Shop Heat

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Ok, finally got cold. So I am not freezing like I did last year and need to install heat. I do not have natural gas avail. I certainly can add a propane tank behind the shop. The shop is in the process of insulation and will be finished in the next couple weeks.

Soooo . . . . what heat source should I use? I do want to have AC next year though these two items do not have to be tied together by an means. The only reason I mention it is the cost of a decent AC unit (say $400) and decent heating system (say another $400) adds up to $800. I could likely get some form of mini-split or something for that price, though I am not sure how great the lower priced systems actually are.

Thanks for the ideas.

[Uncle Cracker]

Shop heat? What is that?

[Pappy]

Shop heat? What is that?

That's what you get with the AC off and the door open!

[Cheeky]

i have the Mitsubishi Mr Slim mini split system in my house. it's great, but even via the online discounters it's over a grand (even for a 9k btu system) for a single zone cooling/heating unit.

[maxparot]

How big is the shop what is the ceiling height and how well insulated?
You can get over 15kbtu on a propane heater mounted on a 20lb propane bottle just make sure you get one with a Oxygen Depletion sensor HF puts one on sale for $40 if you don't control flamables and/or combustables you'll be limited to electric.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

How big is the shop what is the ceiling height and how well insulated?
You can get over 15kbtu on a propane heater mounted on a 20lb propane bottle just make sure you get one with a Oxygen Depletion sensor HF puts one on sale for $40 if you don't control flamables and/or combustables you'll be limited to electric.

My shop is 24 x 24 with 9.5' ceilings. The walls and ceiling will be very well insulated. The garage door . . . well you know how that goes. Its "average" in insulation, ie not just a straight metal door, it does have some insulating factor but not much. I will likely be adding on foam insulation to the door, or completely removing it and adding it to the new addition in the Spring.

[Garasaki]

I personally would avoid electric. There are fanatics who run around on other forums (won't mention names) who swear up and down that you will burn your house down if you install anything with a flame, but I definately don't buy into that - sort of like the DC overhype.

Anyway, electric is going to be signifigantly more expensive (to operate) then gas pretty much 100% of the time.

If cost is no object, I personally would install gas fired radiant heaters - they warm objects rather then air. Which seems particularly ideal in a woodshop - the floor, tool surfaces, and wood themselves are warm. This helps counteract the big temp drop you have to deal with when opening the big garage door and other air leakers.

Otherwise, there are many different propane fired, forced air heaters available. I think I would choose to cool and heat the space with 2 pieces of equipment, rather then 1. I don't know much about the heating ability of the little ductless splits so that might scare me away.

The other thing is that really you want your cooling equipment undersized to remove humidity more effectively (really thats the goal in a shop - actual air temp isn't quite so important) and you probably want your heating equipment a bit oversized for fast temperature recovery. I'm not sure you can get those things in a single piece of equipment, unless you go to a furnace style unit (maybe not a bad idea) which will have 2 separate coils for you to size.

[Hellrazor]

I have a pellet stove and a window AC in my shop. The AC was a leftover from the times before central air and the pellet stove set me back a bit over $1k. Can't compain either season...

[Zenaca]

I have a pellett stove i picked up used in my shop (25X25) and it does a real good job keeping it good and warm but then again it is supposed to heat a 2500 sq ft area..
For cooling i have a fan so far i am still looking for an AC big enough to cool the shop that wont break the tool budget.


Bud

[dlminehart]

I moved to California about 35 years ago. Can usually do OK without shop heating or cooling. Sorry, we're full up now.

[ironhat]

Keep an eye open for listings on the Harrisburg Craigslist. You never know what might come available. The little Hot-Dawg that you saw in my shop would be marginal at best. I use it and the poor-excuse-for-a-solar-collector that I hang on the south-west facing window and I'm fine. Even when the temps stay in the 20's it doesn't take long for it to make it comfortable enough to work in an insulated flannel shirt. Window A/C units are usually a dime a dozen in our shopper at this time of year.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Keep an eye open for listings on the Harrisburg Craigslist. You never know what might come available. The little Hot-Dawg that you saw in my shop would be marginal at best. I use it and the poor-excuse-for-a-solar-collector that I hang on the south-west facing window and I'm fine. Even when the temps stay in the 20's it doesn't take long for it to make it comfortable enough to work in an insulated flannel shirt. Window A/C units are usually a dime a dozen in our shopper at this time of year.

You say the Hot Dawg would be marginal at best, is that because of the size or the actual unit? I was thinking about a 75k Hot Dawg as I found a decent deal on one.

[bigstick509]

This is top Dog in my market

http://www4.modine.com/v2portal/modi...ontent_009.htm

[ironhat]

It's the size that is deficient, not the function of the unit. I hope that I'm not too late for you to grab the one you found given that it's the right capacity.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

It's the size that is deficient, not the function of the unit. I hope that I'm not too late for you to grab the one you found given that it's the right capacity.

Cool. I thought they were pretty highly rated. I believe I will go with the 75,000 btu. That would keep up with any "possible" additions in the future. LOL!