Shop Heat

[kuraki]

I'm going to heat my new shop with LP. Is there a good reason I should buy a "shop heater" hanging furnace type thing, rather than a regular forced air LP furnace? My ceilings aren't all that high, I won't save any space by hanging one, since I would have space in my little mechanical room area where my breaker and compressor and phase convertor are, to set a standard furnace, and then I could run some duct down the walls to spread the distribution out.

I only intend to keep the shop a constant 40f if that makes any difference.

Basically I'm not seeing why 40k BTU of "shop heater" is worth $200-400 more than 40k BTU of home furnace, while limiting where and how it can be installed or how it distributes heat.

 

[butcher_block]

whent with a shop heater cause i didnt want duct work or dust issues. hot tip less you have a huge tank and a service to fill it get an RV tank switcher (i have 2 60lb tanks ) easy to move and fill 10lb tanks when full are a PITA to move in y book

 

[kuraki]

I plan to have my co-op put another 500 gallon tank down for me. Then no more dicking around with 100lb tanks for my forges either.

 

[Hengelo_77]

I have dark infra red heating.
Works very good.

 

[kuraki]

Ok, reading on that a little bit I'm thinking that might be the way to go, especially since I plan to keep a constant temperature rather than just turning the heat on when I go out there. It should keep the equipment above freezing and hopefully free from condensation too. And no dust blowing around with the forced air.

It seems the chief complaint with the infrared heaters is just time to heat from cold to working temp?

My biggest worry here is my low ceiling height. Only 8.5' at the tallest.

 

[Hengelo_77]

Dank infra red heats solid objects, not the air around it. I would have installed it on the ceiling(pointing downwards) if I had it before I set up my shop. I now have it underneath my workbench, first heating my legs and reflecting on the wall behind me towards my back. (apparantly it is a Japanese technique to heat legs first)
The heater is app. the size of a poster, 1"thick and doesn't get hot, only warm. They come in all different colours, some even printed like a poster. I have a red one
The room it heats is app. 8'x8', and I have a 750watt heater.
I know themostats exist so it turns itself on if the room drops below a certain temperature.

Since it doesn't heat air that can flow away but only solid objects that stay put you can also create a "warm island" in a larger room

 

[Lieblad]

My shop is plenty warm if a forge is running, Otherwise a woodstove serves if I feel like heating the whole place. Otherwise, I have electric heated benchtops what keep fine tools condensation free & if I need to work on some kind of machine part, Its nice to have it set on a warm bench a few hours before I get to wrenching on it.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

I could no more work in 40 degree temperature than 150 degrees!
My shop stays 74 in winter and 72 in summer!

 

[Sharpe5097]

Ok, reading on that a little bit I'm thinking that might be the way to go, especially since I plan to keep a constant temperature rather than just turning the heat on when I go out there. It should keep the equipment above freezing and hopefully free from condensation too. And no dust blowing around with the forced air.

It seems the chief complaint with the infrared heaters is just time to heat from cold to working temp?

My biggest worry here is my low ceiling height. Only 8.5' at the tallest.

The garage heater is more efficient and cheaper to run. Go with that. U will not be happy with the furnace

 

[golfer1]

A suspended heater will probably do a pretty good job in your shop. Take a good look at the infra red if the suspended gets too expensive. Infra red heat is pretty inexpensive.

 

[Augus7us]

How big is your shop?

I'm about to insulate and heat mine but I am going with a furnace because I will get it for free due to family in the business. I also have a friend who has a shop the same size as mine and my family did the same for him. I spoke to him about it as I do some work for him also and he said he was happy with it. So good or bad I will know. My shop is 1200 sq ft.

To mitigate the dust I am going to build a grinding room for all the dust making equipment and put a collector in my compressor room. May not be the perfect solution but I'll take it over renting a building like I was. I just bought this house and the shop was on it, however if I was going to build I would do radiant heat with pex in the concrete.

-Clint

 

[kuraki]

I could no more work in 40 degree temperature than 150 degrees!
My shop stays 74 in winter and 72 in summer!

I work at beer temperature.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

At least you don't have to worry about your beer getting hot!
My fingers don't work at 40.

 

[butcher_block]

i have set my shop at 60 during working hours but 50 over night i may relook that plan since i have R19 or better in all walls R34 in verticalspaces i am however in south PA. my shop is also 2 floors 16x24 with the bottom split with butchers curtain for the grindig nasty dirty space other lower rfloor spavekees bridgeport southbend and roll in saw. clean space is all up stairs but thats the way i planed shop flow

 

[kuraki]

At least you don't have to worry about your beer getting hot!
My fingers don't work at 40.

I'll likely bump it up to 60ish if I'm going to be out there all day but I just want to maintain 40 when I'm not. But honestly by January 40-45 feels pretty nice to me.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

When I used to build and outfit garages I switched from using gas blown heat to gas radiant heat. They make small and large units. They are a black tube with a stainless reflector on top. They heat the air and the shop surfaces, walls and floor, so when you open the door you don't lose all your heat. Also no blowing dust getting in your unit or filters to replace.

 

[Rick Marchand]

I haven't thoroughly gone through all the replies... I'll give you my thoughts.

First off, I would avoid anything "forced air"... even ceiling mounted(fan driven) garage heaters. Gentle circulation is okay but in a craft where airborn dust will eventually kill you, you literally don't want to make waves. Respirator or not. If you don't have a good way of dealing with dust, radiant heat is your best friend. For starters, those oil-filled electric radiators work well.

I had the luxury of a new build, where I put in floor radiant heat... but i have seen retro fitted radiant heat systems that seemed to be a great alternative. I saw a garage that ran water piping around lower part of the wall. You can also get baseboard water rads. Mine is a closed system, using antifreeze.

You also have to address any dust removal system you might(or should) have. Mine is exhausted outside, which posed a few challenges. I had to figure out a way to keep my warm air in while running it. The whole positive/negative air pressure thing is downright deadly in conjunction with forced-air gas or woodstove set ups.

 

[kuraki]

Excellent points.

I'm pretty much decided on radiant heat tubes. I will give it outside air for combustion and flue gas will go out the other end, about as pressure neutral to the ambient air as can be. Just need to figure the best placement with my limitations.

If I ever have the opportunity to build new it will be a heated slab no question.

 

[Rick Marchand]

My mistake with the slab was not thinking ahead to power hammers ... it'll take some ingenuity to retro fit a base.

 

[12345678910]

I haven't thoroughly gone through all the replies... I'll give you my thoughts.

First off, I would avoid anything "forced air"... even ceiling mounted(fan driven) garage heaters. Gentle circulation is okay but in a craft where airborn dust will eventually kill you, you literally don't want to make waves. Respirator or not. If you don't have a good way of dealing with dust, radiant heat is your best friend. For starters, those oil-filled electric radiators work well.

I had the luxury of a new build, where I put in floor radiant heat... but i have seen retro fitted radiant heat systems that seemed to be a great alternative. I saw a garage that ran water piping around lower part of the wall. You can also get baseboard water rads. Mine is a closed system, using antifreeze.

You also have to address any dust removal system you might(or should) have. Mine is exhausted outside, which posed a few challenges. I had to figure out a way to keep my warm air in while running it. The whole positive/negative air pressure thing is downright deadly in conjunction with forced-air gas or woodstove set ups.

What's the heat source propane or wood ?

Insurance here will not allow antifreeze systems because antifreeze is flammable.

Do you pump it, or is it passive circulation ?