Heating Shop: Electric Alternatives

[Bob Slater]

Does anyone have an opinion on using a through the wall heat pump like this http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajm....html?mv_pc=dt for a shop?

My understand that they are about 10 times as efficient as regular electric heat, and work best if the outside temp is not really cold, is this correct?

I am in Seattle, so winter is fairly mild, not too many days below freezing. I would like to keep it on continuously, to keep the shop in the high 50s, to prevent rust etc.

I have a Fujitsu ductless AC system in my shop that has a heat Pump. It works great as far as I can see. I was surprised it works in very cold Temperatures. (Toronto gets some). I also have a couple of 5KW unit heaters to get the shop up to temp fast and carry on when it gets to be minus 10F or lower. The only downside to the heat pump is that the thermostat only goes down to 60f and I like to keep minimal heat in the shop when I am not there, which is often for days at a time. I set my unit heaters down at the bottom of the thermostat for when I am not there.




Bob.

[Michael Merrill]

I've read through this thread on heaters and I' like to get my shop a bit warmer.

Shop is a basement shop 23x13x9 framed, insulated walls, sheetrock, two outside walls against concrete basement walls, concrete floor with VCT tiles.

After reading this I did a small experiment this morning, outside is 35F, temp in the shop was 56F. Jut to test I added a oil filled radiant portable heater and after 1:45 it only move up to 59F.

I'd like to add a heat source to bring the shop to 65F for working and glueing. But I don't want to run additional power so I'm limited to the dedicated 20A 110v I've got now. Can anyone recommend something they think might work for this case?????

[Jim Becker]

Augusto, I've recently determined that I'll be installing one of those Farenheat units in my shop to help kick things up a notch. The electric radiant units I currently use are certainly helpful, but they don't warm the air and that makes it harder (and more energy expensive) to be able to do finishing on a project when it's time to do so. The very similar Dayton is installed in the viewing lounge at the barn we ride (horses) at and it's very efficient. I like that the fans in these units also wait to come on until there is actually hot air to move.

[Jeremy Gibson]

I have that unit too in my 2 car garage. The space is insulated but the garage door doesn't seal well at all. Even so, the heater on a low setting keeps the space nice even through sub-zero Colorado winters. I haven't noticed any significant increase in the electric bill either.

[Don Jarvie]

Depending on what you have for heating for your house you may be able to tap that.

If you have forced hot air you can tap the vent and have it shut off when your not there. If you have gas you could get a gas heater and tap the line.

[Doug W Swanson]

http://www.radiantsystemsinc.com/inthehome/

I've got these in my garage and I love them. They are inconspicuous, quiet and don't move dust around like heaters with fans.

JMO,
Doug

[Bob Winkler]

Doug, that Comfort Cove is interesting. Can you provide more details on sizes you used and the specifics of your garage (size, insulation, etc)?

Bob

[Bob Winkler]

Jim, which radiant heaters were you using? BTW, I just ordered the Dayton G73 from Air-Space (they had free shipping and 10% off for an out the door price of $269).

[Michael Merrill]

I was thinking that some type of gas unit would not be same due to fumes and what not. That is why I figured some kind of electric unit like the one's being discussed in this thread, only smaller?

[Jim Becker]

Jim, which radiant heaters were you using? BTW, I just ordered the Dayton G73 from Air-Space (they had free shipping and 10% off for an out the door price of $269).

They have the name "Marvin" on them and were originally bought from Lee Valley, if I remember correctly. I have a floor standing oscillating one with a Honeywell label on it.

Oooh...thanks for the tip on the Dayton price! Can you provide a URL...that name resolves to way too many things in Google...

[Bob Winkler]

Oooh...thanks for the tip on the Dayton price! Can you provide a URL...that name resolves to way too many things in Google...

Jim, here's the link I used. It's actually another web address for air-space, and they had 10% off if I used the promotion code "cool10" . Now they are advertising 5% off, but maybe cool10 still works.

http://www.heater-home.com/product/G73.aspx


Bob

[Richard Andersen]

How do you calculate how much these heaters cost to operate. I paying about 11 cent per kilowatt-hr.

[Ray Newman]

Somewhere I saw a chart comparing various the costs and efficiency of natural gas, propane, electric portable heaters. IIRC and in theory to determine operating costs, you multiply the number of KW used per hour by your electrical rate. If the heater is rated 1500 KW, it uses 1.5 KW per hour.

But that may not be the case. Your KW rate cost will increase as you are using more electricity to run the heater and most energy rates are an increasing sliding scale based upon the am’t. used.

[Bob Winkler]

I struggled (more like agonized) with the heating alternatives, but ordered the 5KW Dayton for the following reasons:

- it's inexpensive to buy, install
- it's quick to buy and install and I can do it myself
- I don't need to run a gas line from my house, which is 100' away
- I will insulate very well, which will benefit any heating system
- I will add a 2x6 wall to seal off the 2 overhead doors to make it easier to heat. This makes my shop smaller, but still ok (24'x22')
- I plan on adding a wooden subfloor over the concrete to "warm" my feet.
- if the costs to operate become an issue, I can always go back to Plan A, which was a direct vent, gas-fired heater of some type. I will only have "wasted" $300. We'll see how it goes.

Bob

[Jim Becker]

Code's invalid now, Bob. Oh, well...