Shop Heat Update

Posted the other day about my Mr Buddy heater for my shop. Today was the first I'd even used it for several days, and the longest I've used it so far.

Unfortunately I forgot to check the exact tem pin the shop when I got out there. It was well below 40 F, that's all I can say. Cranked the heater up, and the temp had gone up several degrees within the first

5 minutes. Those plastic strips I have hanging from the doorway really help. I was only out there long enough to do a bit of measuring, and drilling 4 pilot holes. Then I discovered that I apparently did not have the drill size I neeed for the final hole sizes. Didn't take note of how long I was in the shop either, I haven't worn a wristwatch in probably 12 years minmum, and the battery in the shop clock died years ago. It wasn't an extended time out there tho, and when I left the temp reading was right at 50 F. This was also the first trail run after I lowered the heater. Now it's a bit below head level when standing, and just a bit above head level when I'm sitting. That positioning helped comfort level a lot.

The only down side was my smoke alarm went off a few minutes after lighting the heater, and I had to unplug the battery. I think the smoke alarm is screwed up anyway, because some time back it took to beeping every little bit, and it beeps loud. I can hear the damn thing with the shop locked, and me out in the yard not even real close to it.

The Mr Buddy heater fits my needs a lot better than anything I've tried so far, but on the other hand, my shop is only 3X12'. Plus, I usually do my gluiups in the house anyway, so I think it'll work out well for me.

JOAT You can't always judge by appearances, the early bird may have been up all night.

Reply to
J T
Loading thread data ...

40! ahhhhh...

It was 4F when I went to work yesterday.

Reply to
Bonehenge (B A R R Y)

That usually indicates that the battery is low and needs to be changed.

Reply to
efgh

I use the big buddy heater for an upstairs room (17x12) in my shop, if the temp is 40 it takes about a half hour to heat to 50. When I use the room fan I can get it to about 60 in about an hour and a half. IN the downstairs (garage/shop) I use a propane fired torpedo heater and that doesn't take but a half hour to raise the temp to a comfortable working temp. The garage is

35 X 35, once I get the downstairs heated the upstairs stays relativly warm just about all day. I should really insulate the garage but that takes more money than I can afford yet.I would have to put up studs to the block then insulate it. I figure when I get the new doors it should be a little warmer since the old wooden doors are more like screens!

The garage is heated by radiators fueled by an oil furnace, but with the price of oil these days its cheaper for me to use propane, for 150.00 in propane I can heat the whole building as needed all season long! I do have to crank up the furnace on nights I'm afraid of a deep freeze though.

SD

Reply to
SHOPDOG

It was -7F when I went to work this morning.

Reply to
efgh

Sat, Jan 5, 2008, 12:54am (EST+5) snipped-for-privacy@abcd.com (efgh) doth sayeth: That usually indicates that the battery is low and needs to be changed.

You sure? It's only been out there 3-4 years.

JOAT You can't always judge by appearances, the early bird may have been up all night.

Reply to
J T

It was about 40 when I left for work this morning. I opened the office window when I got home, but had to close it when the sun went down.

Oh, got to pick a bowl full of oranges today also.

Reply to
Mark & Juanita

So why did you need a heater? That's tennis in shorts weather....

Reply to
Jeff

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (J T) wrote in news:1040-477EEA0A-2868 @storefull-3333.bay.webtv.net:

4 years is the max I'd ever want to see an alkaline battery (or any other standard battery) left in something. They *do* leak and they *do* corrode. Eventually, you'll want to use the thing again and have to clean off the corrosion. (For parts, if nothing else.)

YMMV, of course.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

"SHOPDOG" wrote in news:BEAfj.22$LL6.4@trndny06:

I don't have any real numbers, but insulation makes a HUGE difference. Your heating costs will drop with insulated buildings, and you'll not have to worry as much about a deep freeze. That being said, our uninsulated and unheated pole barn was only about 25 degrees F when outside it was 0 F. (I didn't take measurements, just went by feel.)

There's very few things you "can't afford not to miss" (as the TV commercials put it.) Insulating is one of them, however. I enjoy my insulated and warm buildings. :-)

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

Whenever my smoke detectors start to beep, replacing the battery always makes it stop.

