Heating my work shop

[Shawn Siegrist]

My work shop is 20' X 22' I'm looking for the best method to heat it during the winter. I live in southeast PA, it can get pretty cold in the winter. I'd like a ceiling mounted heater, not alot of free floor space in my small shop. I was thinking about getting a ceiling mounted propane fired forced air heater or infared heater. Has anyone had any experience with either of these heaters? Any pro or cons of either type, any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Shawn

[Steve Kohn]

I have been using a natural gas Hot Dawg for several years with no problems.

[John Messinger]

I love my woodstove. My shop is 28,x24,, so I have a bit more room. I have a wooded lot with lots of oak, so I cut my own wood. I only used about 1.5 cords to heat it mostly on weekends. It is great for getting rid of saw dust, shavings and the like. You could make use of the smallest stove available with heat to spare.

[Ray Newman]

I have 30X36' shop building that is heated w/ a propane-fired Modine Hot Dawg unit. I keep the themostat set for 50 degrees when I'm not out there. Some say that is still too warm for when not in use, but I have some supplies & equipment that I prefer to keep @ a constant & warmer temp.

The Hot Dawg works quite well, but my building as the max. am't. insualtion installed in the exterior 2x6" walls, the ceiling, & insulated slab & doors, + double pane windows.

You didn't mention insualtion. I think w/o adequate plus insulation, you might find it difficult to keep the buidling warm @ a reasonable cost....

[Chris Friesen]

I have a natural gas ceiling mounted unit heater by Lennox. Works fine. I use an old mercury switch thermostat mounted on a single screw so I can tilt the whole body. This lets me set it within a few degrees of freezing.

As others have said, make sure you have the walls and ceiling insulated with appropriate vapour barrier otherwise you're going to spend a lot of money on fuel.

Infrared heaters need at least 4 feet of height above anything in the shop. They can be useful because they warm the surfaces rather than the air, and quickly make it comfortable to work when you turn up the temperature. On the other hand, I've heard horror stories about workpieces warping because the top surface was warming up (and drying out) too fast from the direct heat.

[Shawn Siegrist]

I did check on going with a wood stove, I would need a 3' X 3' area for the stove and I just can't give up that much floor space. A ceiling or wall mounted heater is my only option.

[Shawn Siegrist]

I'm insulating the garage now, should be done in a week or two hopefully.

[Jim Becker]

If you want to go with propane, the "hot dawg" type heaters are available for that kind of fuel. You want a sealed combustion unit, not an unvented heater. Alternatively, there are some very nice electric units available from Northern Tool and alternative vendors that are designed to ceiling mount, have thermostats and are reasonable economical to run, especially with an insulated space.

[chris del]

I am in Toronto, we have about the same climate as you.
I have a 40k btu radiant tube heater. It is a 24' long 4" tube that hangs from the ceiling and takes its combustion ait from outside and vents out the other end of the building. These ae available in U shaped and L shaped as well. Available in Nat gas and LP
They are extremely efficient, so efficient in fact I keep my building @ 18 degrees celcius (about 68 F? ) 24/7/365..... I have never had a single spot of rust on my machines and I never have to wait for the shop to heat up.

Cost was only about $1200 cdn. thats about $72 US? ha ha

[Rick Moyer]

My shop is about the same size and I wired in a Dayton model 73, 220 electric heater. I have it on the next to the lowest setting right now and it is about 65 degrees in the shop (30 outside). The blower only kicks on about every ten minutes for several minutes. I really don't think it's costing too much to run. btw r-13 in the walls and r-19 in the ceiling.

[Tom Godley]

I have a sealed combustion propane unit -- made by Empire -- nice unit.

The sealed units are nice because they do not take in any air from the shop - but they are not necessarily any more efficient that the open flame type

My current delivered cost for propane in just over $3.00 per gallon -- so propane is an expensive fuel -- if you go that route get the most efficient one you can afford.

I also have two 240v electric units that I turn on when I arrive to get the shop up to about 65 from around 50.

[David G Baker]

I also have a Hot Dawg ceiling mount that works fine. The type of heater that Chris Del has is a more comfortable heat than forced air and it heats the items in the shop better than my Hot Dawg but I do not know the cost of operating his type of heater on propane. I am lucky to have natural gas. Many of my friends have only propane or electric available and their bills are quite a bit higher than mine. My pole barn is 30X40X10 and it costs me around $35 a month to keep it at 48 degrees and 65 degrees when I am working in it. The building is very well insulated and that will make a big difference. I wish I had purchased a heater that used outside air for combustion.

[Jeff Wille]

I am using a Beacon-Morris natural gas furnace (same thing as a Hot Dawg from Menards). Make sure you don't skimp on the BTU rating no matter which heating method you choose. Also, I would recommend you put in a carbon monoxide detector as a precaution - also no matter what kind of heater.
I worked in a shop with an infrared heater system, and it smelled like scorched sawdust since the sawdust tends to accumulate on the heater. The forced air units keep it cleaner I think.

--Jeff Wille

[Bob Slater]

I can't get any source of heat in my shop other than Electricity. I have had a great winter with a Fujitsu ductless heat pump /Ac unit (The AC is equally important where I live). And I supplement this with two ceiling mounted 5KW Ouellete unit heaters I purchased for $99 a piece from Northern Tool. (MAde in Canada, but half price in the USA Grrr)

[Jim Lankford]

What about the dust factor in a wood shop? Wouldn't accumulation of dust on the tube cause a flash fire and damage the the unit, or worse? Units would'nt be used in the summer and the first time winter calls for use, there would seem to be a buildup of dust on the tubes?