Shop heat....

awheelterd said:
This homemade heater gets out shop nice and toasty in no time 50x50 metal building with blanket insulation. My grandad built the firebox 40yrs ago to fit the tobacco barn heater door. When we put it in the shop we slapped a used piece of 1/8" plate around it as a air space for the blower. The blower is a multi speed hvac fan I got from the dump. I have low and med-high wired up. High speed was too dang loud. We burn pallet boards exclusively since we have an endless supply.
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Bling bling :cool:

You might be white trash if your stove pipe is worth more than your heater....

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tknopp said:
^^^
You have an outside picture? How high does you outside pipe go?
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I can take one. Pipe outside is 6' vertical. It's roughly 4ft from the horizontal thru-wall pipe to the outside eave, so 2' above that. 16' of pipe total. It draws well.
 
I see most are interested in the wood heat but I'm going to throw out my electric heat update. I got the 5000W unit that supposedly heats 500 sq ft. I've got it cranked to the max setting and it will run constantly when temps are below 32°. It's an uninsulated shop so I think it's doing pretty good. It can knock the chill off and sometimes that's all you really need. I don't want to be sweating balls while I'm wrenching / welding.
 
More progress. This is what I’m thinking. I have some old sheet I’ll cut up and weld together. Need to rethink how I make the curved cuts. CAD prototype.

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I guess it is all due to insulation. 17 degrees outside this morning, but it is 57 degrees inside my garage.

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Rainy here today so I’m trying to work on the shop. Got this little guy going.
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I've got to do something different. Shop is 2520sqft, ~20' average height. Plan was to put in a 500 gallon propane tank, and one or two of the vented MAXX-type ceiling mounted heaters.

So far, I have just used a jet burner and/or a radiant panel hooked to 20# tanks. They take forever to take the chill off that volume of space and in the process put a lot of water vapor in the shop. Not as cheap to fill them as it would be if I had a 500 gallon tank ...ten-twelve bucks a pop (1.50/gallon vs. 3+/galon). And worse, it seems about every time all my tanks get empty, half them are expired and I have to take to the propane place or swap out at an exchange. $$$ adds up.

I was thinking about getting a kerosene torpedo to get me by. At least it would get it bearable in there quicker. But....kerosene burning in a mostly enclosed area gives me a headache pretty quick.

Right now, I am thinking about an indirect-vented kerosene heater. Portable, don't have to buy and install a big propane tank. I got a red Diesel tank for the tractors and stuff, so wouldn't have to be running to buy a few gallons at a time. Does anybody have experience with heaters like this:

Amazon product ASIN B01FVID9NU

Heat Wagon HVF110 Indrect Fired Heater

Heat Wagon HVF110 indirect fired heater provides up to 110,000 BTU/hr and a temperature rise of 160 degrees.
www.heatwagon.com

Not cheap, but will be cheaper than a propane tank and heaters, with installation and all. And no fumes. (and therefore not as efficient as a non-vented heater, but...)
 
kaiser715 said:
I've got to do something different. Shop is 2520sqft, ~20' average height. Plan was to put in a 500 gallon propane tank, and one or two of the vented MAXX-type ceiling mounted heaters.

So far, I have just used a jet burner and/or a radiant panel hooked to 20# tanks. They take forever to take the chill off that volume of space and in the process put a lot of water vapor in the shop. Not as cheap to fill them as it would be if I had a 500 gallon tank ...ten-twelve bucks a pop (1.50/gallon vs. 3+/galon). And worse, it seems about every time all my tanks get empty, half them are expired and I have to take to the propane place or swap out at an exchange. $$$ adds up.

I was thinking about getting a kerosene torpedo to get me by. At least it would get it bearable in there quicker. But....kerosene burning in a mostly enclosed area gives me a headache pretty quick.

Right now, I am thinking about an indirect-vented kerosene heater. Portable, don't have to buy and install a big propane tank. I got a red Diesel tank for the tractors and stuff, so wouldn't have to be running to buy a few gallons at a time. Does anybody have experience with heaters like this:

Amazon product ASIN B01FVID9NU

Heat Wagon HVF110 Indrect Fired Heater

Heat Wagon HVF110 indirect fired heater provides up to 110,000 BTU/hr and a temperature rise of 160 degrees.
www.heatwagon.com

Not cheap, but will be cheaper than a propane tank and heaters, with installation and all. And no fumes. (and therefore not as efficient as a non-vented heater, but...)
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Check around with your locally owned lp dealers. My 250gal tank rent is "free" but my gas is 1.59/gal. If I owned the tank it'd be 1.49/gal.
 
I own my tank for the house. 1000 gallons. 1.39 last fill.

But...it's too far to run to the shop (plus the whole rock thing again).

I'm thinking about putting up another building -- 30x40x10. Portable heat would be nice.
 
kaiser715 said:
I own my tank for the house. 1000 gallons. 1.39 last fill.

But...it's too far to run to the shop (plus the whole rock thing again).

I'm thinking about putting up another building -- 30x40x10. Portable heat would be nice.
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They will set as many tanks as you want filled. .20/gal isn't shit
 
awheelterd said:
They will set as many tanks as you want filled. .20/gal isn't shi
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Payback on my tank is <10 years based on my usage. And I get to pick who I buy from (and when).
 
If you're a customer, most propane places will fill your 20lb tasks at your contact rate.

What about getting 100lb bottles for the heaters?

Do you have ceiling fans in the shop to help push the air back down? My guess is all the heat is above your head.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Do you have ceiling fans in the shop to help push the air back down? My guess is all the heat is above your head.
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I have a 48" drum fan. Put it at one end of the building, tilted up to get the air moving along the ceiling ridge, and down the other end of the building.
 
I got two wood stove an and this carrier weatherguard oil furnace works awesome
 

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I've got an old chicken house LP heater hanging from the ceiling in my shop. The shop is 48x32 and about 11ft at the ceiling. It's 200k btu with a blower and has a thermostat. My shop is insulated so it never gets below freezing in there. Fire the heater up and let it run for 15 minutes or so and it knocks the chill off enough to work comfortably. The heater is unvented so I don't run it alot.
 

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I'm looking for a heat source for the new shop. I was thinking about a wood stove with an oil drip. I have about 50gal of used oil on hand. Does anyone have experience with those?
 
powerstrokin04 said:
I'm looking for a heat source for the new shop. I was thinking about a wood stove with an oil drip. I have about 50gal of used oil on hand. Does anyone have experience with those?
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My mechanic has a freestanding wood burning insert with a homebrew oil drip. He has a 1/4" copper tube soldered into the top of the stove going back to a 5gal metal tar bucket. He had a 1/4 turn valve in the line to adjust the flow with. Seems to work fine.
 
untchabl said:
I've got an old chicken house LP heater hanging from the ceiling in my shop. Theshop is 48x32 and about 11ft at the ceiling. It's 200k btu with a blower and has a thermostat.
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Same brand and likely model (was billed as "bovine/equine housing" heater)" in our "shop"... but is mounted outside and supplies thru wall.
Fully insulated 35'x45' w/ 14' ceilings takes just a few minutes... but will go thru a a bunch of 'pane set on 75* for a week! (my Mom visited for Christmas and the tank dropped 10% in <7 days :eek: )
 
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