had pictures.
 
DSM Turbos said:
How much are you really talking to drive up the electricity?
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Well my last bill was right about $0.10 per kWh. If you crank a 5kW heater then every hour it runs is 5kWh, or $0.50. Run it 8 hours a day and you are talking around $120/mo (8 hrs/day x 5kW x $0.10/kWh x 30 days/mo).

Your math will vary depending on hours run and the Wattage of the appliance.
 
OnlyOneDR said:
Well my last bill was right about $0.10 per kWh. If you crank a 5kW heater then every hour it runs is 5kWh, or $0.50. Run it 8 hours a day and you are talking around $120/mo (8 hrs/day x 5kW x $0.10/kWh x 30 days/mo).

Your math will vary depending on hours run and the Wattage of the appliance.
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For how much I am in the garage then, I wouldn't have to run it a ton so it wouldn't be too bad for me.
 
GONOVRIT said:
I know a guy in pa that has a huge coal furnace fed by a skid steer in his buisness(giant shop) A home built boiler is hooked to it that heats the offices and the cool part- in the main "garage area" where there could be two tractor trailers and some heavy equipment he had the biggest radiator I've ever seen mounted in the corner with a fan on it tied into the boiler as well. Said it came out of a mining loader(think BIG). It was nearing single digit lows outside when I was there and it was very comfortable inside. I wish I had pictures.
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you could do something similar with an old electric/gas water heater. Plumb the heater into a radiator/series of pipes that could heat with a far or just radiant convection. You might need a pump, but could rig it up as a thermosiphon design.

On a side note, what about multiple heat sources? A blast/propane/oil heater for when you are in the shop and an electric blanket to put down for the dogs. Not sure about your dogs, but if it is mainly a place for them to sleep, an electric blanket on their "beds" will likely do the trick.
 
DSM Turbos said:
For how much I am in the garage then, I wouldn't have to run it a ton so it wouldn't be too bad for me.
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It is all about how much you will use it. I have a friend with one in his paint booth. He runs it for ~ 10 min and gets the room to 75deg and then cycles it every 30 min to an hr for a few minutes to keep the temp up. Mix it with a thermostat, and it should work well.
 
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