What do you use for shop / garage heaters?
It does not really get too cold her in Vancouver, but Im from Africa, so anything below 20C or 68F is cold to me.
I need to warm the garage up a bit to increase my enthusiasm to get things done as everything is just sitting at the moment.
Looks like the forced air kerosene heaters would don a good job of heating up the space quite quickly when needed.
i have an older version of this, but portable. man it works nice.
https://www.amazon.com/Rinnai-FC510N-Vent-Free-Convector-Natural/dp/B00K89EHLQ/ref=pd_sim_nf_60_2/147-2060229-2017921?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00K89EHLQ&pd_rd_r=ba7bdb18-d0d3-45e0-ab50-43b481f5332a&pd_rd_w=ktmxD&pd_rd_wg=s7cei&pf_rd_p=90765e8c-a52e-4c61-b338-0577ef37d819&pf_rd_r=0V81HENNS1RAZE47NDQZ&psc=1&refRID=0V81HENNS1RAZE47NDQZ
Big 'ol inefficient wood stove made from a 55 gallon drum. Probably not what you're looking for...
Quote from: 85RZwade on December 11, 2020, 03:48:25 PM
Big 'ol inefficient wood stove made from a 55 gallon drum. Probably not what you're looking for...
Nope, neighbourhood wood have a collective shit if they smelled the smoke, Joys of living in suburbia.
Quote from: rodneya on December 11, 2020, 02:27:32 PM
What do you use for shop / garage heaters?
It does not really get too cold her in Vancouver, but Im from Africa, so anything below 20C or 68F is cold to me.
I need to warm the garage up a bit to increase my enthusiasm to get things done as everything is just sitting at the moment.
Looks like the forced air kerosene heaters would don a good job of heating up the space quite quickly when needed.
Please make sure that any combustion-style heat unit is properly vented. Way too many people die of carbon monoxide poisoning each year from improperly vented heating appliances.
I just use a 110V electric heater. If it's real cold, I'll get a little propane radiant heater out. They seem to keep it warm enough for me.
What about a heat pump? (Basically AC in reverse) With outside temperatures above 0C, or even better, above 10C, a heat factor (heat output divided by electric power input) of 5 could be expected. Definitely low operating cost, but the initial cost may be prohibitive
Yeah, a mini-split heat pump would be awesome, but cost prohibitive for many (including me).
My old man, being the top bloke he is, traded me his big turbo heater for my small propane turbo heater. He has a gas well so his garage is plenty warm. Mine on the the other hand, well it's a work in progress. I run the turbo heater on diesel since my car is a diesel, the heat is good. I've put a lot of effort into the sealing the shop up. It's an unfinished two car garage that was built in the 50's, but it's pretty comfortable through Pittsburgh winters. This year it has been really good, I got after it with spray foam and really knocked out a bunch of the leaky spots. I also fully paneled the interior walls this summer, being ceder shingles with plank backing it's not exactly air tight. Never mind the fact there's no legit ceiling (I put a ceiling up with plastic sheet for the time being).
Link below to the heater I have. Nothing special, the thermostat is mint though. I leave it at 50 when I'm not in the shop. The heat rarely runs even in the 20's. When I go in, I like to run it at 60 or 70. Sometimes I wear shorts and a tee out there, so the warmer option works nicely. I've used less than 5 gallons so far, even with a fairly abrupt snow a week ago. So maybe $10. It is a bit stinky at times... I should probably clean the spark plug.
https://www.grainger.com/product/3VE50?cm_mmc=PPC:+Google+PLA
Quote from: sav0r on December 12, 2020, 02:27:30 AM
My old man, being the top bloke he is, traded me his big turbo heater for my small propane turbo heater. He has a gas well so his garage is plenty warm. Mine on the the other hand, well it's a work in progress. I run the turbo heater on diesel since my car is a diesel, the heat is good. I've put a lot of effort into the sealing the shop up. It's an unfinished two car garage that was built in the 50's, but it's pretty comfortable through Pittsburgh winters. This year it has been really good, I got after it with spray foam and really knocked out a bunch of the leaky spots. I also fully paneled the interior walls this summer, being ceder shingles with plank backing it's not exactly air tight. Never mind the fact there's no legit ceiling (I put a ceiling up with plastic sheet for the time being).
Link below to the heater I have. Nothing special, the thermostat is mint though. I leave it at 50 when I'm not in the shop. The heat rarely runs even in the 20's. When I go in, I like to run it at 60 or 70. Sometimes I wear shorts and a tee out there, so the warmer option works nicely. I've used less than 5 gallons so far, even with a fairly abrupt snow a week ago. So maybe $10. It is a bit stinky at times... I should probably clean the spark plug.
https://www.grainger.com/product/3VE50?cm_mmc=PPC:+Google+PLA
I ended up getting a smaller version of that, but propane.
2 Bays of my garage are under the house, so insulated, but the 3rd bay wall and ceiling are not insulated. The floor is slab on grade, so that is always freezing.
