Electric heater for shop

[dennis thompson]

I am having 240v electric added to my shop. I have a budget of $100-200. Has anyone experience with electric heaters? Brands you would recommend?
thanks

[John Lankers]

If you could be a bit more specific, Amps. available, there are baseboard heaters, portable jobsite heaters, oil filled heaters, infrared heaters, heat pumps (well that would be over budget) ...

[Jim Becker]

I installed a Farenheat unit earlier this year in my shop and am very pleased with it. I bought mine through Amazon and it was very easy to install.

[dennis thompson]

Jim
Can you tell me the model #?

I installed a Farenheat unit earlier this year in my shop and am very pleased with it. I bought mine through Amazon and it was very easy to install.

[Jim Becker]

Yup...Fahrenheat FUH54 240-volt Garage Heater, 2500-5000-watt

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[dennis thompson]

[QUOTE=Jim Becker;2608499]Yup...Fahrenheat FUH54 240-volt Garage Heater, 2500-5000-watt

Jim
thanks for the info,electricians are wiring the garage now

[Brian Glendenning]

This is the most cost effective one I could find when I was looking last year - works great. (Note - 30 amps.)

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Don Jarvie]

The Farenheit is a good model. At 5000kw it pulls 21+ Amps so it needs to be hard wired with a 30a line. I haven't noticed a real increase on my electric bill. Only down side is it cycles until the temp hits 45 then will stay on.

[Jim Becker]

The thing that I like about the Farenheat is that it has a "smart" blower. It doesn't come on until the coils heat up and it stays on briefly after they shut down, either to cycle by the thermostat or when you manually turn it off. That way, only warm air is pushed by the fan.

[Bob Coleman]

I too bought one of those. Works great. A few years later I removed the internal thermostat and wired in a 12v wall thermostat with transformer and relay so I could set a constant temperature. I can dig up details if anyone is interested. Hardest part was finding fuses. Ended up finding some at an old Ace Hardware in Atlanta that burned a year or so later.

IMG_1113.jpg

[Jaromir Svoboda]

The Farenheit is a good model. At 5000kw it pulls 21+ Amps so it needs to be hard wired with a 30a line. I haven't noticed a real increase on my electric bill. Only down side is it cycles until the temp hits 45 then will stay on.

I do have meter at my shop and my bill was $120 a month using same heater for few days each month.
It works good.

[scott vroom]

Yup...Fahrenheat FUH54 240-volt Garage Heater, 2500-5000-watt

Jim, what size shop do you have? Is it a basement, attached, or free standing? I've got a 610 sq' detached shop w/9' ceilings. Design Day Temp is 10 degrees F. The 5,000 watt Fahrenheat is spec'ed to heat up to 500 sq ft., the 7,500 model is rated up to 750 sq' but costs $210 more.

[Ethan Spronk]

I too bought one of those. Works great. A few years later I removed the internal thermostat and wired in a 12v wall thermostat with transformer and relay so I could set a constant temperature. I can dig up details if anyone is interested. Hardest part was finding fuses. Ended up finding some at an old Ace Hardware in Atlanta that burned a year or so later.

IMG_1113.jpg

I would be interested in how you did this. I am working on insulating and heating my garage. It has 10 foot ceilings so the internal thermostat will be an inconvenience.

Thanks

[Jim Becker]

Jim, what size shop do you have? Is it a basement, attached, or free standing? I've got a 610 sq' detached shop w/9' ceilings. Design Day Temp is 10 degrees F. The 5,000 watt Fahrenheat is spec'ed to heat up to 500 sq ft., the 7,500 model is rated up to 750 sq' but costs $210 more.

Separate building...what was originally a 3.5 car garage with an upper floor. Shop is approximately 23x30 less the stairway space and cyclone/compressor closet. About 600 sq feet. I've been very surprised at how well this unit heats things up and I have no ceiling insulation between the shop and the uninsulated second floor storage area and "leaky" spaces where the joists meet the plates over block walls. I do have a little insulation between the interior wood walls and the block. And I do use my radiant units to speed up temp increases first thing, but turn them off after a short period of time. If I get those joist/plate areas closed in better, I might be able to eliminate that except on the coldest of winter days.

[Bob Coleman]

Just got back from vacation, so I'll dig up my wiring diagram and component specifications sometime this week. I basically used a 240V/24V transformer to take power from the heater circuit and wired the wall thermostat in series off that with a relay that switched the heater power. The line side of the relay just replaced the internal thermostat.