Turn heat down in shop ?

[Hilltop Cycle ATV]

I just intalled a radiant ceiling heat in my 24X40 shop. It is a 60,000 BTU unit 20 feet long. Now, I have a question for some anal heat conservative individuals . What will be the most economical way of regulating the heat in this shop ? It is well insulated and has 12 ft ceilings. Now, I work from

7:30 in the morning until 3:30 afternoon . I usually go out to the shop 3-4 times a week or more. I know that radiant heat actually heats objects not the air. So, would it be more efficient to actually turn the heat way down like say 50 degrees when I am not in there and turn it up to 65 degrees when I go into the shop to work ? Leave it on 65 or split the difference ? I am looking to someone that has done alot of research on this . Thanks so Much, Raz

[SQLit]

I grew up in a house with radiant heat in the ceilings. We had a stat in every room. Long before set backs and the like. Mom would go around and turn down the temps in the bedrooms 1-2 hours before we went to sleep. Lowered the down stairs 5-7 degrees. When Dad got up in the mornings 4 am. He would bump the stat in the bathroom, the bedrooms, the dinning room and kitchen. On really cold days it was still cool in the bathroom when I got up 6 am ish.

My utility says if you can lower/raise the temp > 5 degrees for more than 8 hours you can save 10%.

Check with your local utility they should have all of the facts and figures you need.

[Joseph Meehan]

In that situation you have two considerations. Your comfort and the protection of materials and tools.

I would think that for you, you could turn it way down or off when you leave and they turn it back up when you are in the shop. That would save the most energy. However it might impact materials and tools. The change in temperatures could cause condensation problems create havoc with wood and some other materials you might want to do fine work on, certainly cause problems painting. Some tools also might be adversely effected by the changes in temperature.

If you feel your tools and materials would not be a problem, try different setbacks until you find out how low you can set it back and not make yourself uncomfortable. You should not have the problem some heating systems would have loosing efficiency with large set backs.,

[Hilltop Cycle ATV]

While monitoring the thermostat vs the thermometer I am getting around a 5-6 degree swing in temp. Say I have the thermostat on 65 degrees , it will shut off at 65 degrees but won't turn back on until around 59-60 degrees . Do all thermostats have this big of a swing ? Or is this adjustable ? I was hoping for around 2-3 degrees before the heater kicks back on.

Thanks, Raz

[Joseph Meehan]

Hilltop Cycle ATV wrote: ..

The one I am using has less than 1º F sensitivity. 2º is not unusual.

[Bert]

Most do, depending on the t-stat you have, does the manual say anything?

Some have settings for "gas" & "water" heat types, that change the swing, water heat usually requires a wider swing then gas heat.

Also the thermometer you are reading has to be very near the 'stat to accurately reflect the room temp (& both have to be shielded from the heat source).

MikeB

[Hilltop Cycle ATV]

It is a Honeywell 120V line t-stat . It does say 3 degrees "comfort zone" , what the heck does that mean ? I would like one with a little closer swing. It did come with an allen wrench and a couple of little tabs. It doesn't mention anything about these in the directions. Is this to adjust the swing ?

Just wondering if this isn't working properly or if this is as close as it is suppose to work.

Thanks, Raz

[Joseph Meehan]

It would appear that it is working as designed.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle

A Setting of 65 degree F and then cutting back in at 59 or 60 degrees F is very much not acceptiable. This would be a 10 degree swing. You have something really wrong with the thermostat or the system to have a 10 degree swing. Normal is a 3 degree swing at most.

When set on 65 degree F and a 3 degree swing it should cut on at 63.5 degree f and cut off at 66.5 degree f. . this should be the widest band you would like to be. A Swing of 10 degrees is off the chart.

TURTLE