Space heater in basement shop

[Craig Vollmer]

The duct work for the house runs through my shop. I have two vents in the main duct for a little heat in there, but I am renovating the shop and intend to soundproof it to keep noise from transmitting to the rest of the house. I've decided to close off the vents so noise will not escape through the ducts. I decided the best solution is to have a separate independent heat source for the shop and thought about some kind of ventless wall unit. I currently heat with natural gas and would like to tap into that because electric costs too much. Is this a bad idea with wood dust and open flame? Eventually I intend to put in a dust collector and air filtration unit. If I do that would I be OK with a gas heater? kerosene space heater might also be an option, but same issue....open flame. Thoughts? Thanks.

[Paul F Franklin]

You would be better off with a vented heater that draws its combustion air from the outside. Then there is no worry about fumes or dust. Ventless heaters add a lot of water vapor to the area, in addition to being a concern with flammable dust.

Another option would be a mini split heat pump, which although electric, operates more efficiently than regular resistance space heaters. They also supply cooling, which may not be strictly needed in your area, although it helps with humidity control as well. The mini split has the advantage of easy installation, even in a basement.

Your profile doesn't say where you are located, but you may find that if you properly insulate the space, very little heat is needed to maintain a good comfort level. I live in NE ohio, and have all the basement vents closed, but it stays comfortable down there all winter with just whatever heat leaks or radiates from the ductwork; which is exposed in my shop area.

[Jim Andrew]

Ventless I would not use in a wood shop, especially with dust floating in the air. I bought a wall hung propane heater, ventless, and wound up giving it to a neighbor, as it was not enclosed at all, just had a piece of glass in front of the gas burner, but flame was open above the glass. Look at the hotdog heaters. Would use natural gas, as you have it in your house. Could even use another small furnace, put it in an enclosed closet with combustion air from outside, and a vent to shoot the heat into your shop. Be sure to install with the directions as far as distance from walls, etc. If you plan to continue with woodworking, would look at getting a 3hp dust collector or larger.

[Jim Becker]

Please take a kero heater off the table...the fumes alone, let alone the open flame, will be an issue. Stay away from "ventless" gas heaters, too...the amount of moisture they give off can be extraordinary. A properly vented, gas heater or a quality electric forced air heater like the Farenheat I use in my shop will be a good choice and given you have a whole house as conditioned space above, you should be able to keep things comfortable for reasonable cost.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Craig, I agree that it would be helpful to know a few more things about your situation.

1) How far below ground is your basement? I.e., are the entire walls concrete? If you have a cripple wall, is it insulated?

2) Where are you located? Given that it's winter, what temperature are you reading in the basement right now? Basements have a distinct advantage of taking radiant heat from the earth, so you might not need a ton of heat. Electric might be expensive on a per BTU basis, but if you don't need a lot of heat, the total cost may still be tolerable given the simplicity of installation.

3) How warm do you want the room? Would 60 degrees be good enough for you? I.e., enough to work with a sweatshirt or shorts and a tank top?

I'm in Seattle (pretty mild), and my basement shop (with insulated 3' cripple walls and 7' ceilings and very drafty windows) stays warm enough for a t-shirt with an electric shop heater like the Fahrenheit unit cycling on and off on a thermostat. It runs maybe 15% of the time. Granted, most of our electricity comes from hydro (dams), so we have the cheapest electricity in the country. But I'm happy with it and it was really easy to install, if that helps.

[roger wiegand]

Ventless are illegal here, for good reasons I think. If your insulation is up to snuff a ~5000 W electric heater will warm up a basement just fine without breaking the bank. If you need more than that a sealed combustion gas heater (draws combustion air from outside and power vents) is the way to go.

[Pat Barry]

You only need to take a bit of the chill out of the air. A simple 1500 W portable electric space heater should work fine. Thats all I use (actually 2 of them) for my insulated garage here in MN and that works fine (for all but those -10F or lower days). For your basement you could probably get by with one unit, strategically located. Lots better than worrying about CO poisoning

[Mac McQuinn]

I have a 220V electric heater in my insulated garage/shop. It draws about 14.8Amps and with built-in blower, it does a decent job.
Mac

[Bill Space]

I have been using a direct vent gas wall furnace in my basement shop for years with no complaints. Works great and draws combustion air from outside and exhausts the combustion gases to the outside.

This may not work for you though if your basement is entirely below ground.

I am with everyone else as far as not using a vent-less heater in the wood shop. One of the byproducts of combustion is water vapor. Not to mention potential safety issues...

Bill