Heating a 650 sq' wood shop

[Dan]

I live in the Seattle area. I have a 2.5 car garage which I am developing into a woodworking shop. There will be 1 car parked there also. Although it generally doesn't get quite as cold here as it does in some other parts of the country, it gets cold ENOUGH at times during winter to keep me out of the shop. I'd like to add some source of heat. The shop has 2 wooden single car garage doors, reasonably well sealed, unheated living space about, 2 78" x 48" double pane windows, an 8' ceiling, and drywall on all walls. Walls are currently uninsulated, but adding blown in insulation should be pretty easy. To start, I am considering either an electric heater, such as this:

Although the specs on this one say up to 500 sq', the climate here's not that cold, plus all I really want it to do is get the space up to 55-60. The downside is the cost of electricity to run the unit.

Another option seems to be a non-vented propane heater (we do not have natural gas) like this one:

Pretty cheap, but I'd have to buy a 100# propane tank to go with it which adds cost, though operation is probably a lot less than the electric type. But I'm not sure I'm totally comfortable with using a non-vented propane heater.

I'm sure there are people here with experience heating a workshop. Any suggestions appreciated.

TIA

Dan

[bob kater]

So I assume you have no gas available so like me it was easier to buy a heat/cool window unit for my shop and insulate. 25 degrees this morning and

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It is using about 5,000 Watts per hour. If, like here in CT, you pay 17¢ a kW, it would cost you 85¢ an hour to run.

I use a non vented heater. It is OK and cheaper to run than anything electric in most areas. Non vented heaters put some water in the air too, but it has not been a problem for me. The one you suggest is also twice the output of the electric you are considering. You may want to also consider the Modine Hot Dawg. Starting at $479, it is more expensive, but it is vented.

Other considerations. How cold does it get where you are? I have temperatures below zero and that keeps me out of the shop with a 30,000 Btu heater that can't keep up. You are more moderate so the smaller units may work well. How much time will you use the shop? Two hours a week does not justify the same expense as 20 hours a week. Rather than buy a tank, your propane dealer may be willing to supply one if you buy his gas. I cook with propane and they supply the tanks. My gas cost is about $180 a year.

[Dan]

Thanks for the reply Bob. Don't really need the AC too much here, even for me, one who despises heat/humidity ;-) The refrig idea is a good one.

Dan

[Dan]

Yeah, it's not really all that much, even less here in fact, about $.08/KWH, due to the fact the area gets 80%+ of its volts from hydro.

I think this is the way to go, especially if I can find a similarly sized heater for a bit less...

Thanks for the reply.

Dan

[Howard]

If the doors are reasonably sealed and the walls insulated you should try a portable electric heater. For safety reasons I use an OIL FILLED electric heater (no hot element, cost about $40 to buy and about 20 cents an hour). With a reasonable amount of lights, and your air cleaner operating, you have an additional 750 watts to add to the

1500 from the heater. Try that first, at little or no cost, and you might be satisfied on many winter days in Seattle. You can always add another heater if you need it.

regards

Howard

[terry]

Not sure what your cost of electricity is in Seattle. The heaters referred look a little elaborate (and expensive?) IMO for a home workshop. A Canadian company, Princess Auto, sell for example a 230 volt fan heater for around $85 to $100. It has thermostat knob and consumes

4,800 watts. It is basically an about one foot metal cube with a handle on top. I've seen them elsewhere described as a 'workshop heater'. They are often painted red or orange. You will need 230 volt wiring to a circuit breaker or fuse panel. Probably 10 AWG wiring (30 amps at 230 volts = 6900 watts.) from a 30 amp double pole circuit breaker. Plug them in for portability etc. Least ways that's how we do ours. Actually we have three such heaters; two old monsters (cotton covered cords and big plugs!) at 3500 watts each and one of the workshop type above which was given to us with a defective fan. Some jiggery pokery inside the grounded metal case involving a powerful 115 volt fan and a voltage dropping circuit has repaired that one. Probably cost you somewhere from 50 cents to a dollar per hour for electricity to run one of the 4800 watt heaters? So, probably OK for occasional use?.

