How are you heating your shops

[83 Silverado]

I'm looking to see how others are keeping warm in the shop this time a year, I'm working in my 30x30 pole barn and looking for idea's from others. Right now I'm using a 70,000 BTU kerosene heater, that works great but is not something you can run for hours inside the shop. And to save some time I can't run natural gas line to the shop. Thanks

[cdowns]

to warmup my garage and take the chill of i open the door so i get lots of sunlight// tho this year i've had to run the AC more than normal

[kcsa75]

Originally Posted by cdowns

to warmup my garage and take the chill of i open the door so i get lots of sunlight// tho this year i've had to run the AC more than normal

Smartass!

[dieseldawg142]

propane. picked up this gem at an auction in '88 or '89 for $25. my shop is 35x18 & i only run it for 15-20mins or it gets to hot. mind you, i have R40 in ceiling & R20 in the walls plus a ceiling fan to blow it around. you can run it all day (i have) & no stink or soot or grime on your walls. i usally use it oct-apr & it takes 1 1/2 to 2 bottles of propane-100lb bottle, $100-$130 which on my old bones is worth it.

[donut]

The heat's in the tools! lol

Seriously, up north. I had 2. Wood stove to maintain and a propane blast heater to do an initial warm up. Wood was way to slow to warm up the shop, it could take hours, propane was too loud, or too "gassy" if the tank got low.
Propane heaters were just old ones I pick up off the job site.

How much effort and $ do you want to put in? Buddy of mine had a K-1 Monitor style heater, I've had used Miller gun furnace out a mobile home installed in a semi-temp building...

[northern 85]

House trailer furnace, forced hot air.

[83 Silverado]

I was out in the shop this weekend and I'm thinking some insulation is going to be the next step. I posted after trying to do some work in a 10 F shop, I gave up after 2hrs with the heater running full blast, need to work on keeping the heat in.

Thanks for the replys

[6BT 56]

Hey 83 Silverado.

Take a look at my build. for the back drop mainly Myshop is a 30,X 60 pole barn. Did all the insulation for $2000 ish. Its the industrial stuff 6 inch with a white laminated backing on it . I heat it full time to 45deg with a radiant tube heater . Then when Im working I take a draw off my outdoor wood furnace. And can heat it up to 65 ish. My doors are my weekness. They have gaps around them a cat could get thru. hope to get a new door this summer and get rid of the 2 small doors for one big one . Let me know if you have any questions abt the insulation . I think it was a good deal.

[eldogg]

kerosene here. I think its 125000 btu. Its the largest one Lowes had. It works good but is killing me @ over 4 bucks a gallon.

[travz500]

nice big wood stove with blowers keeps mine to hot if you run the fan all day here in KS we open the doors and cool it down sometimes

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by 83 Silverado

I was out in the shop this weekend and I'm thinking some insulation is going to be the next step. I posted after trying to do some work in a 10 F shop, I gave up after 2hrs with the heater running full blast, need to work on keeping the heat in.

Thanks for the replys

for where you are insulation is a must. another option is go to home depot & get batts, could'nt see it costing more then 5-700 bucks for the size you have. it cost me about $350 to do mine. dont forget to put some roof vents in after your done & heating your shop, or you'll have condensation problems

[BarryB]

I've got a 28x24 garage, I heat it with a warm morning wood stove. I get it nice and toasty in there. 20 outside 75-80 inside.

[hayhauler71]

Modine 70000 btu natural gas heater you can see it hanging in the corner

[rollin thunder]

Homeade stove from a pressure tank!! only drawback is chopping all the gosh darn wood

[6BT 56]

I heat my house and my shop with a outdoor wood boiler. I made it myself.

Its a great system. I do use a radiant tube in the shop as well . I dont start the fire untill it gets good and cold abt 1st of dec. once the fire is going it never comes on again till spring when the fire goes out.

[Mustard72]

100# tank of LP and a 120,000 BTU/Hr convection (mushroom) heater, but there's only a vapor barrier (plastic sheet) where a ceiling should be, and not a good one at that, so almost all of the heat goes up into the attic and melts the snow on the roof. The roaring of the heater reminds me of how much money it costs, so I basically just use it to take the edge off the cold. In the winter, I wear my insulated coveralls and stocking cap while working out there. I'm sort of a big fella, too, so the face shield and welding visor are adjusted to the max size so I can wear them with the stocking cap still on. But, I've got a garage to work in, tools to do the work with, a truck that needs the work, and a wife that lets me enjoy working out there, so I'm thankful for that.

I used the same heater setup in the garage at my old house, too, which has an insulated ceiling. It heated it up much easier, but did tend to get a bit fumy.

