Looking for some advice for the cold northern woodworks in the group.
Fall is just around the corner and after that winter. I've spent all summer outfitting my shop and am looking forward to spending all winter freezing out there! I'm currently in one half of an attached garage, a car will be in the other half. The winters here in Calgary are semi-mild, we get huge temperature fluctuations for our chinook winds (say 20 C in the course of a day). The garage is insulated, but does not have a heater. From the past year (when I insulated), I found that the garage can be somewhat comfortable even on the very cold days of the year.
Whithout spending the big bucks to get a gas heater installed what other options do I have?
I don't recall where I read about this, but I think it might have been an issue of "Fine Woodworking".
I live in Sanoran Desert of Arizona, so "heat" is not something about which we have a lot of concern. The opposite is true. "How do we keep from burning up?"
The system used fueled by sawdust, shavings, small wood scraps from the wood shop. If you can imagine a large cannister, with a six inch hole cut and centered in both the top and bottom. My recollection was that the "cannister" was approximately two feet in diameter, perhaps five feet tall. The top was removable, so one could load the fuel. In the center a pipe was inserted into the bottom hole, then fuel was loaded and packed around it. The pipe could be anything from stove pipe to PVC, just something which would not collapse from the fuel and the packing pressure.
When the cannister was full, the "PVC" pipe was removed. This left a perfect hole right through the middle. The top was secured. A stove pipe attached to the top vented through the ceiling, (the longer the better to allow heat transfer). The "cannister" sat on legs which allowed air to flow. Then the fire was lit from the hole in the bottom, and it burned from the inside, and of course, the combustion was the heat source.
My recollection is that the thing burned for about three or four days. You would want to put in all kinds of safty precautions, to prevent fire.., like making sure that there were no "open ports" from which sparks could escape into the shop. Two or three cannisters were used, so that while one was buring the others could be loaded.
I don't know if this helps, but I was impressed with the idea. If this would stand up with today's rigid regulations, I have no idea. But if it was me who needed heat for my shop.., I think I could devise a system which would be both safe and dispose of my waste, while warming my shop.
When I was in my 12x26 garage stall I walled it in and insulated it and had intentions of going the Modine Hotdawg route, While we were drywalling and painting I confiscated the oil filled radiator space heater from the basenment rec room as evening were already getting chilly. Never found a reason to replace it. In our WI winters it would keep that shop toasty warm and it was a safe method of heat around sawdust. All told $38 US and the electric bill went up about $15 keeping at at 55 all the time.
| Whithout spending the big bucks to get a gas heater installed what | other options do I have?
If one of the walls faces south, build vertical solar heating panels. I'm not familiar with your Calgary weather, but it worked well for me in Minnesota where the coldest weather was accompanied by clear skies.
I agree with "Knothead". I have a well insulated loft with no central heat for a workshop. I use one oil filled radiant electric heater to bring it up to about 55 deg. After I turn on the lights, dust collector and any tools its fine. I'm sure you have weather sealed your garage door well to keep the heat in. Don't underestimate the heat produced by all those lights and motors. In the end its the same as an electric heater of the same wattage, all that power ends up as heat.
I have used a kerosene heater with quite a bit of success. I also supplement it, or replace it on milder days with a small electric cube heater (pretty effective). However, I suspect the price of kero is going up too.
At a previous address I installed a recycled forced air furnance that cost very little. I purchased it second-hand from a fellow that had just done a remodel ($25). It was a down-draft heater and a neighbor welded a stand that raised it above the floor about 1 foot. Flue installation was easy in the open-ceiling shed. The biggest challenge was plumbing in gas. The whole system was very economical to install and use - and VERY effective in the small shop.
By comparison, I live in south central Kansas. Our lowest winter temperatures are usually above zero. Occasionally lower. However, we get a lot of wind.
Solar heat from south facing windows can help a bunch and a woodstove can work well also. Here's a group that's well worth joining if you are thinking of wood heat.
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to message # search and put in #1 or #2 for the 'How to' stuff. Sam
depot sells a similar unit approx $60 to $80 Cdn.
240 v, 20 amp ?, 4000 Watt ? don't remember exactly. About a foot cubed in size. Just called construction heaters around here.
I use one to heat a 12 x 20 shed in Manitoba. I'm building a house at the lake, weekends/holidays. Summer and Winter. Lived and slept in the shed at -40 Deg temps.
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heat. :) :) :) :) :) You know those guys have spent a lot of quality time in the bush during the winter. Ever hear the expression "Freeze the nuts off a bridge"
I know it's not the cheapest way to go.. but, I'm planning on running tubing thru the floor and using solar heated water to heat, or partially heat, the shop.. and house. The collectors are the only real expense.. and, some places offer rebates to upgrade. Don't remember what the payback was on the one I installed about 25 years ago.. but, it sure worked well..even on cloudy/overcast days.
Several: 1) a "little bucks" gas heater 2) a "non-gas" heater 3) "live with it" as is.
*GRIN*
Seriously --- solar electric self-contained -- combustion or "catalytic" kerosene propane fuel oil
Primary issue is 'how much' heat energy you need to provide. Question 1 is how much it takes to keep things at the desired temperature. (this is a measure of how good the insulation "isn't" :) Question 2 is how fast you want to be able to warm the place up, from whatever temperature you let it get down to, inside the garage. 3 hours of 'warm up' time calls for a smaller heater than a 30-minute requirement.
There are heating/air-conditioning guides/worksheets available on the Internet that will help you figure out sizing -- in terms of BTU/hr requirements. then you select the type of unit that delivers that qty of heat at a price you can afford. :)
Are all the equipment necessary to provide an endless supply of heat here in New England. An experienced woodworker further North might not be able to cope, however.
[snip] I can remember (only a year and a half ago) doing a glue up on a smallish project and having an electric heater sitting on the workbench doing its best to keep the glue and my fingers from freezing. Epiphany time folks. WTF am I doing? Went for a 40K BTU Reznor (gas). Made the hobby doable again. Worth 300 bucks? Ayup. mahalo, jo4hn
50° Fahrenheit (10°C) --- Californians shiver uncontrollably, Canadians plant gardens.
35° Fahrenheit (1.6°C) --- Italian cars won't start, Canadians drive with the windows down.
32° Fahrenheit (0°C) --- American water freezes, Canadian water gets thicker.
0° Fahrenheit (-17.9°C) --- New York City landlords finally turn on the heat, Canadians have the last barbecue of the season.
-60° Fahrenheit (-51°C) --- Mt. St. Helens freezes, Canadians Girl Guides sell cookies door to door.
-100° Fahrenheit (-73°C) --- Santa Claus abandons the North Pole, Ottawa opens the Rideau canal for skating.
-173° Fahrenheit (-114°C) --- Ethyl alcohol freezes, Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg.
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