[terry]

Hey. Propane, flames, garage, car, gasoline, home insurance, family safety ................ surely not. Be careful.

[Mark]

Walls are currently uninsulated, but adding blown in insulation

Why don't you do that first, then you can decide if you still need a heater.

Mark

[Phisherman]

You could burn unwanted wood. There are small iron stoves that don't take up much room and put out quite a bit of heat. I have seen one auto-mechanic garage burner made from an oil drum that vented to the outside and it worked well. The downside is that you don't have instant ON/OFF like with electric. With the proper setup it can be safe.

[Lou]

For my attatched garage, I ran a couple of ducts from the main ductwork of my house furnace to different parts of the garage walls just above the foundation walls. No air returns, you don't want the fumes coming into the house. No cost for another heater. No extra cost from my furnace because the thermastat is in the house. It doesn't get hot, but sweat shirt comfortable. Lou

[Edwin Pawlowski]

But since he has a car in there, it would be a violation of fire codes to have a solid fueled heater in an attached garage. It is a danger in an unattached garage, but I'm not sure of the code. Those embers stay hot enough to ignite gas for many hours after you stop feeding it and it sucks combustion air from the garage.

[Cshenk]

"Phisherman" wrote

I like that idea. If I were in that situation, I'd be looking for a small 'Ben Franklin stove' (pot bellied stove) for my garage size. I use my fireplace in winter to augment the heating so have plenty of wood for the occasional need.

[Red]

My house was built to code (back in the 70's) and has an attached garage with a NG water heater, with pilot, in one corner. The only warning was not to store gas containers in the garage, but cars were ok.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

NG is considered OK. Solid fuel is not. Most likely, the heater is about

18' off the ground also.

[nicksanspam]

Bzzzt. Wrong units. Try again? :-)

Nick

[Bob F]

Any wood stove would have to be "EPA certified" to be legal.

Bob

[Bob F]

Cheap baseboard heaters, or even a few portable heaters would work also with sufficient wiring. 3 1500 watt portable heaters would be close to that unit, if it's only for occasional use. Insulating will definately help.

Bob

[J.A. Michel]

My shop/garage is 800 SQFT, insulated to R-19 in the walls (2x6) and R-38 in the ceiling. I also have insulated garage doors. I heat with a simple

30,000 BTU flame thrower bazooka type heater. noisy, but it heats the heck out of my shop. I use it with a 100 pound propane tank. I run it 'till it's 60 or 65, then turn it off. Of course I'd like a more permanent heating solution, but I'm not out there enough to justify the cost. HTH.

[HerHusband]

I live down near Portland and have a 24'x28' garage (672 sq/ft). I have

9.5' ceilings, R19 in the walls and ceiling, and two insulated 8' garage doors (no windows).

I use an electric "Hot One" heater that I picked up from Home Depot several years ago:

The usual recommendation is 10 watts per sq/ft, but my 4000 watt Hot One does a nice job of heating up my garage, even though it's undersized for the space I have. It'll rarely gets below 40 in the garage without the heater, and I can usually warm it up to 65 or so within an hour. Any warmer than that and it starts getting a little uncomfortable to work, even without a coat.

If one heater isn't sufficient to heat your space, you could always add a second heater (for 8000 watts total). I think Cadet also makes a 5000 watt model now too which may work better for you.

You can mount the Hot One to a wall if you wish, but I just set mine on the floor like a small space heater, then store it out of the way when I'm not using it (summer time).

On a different note, unless you install a nice dust collection system, you'll probably end up with sawdust all over your garage. Something to consider if you plan to park the car in there while woodworking. A wall between the woodworking area and the car parking area would reduce your heating requirements and minimize the dust that gets on the car. Something to consider.

Take care,

Anthony