Winter's on it's way- any tips for heating a garage-type shop?

Hello all,

My shop is a 20'X24' garage with two insulated walls, and no isulation in the ceiling. I live in Western Wisconsin, so it gets colder than a mother-*$&%#$ out here. I'd like to find a semi-portable method of heating my shop so that I don't have to stop working all winter. The building is a rental, so I'm hesitant to install a big heater that is going to be too tough to take with when my wife and I buy a house (probably next spring). The shop has a chimney (though I have no idea why) so I may be able to use that for a vented heater.

I only need it to be heated to, say 50 degrees or so, just enough to keep me from freezing solid, but I want the heat to be relatively safe, and to try and keep my tools from rusting when I heat the building up (It will only be heated whn I'm working). Electiric heat is out, because the electrical service is not the best, and I don't want to trip the breakers every time I use a tool, so I think I'm going to need propane or a wood stove.

I've seen the tube-type "jet" heaters before, and they seem to work pretty well, but is there another type that may be safer to use around wood that would work? I can't say that money is not a limiting factor, but I'm willing to invest in the right tool for the job at hand. I'd love to insulate and sheetrock it, but the wife says no way, since I don't own the building and we intend to move fairly soon.

Thanks for any advice!

Reply to
Prometheus
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5000 watt shop heaters are less than $50 and tiny (a foot square) and simply require a 220 30 amp circuit. It's pretty easy to run a cord to power the thing. Might not be legal but contractors do it.
Reply to
carson

But he said the electric supply is questionable.

5000 watts = 17,000 Btu. (it needs 21 amps at 230V) Not enough to keep that size building warm in very cold weather. I have a slightly smaller, partially insulated garage. When the temperature is in the teens, the 30,000 Btu propane heater is not enough. You can get larger units for not a lot more money. That would be my choice today, probably the 80,000.

Other option is a wood burner. That assumes the chimney is in good shape and you have a decent supply of wood to feed it. The heat is not as instant as propane as you have to get the fire going and get that hunk of metal up to temperature. There could be a 30 to 60 minute lag to reasonable comfort. Long wait if you just want to putter in the shop for an hour after dinner. Even with my propane heater, at times I have to wait 15 to 30 minutes until it is bearable out there.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I think he was referring to his 110 not 220. If he has an electric clothes dryer he has the juice

How warm is warm. It should maintain 50 during the day.

Can void insurance, messy and in many places illegal.

Reply to
carson

I have a similar situation with a 30,000 Btu heater. It will NOT maintain

50 during the day in CT. He is in Wisconsin with similar climate. I can get a 20 to 25 degree temperature rise. When it is 5 degrees outside, it is not going to be 50 inside. If you live in a mild climate, it will be plenty. WI is not all that mild.

In addition, when you leave the space unheated for a long time, you lose the latent heat. It takes a very long time to re-build than especially with the mass of some of the heavy tools.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

As in "water vapor"?

That sounds like "sensible" vs "latent" heat.

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

He said the ceiling was uninsulated. I would bite the bullet and stick some 6" batts in the ceiling. You can always take them with you when you leave. Get 5 4x8 sheets of the rigid insulation they put on flat roofs under T&G. Stand this up across the uninsulated front side of the garage. For under $300 you have an insulated room. You could even do the ceiling with this rigid stuff. It's actually pretty cheap for about R18. About a third of the price of the pink or blue stuff at the Borg.

Reply to
carson

:cjpjsi$ snipped-for-privacy@acadia.ece.villanova.edu...

Correct.

A tablesaw can absorb one heck of a lot of heat as it ices up on a really cold day. Takes forever to get the room warm enough to work.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

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