My Shop Heating Dilema

[Steve Strickler]

My home shop is appx the same size as yours is gonna be (within 50 sq.ft)
I went through the same pains last year on figuring out heating. I actually bought a propane gas heater and ended up ditching it in favor of a wall-mount electric heater. (it's like 15K BTU).

I insulated the building well (walls and ceilings with R13 and 5/8 drywall). It heats it JUST fine. Installs fast, costs <$200...done. I am VERY glad I chose it. I did so with the intent to install a 2nd one if needed and so far, have not.

Good luck!

[Bob Childress]

This is a great thread and I'm gonna' appreciate it this winter, but I tell you I'm havin' a hard time putting my heart into it with it 101 outside right now.

(Think cool thoughts . . )

[Bob Noles]

Kevin,

Not much help for the main system, but just a tip to consider.

If your washer and dryer are in that space, you may want to consider not ducting the dryer to the outside, but leave it blow into the garage instead. You can put a filter of some kind over the vent to keep the lint and dust down and let the warm air supplement the heat system to warm the space up faster. Just plan your woodworking schedule around the wife's laundry schedule and you have it made.

Best of luck on whatever you go with. I know it is a tough choice with energy costs these days.

Well.... it sounded good in "Hints from Heloise" back in the "good ole days"

Good and valid points made against the suggestion and I agree after reading the obviously overlooked.

and yes..... it is hard to think about heating right now with it so hot.

[Jeff Horton]

Heat index was 108 yesterday here. Or at least was supposed to be. I went to sawmill today and man am I ever hot. But I have been thinking about heat this week for my shop too. Maybe it's the heat outside making us all think about it?

I had two gas line drops put in my shop at both ends with the idea of putting in gas (propane) radiant heaters. So far I haven't done anything. I was given an old propane furnace last year. I need to check it out and see if it does indeed work. I am not going to freeze like I did last year.

[Gary Curtis]

Your economic concerns are significant. Especially wanting to heat only half the space. Radiant heating does not like that. It semply cannot be contained. I had two homes with radiant installed as remodel jobs. None of it was in the floor, but through panels mounted on the wall.

There are significant advantages to radiant. For a shop, everything will be warm to the touch. That negates humidity and corrosion problems. And it is safe from fire. But you would have to heat the whole thing.

I'm in the same boat. My brand new home has HVAC, so radiant in my 2-RV garage would entail the cost of a boiler. As I stated in a previous post, I opted for a single 220v portable electric heater. We get winter temps in the low 20's in Northern Calif, and it does a great job. For $130. Since my wife is parked on the far side of the garage, the heater is situated nearer to me and my cabinet saw. And guess what, my side of the garage is warmer. The circulating warm air doesn't go everywhere, but is somewhat localized.

My hands are full finishing up a new house and fabricating, so I haven't got much time. Send me a PM with questions and I'll give you numbers and costs.

Gary Curtis

[CPeter James]

How about a Monitor heater either gas or kerosene? I have a 40K unit in my shop and it just idles all winter here in New Hampshire. It even has a programable thermostat built in.

CPeter

[Phil Maddox]

I have almost the same scenario that you do, a 24x48 attached 4 car garage with 11' ceilngs where 1/2 is my shop. I elected to only install one of the overhead doors in my shop half because I wanted the wall space.

I heat my house with hydronic heat, a combination of radiant floor and mostly baseboard heat.

I installed a "fan-coil" unit in the shop that has a hot water coil in it. Water from the boiler is sent through the fan-coil and that provides more than enough heat for the shop. It has a bery fast recovery time, unlike in-floor heat, which should be set and forgotten about. The big plus is that the fan-coil also has a DX coil in it for air-conditioning, although I haven't added this feature yet.

I have an electric infrared tube heater and personally don't like it, although some swear by it. I don't like to be hot and this thing cooks my head to the point where I have to wear a hat in the shop.

I would consider a small combination furnace/AC for your shop, maybe a horizontal unit you could hang from the ceiling. They make units for mobile homes (don't laugh that would work well. You would need a seperate condenser, you can't share your existing one.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[Michael Adelong]

Maybe the Suntouch electric floor radiant heat system would work for you.

I used one 12"x30' mat in my bathroom under 3/8" thick blue pearl granite. I gotta tell you, this product works great. In the winter, I usually turn the heat way down to about 58-60* at night because I like the room cold and the bed warm when I sleep (the heated waterbed & girlfriend help out just a little as well ). I keep the bathroom floor at 82* in the winter. Man, getting outta bed in bare feet and stepping onto that warm floor is great. It's also great when you get out of the shower. It had a few nice "bonus" benefits as well. It keeps the tile floor at a constant temperature, so it eliminates expansion & contraction of the tile and subfloor due to temperature changes (nice since the sub floor is a mortar bed which expands & contracts a lot compared to the granite, which hardly does so at all). I'm usually gone 12 hours whenever I go to work, so I turn the heat down and close the bathroom door when I leave. When I come home, the whole bathroom is warm just from the floor heat (and I'm talking above 75* air temperature at around eye level). The most important benefit of all is that the heat transfers nicely from the floor to the camode, and it keeps the seat warm . According to the manufacturer, a mat like mine takes the same amount of electricity as 3 - 100W light bulbs. This seems to be accurate. The electric bill did not take a hit when I installed it.

I will be tiling the entire back half of my house (dining room, kitchen, and laundry room) soon, and I plan on installing as much heating mat in it as I can.

In a shop environment, tile isn't exactly your best choice. The heat works great, though. You could probably get some surplus slate or other natural stone tile on clearance somewhere pretty cheap. If your floor isn't level, self leveling compund can be poured after the mat is layed down.

Just a suggestion...

Michael