I dont want to heat the space all the time, just something to warm it up quickly when I want to do some work.
I'm slab on grade too, and that slab is in rough shape. At some point I am going to pour an overlay on the slab and then maybe cap it with an end grain wood floor. I'll install a permanent ceiling at the same time. That's a few years off for me. The turbo heater really kicks out the jams. It's not exactly friendly noise or smell wise, but otherwise it exceeds expectations. I generally try to keep it full of fuel with some extra fuel on hand. I'm not really the "prepper" type, but I figure if we should have a furnace failure or some other issue I could heat my home from the basement with the turbo heater. Hopefully enough to keep the pipes from freezing.
My Egyptian employees in Abu Dhabi put on long sleeves and act cold if it goes below 80F. Seriously...
I had a cast iron wood stove in the garage but the Terra-cotta flue liner cracked when the chimney settled and I gave it to my GF's derelict relative with small kids and no heat in their house. That was a mistake of its own.
I have used one of those diesel turbo heaters but they stink and make your eyes water. Plus you have to have the doors open so you don't asphyxiate.
I need AC more. I was planning on ductless but the options for heat are limited. I need an old freestanding furnace or a high mount heater. Rather not spend $600 on the heat portion. Anybody built a waste oil burner? I wouldn't use the heat if I wasn't inside. I have considered a stainless-drum wood-burner. Losing floor space is hard.
IR8D8R
This one runs clean as whistle except for right at ignition. No fuel smell or anything on my clothes even after a long day in the shop.
Don't use diesel in those shotgun blower heaters! The fumes are horrible, kerosene is way better as far as fumes go. I use one at work, I like to use the old school wick type kerosene heaters too. They heat up slower but are silent and really warm. :twocents:
Quote from: 2 Stroke Jamoke on December 14, 2020, 07:52:53 PM
Don't use diesel in those shotgun blower heaters! The fumes are horrible, kerosene is way better as far as fumes go. I use one at work, I like to use the old school wick type kerosene heaters too. They heat up slower but are silent and really warm. :twocents:
Clean the wick every once in a while or your eyes will be burning ;). Used to work on snowmobiles in my buddies tool shed with one. Worked great, just light it and go back in the trailer for 2 hours so it can heat the shed up.
My preference is a forced air Propane heater off a 20 lb cylinder. Efficient? No. But, its basically stink free, heats my non-insulated garage up in 3 minutes when its 10 degrees outside and the snows crunchin'. Got mine from Menards for I think $75 bucks?
Again, be careful using one of those kerosene turbo heaters in an enclosed area. A farmer near me had a few of them in his building with a bunch of his workers sorting and packing fruit. Next thing you know they started to get carbon monoxide poisoning. They ran out of ambulances trying to cart away the workers to the hospital.
I have a 30 amp 240V circuit in my garage for my Millermatic 175 MIG so I bought a 240V electric heater and blew in insulation and insulated the doors. I have a smart switch to turn the circuit on from my smartphone to preheat.
My next addition is the freestanding AC unit I got free that I will duct the exhaust through the wall to the outside...
My garage is 20x20 and pretty well insulated. I run a 600watt oil filled electric radiator non stop through most of the winter, it keeps it above freezing when it's bitter cold and obviously warmer as the outside temps go up. I can turn it up to 1500 watts if I am going to be out there for any length of time and it keeps it comfortable.
Most any type of propane or kerosene type heater that isn't vented bothers my head when I am around them. Some times I can tolerate it better than others..
At one point I was going to use a vented propane heater that hung from the ceiling but decided against it. At this point I wish I would have run the wires before I drywalled for a section of oil filled electric baseboard heat. I still might do it and just drop the conduit down for it.
I just got done adding a heater to my garage. I have a 3 car attached with typical insulated doors and only about 4 inches of insulation in the ceiling. I assume the two outside walls are too but, I have never checked. I got the 8 gauge wire, breaker, receptacle, duplex box, cover plate, and 7,500 watt Dynaglo Pro from Maynards for about $340. Only took a few hours to run wire and install but, I have an unfinished basement and that shortcut it considerably. It took my garage from stone cold 40 degrees to very comfortable 65 in 2 hours. That's sweatshirt temperature and exactly what I was looking for. Just enough to take the edge off the air and concrete so, I can get some work done and not break a sweat. In the past, I was trying to get by with a three burner radiant and a propane tank. It was always in the way and of course, a little worrisome to use around the bikes. Unless I figured it wrong it's about $1.25 an hour to run wide open (shouldn't need to constantly) which I think is pretty reasonable for the convenience of being able to step right out of the house into my mess whenever I want. 8) :celebrate: :whoop: :vroom:
Hi I use a Mr. Heater overhead propane unit. Think it's 70,000 btu's . Hot Dawg is another brand. They need the double walled pipe to be vented outside but my actual heater was 5 or 6 hundred dollars. I just have a snowman propane tank behind my garage. Northern Tool sells the Mr. Heater and I have had it 8 years no issues.