what do you use to heat your shop (1 Viewer)

[RAYJON]

I second a small rocket stove, you will be amazed at how much heat they put off..

mine has a 80k btu house heater updraft just had to run the gas line and bend some sheetmetal make a stand and run the exhaust.. .. the idea of propane and moving it later works...use a thermostat and try to get something that moves the air around it makes a big difference..

I keep mine at 50F and turn it up when i go out to work, it only takes one cup of coffee (never timed it just finish my coffee) and the shop is warm... much nicer to work on stuff that is 50F when its 15F outside...

 

[dingdong]

Roughneck brand electric heater. Explosion proof. Won't cause ignition. Take it with you when you move. Put out a lot of heat.
With you being in Sask there should be good prices on used ones right now, as all the drilling rigs are turning into scrap metal.

I had a natural gas radiant heater in my garage in AB. I LOVED it. I was told to be careful with it pointed at vehicles because it might harm the paint. Never had that issue.

Garage I am building now in BC will have in-floor heat. Never had it before but hear good things. And really like the idea of nothing being in my way (a box or stove or tubes etc).

For the guys running wood burning stoves, any concerns of fire? I have jerry cans and various lubes and sprays on the shelves. I don't want to be that warm and fuzzy.

 

[kirvesmies]

Roughneck brand electric heater. Explosion proof. Won't cause ignition. Take it with you when you move. Put out a lot of heat.
With you being in Sask there should be good prices on used ones right now, as all the drilling rigs are turning into scrap metal.

I had a natural gas radiant heater in my garage in AB. I LOVED it. I was told to be careful with it pointed at vehicles because it might harm the paint. Never had that issue.

Garage I am building now in BC will have in-floor heat. Never had it before but hear good things. And really like the idea of nothing being in my way (a box or stove or tubes etc).

For the guys running wood burning stoves, any concerns of fire? I have jerry cans and various lubes and sprays on the shelves. I don't want to be that warm and fuzzy.

x2 on the in-floor heat. i've got a couple of buddies with it, n it's awesome! strongly recommend it to any one in the planning stages of a new build shop/garage.
regarding flammable storage, mine's in it's own locker at the far end of the shop from the woodstove. fuel storage is in an outbuilding.

 

[PAToyota]

Only downside of in-floor heat is that it isn't exactly a "weekend warrior" solution. It takes quite some time for a whole floor slab to warm up, so it isn't something you turn on for a Saturday afternoon's project. If you're not using the space regularly, you probably want to at least keep it at a minimum level (50~55℉) and then turn it up before you plan to be out there - like wake up, go turn the heat up, go back and have breakfast, drink your coffee, read the newspaper, and then go out later when it has had a chance to warm up. The other option would be to keep it at a minimum level and then have supplemental heat to bring it up the rest of the way when you're out there.

 

[rustybucket]

i currently have an old shop that is insulated but some is falling out of the roof. it’s a little drafty too. i have a wood barrel stove in it which works ok but takes a long time to heat up in the winter.

i’m looking for other ideas such as radiant heaters etc if any one has ideas they use and know work. my shop is about 700 sq feet. not putting in gas. that’ll go in a new shop eventually

Well if you get a lot of sun and not too many trees blocking the Sun's path, I think a evacuated solar tube heater paddle system runs over $1,000. Three of these could be sufficient enough to heat the garage. But the best thing my suggestion is to increase the R rating of the insulation or the installation is very old rip it out and put in some kind of higher R rating insulation. If anybody is reading this is it against code just spraying foam insulation between the studs or putting up sheetrock over the studs the within code? I guess it depends on the sea

 

[greenbeast]

Old thread but interesting that I think I only saw one reference to Radiant heat. We use this in hangars and its the cat's meow. I fully intend on doing this in my shop when I start building in the fall. Heats things around you minimizing heat loss if door is opened.. If done properly they are perfectly safe, won't harm paint and this is proven by hangars with multimillion dollar jets in them using same concept. They also heat quickly. I would turn mine on and go run a quick errand then get to work when I got back.

Obviously with good insulation and minimizing loss of heat only adds to the effectiveness.

Cheers!

 

[fjc-man]

Radiant heat is good if you have some decent ceiling height, otherwise you’ll start referring to them as “head burners”.