PSA - Winter months and shop heating

kuraki said:
It is a good point, and something to work towards, but not something everyone has or can afford when they first start.
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+1 on that. My shop is nothing more than some 4x4 posts and beam with 2x4 rafters nailed to the brick box under the eave of the house with tarps for walls and a roof. I've got the metal to put on a real roof, just haven't spent the money on materials so I can attach it. I haven't had a stick fall off the tree out back and poke a hole in the last layer of tarp I put on so until is starts leaking in the rain again. Made it through hurricane Matthew better than the 100+ year old oak in the side yard laying on it's side. ;) Gotta do what ya gotta do!!!
 
I have radiant floor heat in my shop. 10" thick walls with blown in insulation. It was originally designed for climate control for breeding reptiles, but the builder screwed up some specs and the temp control wasn't tight enough. It's good enough for a workshop though. It has a 14' ceiling too.
 
Those 'ventless' heaters are a danger ! You cannot burn fuel without creating things like CO and many other chemicals of the combustion process. Even without CO those other chemicals can be dangerous . People with chemical sensitivity are the first to feel it .But even then toxic gases are there to harm you.
 
Willie71 said:
I have radiant floor heat in my shop. 10" thick walls with blown in insulation. It was originally designed for climate control for breeding reptiles, but the builder screwed up some specs and the temp control wasn't tight enough. It's good enough for a workshop though. It has a 14' ceiling too.
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That's my ultimate goal. I have a 30x60 barn in very nice shape structurally. I've been working on pulling the cow stantions out and the barn cleaner and chain. When I'm done I'm going to lay pex in the gutters and pour them full and I'll finally have a nice building. I don't have animals anymore and the ceiling is too low to use it for much else but it'll make a great workshop.
 
I live in a 75+ year old little farm house and my shop is in my basement. I use an oil filled electric radiator to provide heat in the winter. Sometimes two during rare prolonged cold spells like a couple of years ago. I live in Eastern Ky so we can have mild winters like this one with only a couple of nights in the teens or we can have a couple of weeks where it is around 0 degrees F or less at night. It works well but I do have concerns when the air is full of dust and the thermostat on the heater kicks on. The spark can be heard and seen if dark enough. Despite this, they are the safest portable heater I have found thus far. P.S. Glad you didn't die. I selfishly enjoy and appreciate your participation on this forum.
 
Want another good reason to get rid of the unvented heaters? Aside from the CO and CO2 they are adding to your air, there's also a LOT of water vapor, which will happily condense on your nice cold steel machinery and steel stock, and will make it that much harder to get or keep all those wood handle blocks dry. If you have a choice radiant heat is the most economical for a slightly drafty shop
 
I'm pretty lucky on my shop! I built a 24 x 24 garage when I first bought my property in the country when I got married. Like I said in a previous post I insulated it and framed for garage doors but sided right over them inside and out. Even have a bathroom in my garage! Along with a wood burner. That's because my wife lived in that for years as we was building our true house beside it. When the twins were born it got crowed the last couple years! lol When we moved into the house I ripped out the temp wall, homemade kitchen cabinets etc cut out for one insulated garage door and bang instant SHOP! My problem is it's really hard to maintain the small type fire I need and not over fire it and get it so dang hot you can't stand it!

My only problem this winter, when I typically make knifes, is it's completely full of building materials building my daughters and son in laws house! It really SUCKS I've gotten no knife building time this year and it's wearing on me. But I've been purchasing more knife building tooling to go full bore when it's MINE AGAIN! I wish now I'd built the garage bigger though!
 
The headaches and stuff seem much more like the effect of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) than the effect of CO (Carbon Monoxide). It would be worthwhile looking into the effects of Carbon Dioxide, particularly in view of your reference to apnea.

In practical terms, it'll still be as a result of running the torpedo heater so that's what you want to avoid, but it's worth noting that the CO monitor will do nothing to warn you of elevated CO2 levels.

My understanding is that the torpedo heaters have a huge airflow to keep the discharge temperature down and will therefore almost certainly have enough Oxygen available for complete combustion to CO2, even when a significant proportion of the Oxygen in the air has been converted to CO2 already. CO is a product of incomplete combustion and tends to be produced when the Oxygen supply required for complete combustion is not available.
 
That's an interesting theory. CO mimics O2 in how it attaches to red blood cells, therefore spoofing devices like pulse oximeters(or the mechanism in your body). CO2 doesn't, so poor oxygenation from excessive CO2 inhalation should show up on a cheap pulse ox.

The biggest reason I don't think it was CO2 is because blood CO2 levels are actually what encourage your autonomic response to inhale/exhale. And I never felt short of breath.
 
You need something to remove air and something to replace it. Open windows, cracked doors... sometimes even open garage doors don't do a good enough job on their own. When I was in an non-insulated garage, I found those overhead IR heaters to be the most practical. They are unaffected by breezes and heat "stuff" instead of air. That is why they are so effective in sports arenas. I had one above my workbench and one in the middle of the shop that I could spin in any direction. I also kept an electric oil-filled radiator nearby... sometimes even straddling it as I worked. The drawback is that they use a lot of electricity.
 
Point was good, delivery failed miserably .....just sayin'

We just bought this piece of property. 1,200 sq foot house, 1.5 acres and a 1,200 sq ft un heated uninsulated shop. I'm in Montana and it is cold. Many sub-zero days. I used propane heaters so I could get some work time in.

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