The woodshop (temporarily reallocated as a truck parts storage and parts painting area) is behind the car area of the garage. It is insulated and heated with a 750W radiant wall mount heater and a 1500W ceramic/oil heater. I keep it around 50° in the winter. There are four single pane windows and a not so great double door setup. I'll see if I can find a cat to throw through the gaps around the door to determine the thermal efficiency

[64fleetside]

I have a used 100k btu home furnace on propane-I only run it for a few mins at a time, getts too warm quickly-$300 of propane heats it for two winters.

[_Ogre]

o canada, my southern neighbor
i picked up a used propane furnace off of craigslist
cost me about $300 a winter for a 20x30 shop in my 50x50 barn
i sectioned off the 20x30 shop insulated and drywalled that room
i can open doors and heat another bay if needed
the heat is always on so i can have a sink and store paint in the shop
without insulation you'll be throwing money out the door

[theastronaut]

We use a water heater. True story. It's a water to air heat exchanger in a cut-down gas furnace housing connected to a tankless hot water heater and a hot water pump from a outdoor wood burning furnace. It's on a programable thermostat that kicks on at 7:30 and cuts off at 5:30, and off all weekend. There's a time delay between the time the water pump and fan turning on so there's already hot water circulating when the fan comes on. Keeps it 68-70 degrees in the shop even when it's in the 20's outside. That part of the shop is 1450 sq ft.

[Rochlow]

Originally Posted by northern 85

House trailer furnace, forced hot air.

Same here.. Just hooked up to natural gas

[piecesparts]

I have yet to put a serious heater in my garage. I have enough insulation, that it has never gotten below 49 degrees. If I need the heat, I have a 30,000 BTU propane salamander and this year, I have been using a propane deck heater. The ones that stand upright and has a heat source above your head and a heat deflector on it.

I want to put in a radiant tube heater along the center of my garage, but I haven't made it that far. I have had the garage for about 10 years and have had no need for it yet. It does get cold in the center of Kansas at times.

[pritch]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

We use a water heater. True story. It's a water to air heat exchanger in a cut-down gas furnace housing connected to a tankless hot water heater and a hot water pump from a outdoor wood burning furnace. It's on a programable thermostat that kicks on at 7:30 and cuts off at 5:30, and off all weekend. There's a time delay between the time the water pump and fan turning on so there's already hot water circulating when the fan comes on. Keeps it 68-70 degrees in the shop even when it's in the 20's outside. That part of the shop is 1450 sq ft.

Very similar to what I have.





Propane fired water heater, a pump and a couple of unit heaters. It works pretty good, but I wish I could get it to run just a little hotter. I can only get about 115 degrees out of that water heater (it's got 50/50 glycol in it) On the coldest days, If I get up and fire it up about 5 in the morning, it'll get the shop up to 60 or so. Its all on a line voltage thermostat and aquastat to keep the fans from running when there's no heat in the pipes. I have scavenged all this from various demo jobs I've done. Aside from the cost of the glycol, I'm not into it more than about 20 bucks. A 5 gallon bottle of propane will heat it up for a weekend.

I have a second system, too, and when they work together, they'll flat run me out of the shop 'cause it gets too hot.

This is an exhaust fan in the lowest part of my ceiling. It draws air into the attic:


And then pushes it out of these 2 (only one in the picture) fire/smoke dampers:





Fire/smoke dampers are common in commercial buildings, and you might expect from the name, they prevent the passage of fire and smoke in ductwork. In that, they are normally open. I have these hooked up opposit so they are normally closed. I have another line voltage thermostat up in my attic and when it his 70 degrees or so, it opens the dampers and turns on the fan and dumps all that hot attic air out in front of the two unit heater fans. I'm really quite proud of how it all works. I have over a thousand square feet of south facing black shingles, and even on the coldest days, if it is sunny out, it kicks on around noon or so and will cycle on and off for awhile and then just stay running as the attic temps stay above 70 or so.

Again, all of this was unused stuff left over from various jobsites.

[theastronaut]

Very nice pritch!! I haven't measured the temperature of the water in our system, I do know that the pipes are too hot to touch on the hot side while its running. I think the thermostat in the h/w heater is set on 140. We're currently building an all stainless electric boiler to use at our house and adding a heat exchanger in the existing duct work. Hoping to get it above 160 degrees. Ill post pics as we make progress. It's for our house, not shop, but its still homemade and can be fixed with parts from the hardware store- no expensive repair bills when something tears up.
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[BigDan3131]

In the main shop we have a diesel burning heater mounted on a 4X4 crate which blows at either 170K btu or 210K btu. Set it at 70 degrees and it keeps it warm. Shop size is 30X40.

My work area is a horse barn with same heater and I only run it when I get cold.

[83 Silverado]

Theastronaut, how big of a water heater are you using for your setup? The more I look into a hydronic heating setup's, the more I think I'll look at building one.