Slant fin heat for shop?

[Paul B. Cresti]

I already checked the archives and did not see any mention of baseboard hydronic heating for the shop. So, did anyone use baseboard heating for their shop? I am looking for the safest noncombustion type of heating for my 25x25 shop. (radiant heat floor is not possible)

[Jim Becker]

Should work fine as long as you blow off the radiators regularly and it can be set up pretty much the same way that you would do in-floor radiant with a hot water heater and circulation pump as the heat provider. The only additional consideration is if you can locate the radiators in the proper locations without interfering with or interference from tools and cabinets in the shop.

[Ed Marks]

I already checked the archives and did not see any mention of baseboard hydronic heating for the shop. So, did anyone use baseboard heating for their shop? I am looking for the safest noncombustion type of heating for my 25x25 shop. (radiant heat floor is not possible)

I have hot water baseboard heating in my shop. I have not had any problems with it whatsoever. I blow it out with a compressor 2-3 times a year when I'm in a cleaning mood. I don't see how there can be a combustion problem with it. It does not get that hot since the water is at 180F right at the furnace and cools as it flows through the system. With the exception of laying an oil soaked rag right on the stuff I don't see how combustion could happen.

[Larry Browning]

I already checked the archives and did not see any mention of baseboard hydronic heating for the shop. So, did anyone use baseboard heating for their shop? I am looking for the safest noncombustion type of heating for my 25x25 shop. (radiant heat floor is not possible)

Paul,
Why is radiant floor heat not possible? If this is an existing slab, you could add 2x4 sleepers and a littel insulation, run the tubing between the sleepers, then top it off with a nice soft t&g plywood floor and you are in business. I built my shop with a pier & beam const. and attached the tubing to the plywood floor and I am warm and toasty this winter.
A wooden floor is far superior to a concrete slab for a woodshop. it is SO much easier on the feet and back, and if you drop the freshly sharpend chisel on the floor, you can just pick it up and keep on chiseling.

[Paul B. Cresti]

Paul,
Why is radiant floor heat not possible? If this is an existing slab, you could add 2x4 sleepers and a littel insulation, run the tubing between the sleepers, then top it off with a nice soft t&g plywood floor and you are in business. I built my shop with a pier & beam const. and attached the tubing to the plywood floor and I am warm and toasty this winter.
A wooden floor is far superior to a concrete slab for a woodshop. it is SO much easier on the feet and back, and if you drop the freshly sharpend chisel on the floor, you can just pick it up and keep on chiseling.

Larry,
It is not that it is not possible but, I need to draw the line somewhere as funds are not as abundant as they once were. This is a dedicated shop (2-car garage, 25x25x10) but If my future business should ever take off I do not want to have a subfloor in the shop that I would need to take up to turn into a garage again. I plan on using my existing boiler to supply hot water to the shop and the office space above. I will need to replace the boiler (I just installed gas in the house) as it is old and can size it to handle the additional heating load. I was just wondering why no one ever seemed to mention using hot water base boards for their shop, along with a radiant heat floor it is safest way to heat.

[Rob Russell]

I was just wondering why no one ever seemed to mention using hot water base boards for their shop, along with a radiant heat floor it is safest way to heat.

Paul,

As one who has both hydronic base boards (old house) and hydronic radiant floor heat (addition), I can think of a couple of reasons why i wouldn't want baseboard heat in a shop.

1. Baseboards run on the walls. Wall space is always at a premium in a shop. I wouldn't want to put in heat that uses up that wall space.
2. Baseboards work by convection instead of conduction like radiant. If you put machines over the baseboards, you'll reduce the effectiveness of the heat just as you do when you push a sofa right up to the wall over a radiator.
3. The radiators will circulate the dust in your shop.

Having listed all the above, baseboard heat is better than no heat.

Rob

[Ed Breen]

Paul, Radiant heat can be done if you use PEX or another tubing, your hot water heater and a circulating pump. Don't use base boards, (reasons already cited) dont use floor boards (you may want to reconvert) Put your coils on the ceiling and use a small fan to force the heat down. I use a propane radiant heat in my shop and it is overhead. I am planning to go hydronic in SWMBO's shop using a wall. (She doesn't hang stuff like we do!)
You might investigate overhead hydronic.
good luck
Ed

[Don Abele]

Paul, I used this very setup in my place in Maine and didn't have any problems with it whatsoever. Yes, you need to be sure to blow the fins out more regularly than you would your house. But it worked well and produced a very even heat. As for wall space and equipment, I simply adapted the heaters to my configuration and had no problems (I even had an 8 foot length in front of my mitersaw table). If tapping into you existing system is possible, this is an easy and very economical source of heat. The most expensive part is buying a new zone valve - you really need to have the shop on it's own thermostat. I finished my entire 2 car garage in a single Saturday.

Be well,

Doc

[Bob Reda]

They make a ceiling hung gas fired radiant heating system that is self contained, about 97% effieient and vents the combustible right outside the structure. Here's one link to them. It is probably the perfect woodworkers shop heating system.

http://www.agradiant.com/

[Paul Downes]

I'm setting up an outdoor wood fired boiler this week and plan on using an old cast iron radiator to heat my shop. With the large cross sectional area of the radiator I don't expect dust to build up on it much like would be a problem with the finned type base board radiators. I'm also going to install a large air cleaner blower on the ceiling over the radiator and vent the exhaust air down over the radiator to circulate the heat in the shop. The blower has about 18 sq/ft of filter area so it should run for quite a while between cleanings. I just hope it isn't too loud!

[Mike Linne]

Slant fins work by convection and previous posters have listed some downsides assocciated with this method.

Another option since you are going with a hot water boiler is ceiling panel radiant heat. Pros: 1. no lost floor/wall space 2. easy to pipe - like suspended panel ceilings - all piping at the joist elevation 3. Doesn't stir up dust like convection systems can do. 4. Assuming your ceiling joists are open easy to relocate and add on to 5. Relatively low cost (if you have to you can self fabricate with copper tubing and sheet metal reflectors 6 Don't have to clean periodically to have peak efficiency 7 Can also use on walls (good for corner of shop used for finishing) 8. Can use higher water temperature than baseboard 9 No chance of contact burns
Cons: 1. May occlude ceiling storage. 2. Looks best with suspended ceilings or other flush mount arrangement. 3. Goes against conventional wisdom (but works great) 4. Panels ideally need to be within 8-9 feet of floor or other solid surface (necessary for heat reradiation) 5. Potential water leak over equipment. 6. More tendency for airlock versus baseboard (can be eliminated with good piping system design

[Mark J Bachler]

Paul,

I'm in the process of putting in a wood fired bioler system except I have the blower type radiators that I mounted on shelves up on the wall. I hoping the built in filters will help take some of the dust out of the air. The blowers / radiators were from an old high school $25 each.


Same heat source, same machines, same foreheads. Kinda freaky isn't it??