New Shop - Heating Question

Mitchell Knives

Mitchell Knives

Knifemaker
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I just purchased a new shop; no more cramped knife making for me! :) I'm still keeping the old shop, and will probably use it for storage.

My new shop is 16 x 16 and has a second story; roughly 500 square feet total. The top floor will probably be the "clean" area. The shop is not currently insulated, but I'll probably fix that over the summer.

In the mean time, it's extremely cold here. I stopped by Walmart to look at heaters, and came across a "Mega Heat" kerosene heater. It's rated at 23K BTUs and will apparently heat 900 square feet according to the manufacturer.

I'm not familiar with kerosene heaters, and have only used smaller electric units in the past. I certainly don't want any odor or other safety (fire) issues.

Anyone use a kerosene heater? Are they safe and efficient? Decent heat output?

I also noted that 2.5 gallons of 1K kerosene sells for $21 at Walmart. How long will this last, and is there a cheaper source?

Thanks guys!
 
Find a fuel dealer that sells kerosene We pay about $18 for a five gallon can. We have one of those torpedo heaters in the back area of the shop where I work. If you leave it running all day it will eat 5 gal in 2 days. get the highest grade Kerosene and you get no smell.
 
If propane or natural gas are commonly available in your parts I would look into a "blue flame" heater.
If not, you might check into a 5-7000 btu wall mount electric heater if you have 220V and plenty of current coming into the new shop. that way you can set it up with a thermostat and keep all your finishing materials (glue, stain, sealer) above freezing.
for constant heating, kerosene will be very expensive in the long run.
 
If you go with any gas fuel in your shop get a good CO detector. Gas heaters can be deadly in a confined space.
 
I used 2 oil filled radiator heaters to heat my 12 X 24 shop for years. I recently added a 208 V A/C with heat and it really makes a difference. I still use the oil filled heaters to keep the temperature reasonable and turn the a/c-heat on when I'm in the shop.
Flame-type heaters use a lot of oxygen.
 
I have a bullet heater like Sharpknives has but I think that is way overkill for your small shop plus mine is alittle loud. I would go with the propane heater like Gary Mulkey shows. They work pretty good and are not too expensive.
CW
 
I just fire the blown forge up for a while ;) :D. It will heat up the front 1/2 of my 20x40 shop/storage in short order.

--nathan
 
Think 30 btu's per sq ft.
I picked up a kerosene heater and find it needs ample ventilation. I wouldn't purchase it again, and would recommend propane also. Hang a small propane furnace from the ceiling and stick a thermostat on the wall, that's where I'm headed.
 
Don Hanson III said:
Small wood stove :thumbup:

I heat a 1700 sq ft shop and my house with wood stoves.
Click to expand...

Last year I found a Montgomery Ward coal stove that burns anthracite coal. Found it in a guy's garage and he sold it to me for 50 bucks.
I buy coal in 40 pound bags of washed nuggets.
Lite a 1/2 bag at about 7 in the morning, and last night, for example, when I went out to turn off the spherodizing oven, back by the stove it was 90 degrees at 6:30.
No smoke.
No stacks of fire wood.
No chain saw.
No electricity needed.
No gas lines.
No tanks, etc.
Light one time and walk away.
Being in NC, you're not far from coal.
Cleanest burning solid fuel there is.
 
Karl, Cuttin wood is good for the body and soul :D

I love the smell of wood smoke in the morning and running a chainsaw...
 
I am really cheap, I use one of the little ceramic element electric space heaters and just keep it near my toes. If you can get situated so that some of the heat goes up your pant legs then this is actually pretty effective but obviously requires you to have a station you work at rather than popping around the shop all day. I find that trying to heat my entire shop is too expensive to justify unless I can spend an entire day out there, which is rare.
Pretty much any option besides electric carries some risk of Co2 gas buildup which must then be ventilated, compromising the heat you just paid for (unless the unit has direct exhaust that is routed outside).
 
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