Reply to
efgh

This morning when I went to pick up the newspaper, I noticed that it was raining cats and dogs. I know that because I stepped into a poodle. Har, har, har, har, pant, phew, that was a ribald corker. throb, jo4hn

[old joke alert]
Reply to
jo4hn

Smoke detectors also go bad after 10 years or so. One failure mode is not detecting smoke. Another is going off at random times between 3 and 3:30am, never during the day! Both are equally bad!

I just replaced all 11 of the suckers in my house.

Reply to
Mike McDonald

Nope, that's Nanuk of the North weather. Time to break out the fur parkas!

Soon it'll be time to worry about cooling the shop. (Why is it that all the books are on how to heat your shop and none on how to cool it?) Before long, it'll be 95 in the shop at 10:30 in the morning!

Reply to
Mike McDonald

Considering they recommend changing the batteries in smoke detectors in your home twice a year... yes.

Reply to
Brian Henderson

Insulation works ;-)

I heated an 8x10 aluminum siding over wood frame building with a 1250 watt electric heater (fan + radiant) for years. The walls had 3.5" of insulation; the ceiling had 6" or 8". The gaps between the sections were caulked as were the door and window frames. This was in Atlanta, and used mostly in the evening with typical winter lows in the range of 25-35F. I would go out and push the wall thermostat up, go back in the house to eat supper, then go out to a reasonably warm (55-60+) workshop. The thermostat had an "almost off" position that was around

35F - just warm enough to keep things from freezing.

In the summer, I cooled it with a 5000 btu window air conditioner - the ancient (30+ years) Sears A/C was still working when I sold the property several years ago.

Even old garage doors do better with weatherstrip around the sides and top. I added that to the "boat door" in the basement and raised the temperature in that area by 10F or more. The house is 30+ years old and the previous owners did nothing to seal the gaps. I've gone through a lot of caulk, weatherstrip, insulation, etc. - but have utility bills that show the improvements: $20 of caulk and weatherstrip made $20 difference in gas for heating from one month to the next. That's instant payback ;-)

John

Reply to
John

John wrote in news:kk00o3tepad62a5o9oflre7pttt7tc668s@

4ax.com:

When you get most the big drafts found, get an infrared thermometer and start measuring temperatures around things. It'll show you the cold spots. I found some spots around the AC unit where the temperature was reading almost freezing in the shop building... It warmed up about 5 degrees in there when I took the AC unit out of the window and closed it.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

Fri, Jan 4, 2008, 7:53pm snipped-for-privacy@DunderMifflin.com (Bonehenge=A0(B=A0A=A0R=A0R=A0Y)) DOTH SAYETH: It was 4F when I went to work yesterday.

Around here it doesn't even get that cold in my freezer. Hehehe

JOAT You can't always judge by appearances, the early bird may have been up all night.

Reply to
J T

Just a comment but I've got a 25x25 garage, currently partially insulated (yeah, I know, but right now I need to work in it and I need to fix the roof before I do anything permanent inside that's likely to get destroyed when the roof leaks all over it, which is what happened to the rest of the insulation, and the ceiling). I've got three heaters in it--one of those 1500 watt electric radiator-looking thingies, an Aladdine kerosene heater, and a 30,000-80,000 BTU propane heater from Home Despot. Going full blast the three together will keep it above 70 with the temperature down to -1F outside. If I go out into the garage and the temperature outside is 20, light the propane heater and turn it up, then light the Aladdin, by the time the Aladdin is lit the temperature in in the mid 60s and it will go to the

80s if I don't turn the propane down. Once the temperature's up I turn the propane heater down and go with the electric and the Aladdin (the propane heater will go through 30 bucks worth of propane in a day if I let it) then the temperature will generally stay reasonable--I leave the propane heater on pilot and if I get uncomfortable I'll turn it up a bit. Downside is that while I can adjust it to a pretty low flame, if it's turned down too far it smokes.

The propane heater will go through a couple of 20 pound tanks (it needs two connected to maintain full power) in a couple of days, the Aladdin uses a half a gallon or so of kerosene a day, the electric just consumes its 1500 watts steadily.

I wouldn't have gotten the propane heater at all but I called all over town and nobody seemed to have kerosene anymore except Home Despot for

7 bucks a gallon. Of course as soon as I got the propane heater hooked up I filled up at a gas station that I don't usually frequent and they had a kerosene pump (blasted Connecticut phone books--there's a separate one for every middlesex, village and farm and apparently I missed one)--in retrospect I'm glad to have it--it's _nice_ to be able to work really warm if I want to.
Reply to
J. Clarke

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.