Shop Heat

[oldblueoval]

May finally get to build my new shop this year. 12 ft. ceilings, 28 ft. by 30 ft. work area. Heat and A/C. What are opinions on shop heat. was thinking radiant tube. Can't put it in the floor, using existing concrete from old barn. Thanks!![

 

[Sam_Fear]

It really depends on where you're at and how you plan to use your shop - if you plan to keep it a constant temp, or turn it up only when you're in it. Guys in Canada will have a different view of what's best compared to those in Alabama. The shop at work has both radiant and forced air. When I come in to warm up, I prefer to stand under the forced air because it's a less intense, more even heat. The radiant is real hot where you face it, but cold on the backside - like standing next to a campfire. I realize coming in to warm up is different than working inside.

My shop at home has forced air. I keep it at about 35˚F and turn it up to 50˚ when I'm in it. Works for me. I'm pretty sure I'd be annoyed with radiant heat using it like that.

I do have closed cell sprayed insulation - $6,000 for a 30x45x14. Worth the money IMO.

 

[MercuryMac]

I have forced air heating from an old house furnace and six inches of pink insulation in all of the walls and roof. [It's an archrib shop]. I keep the temperature at about 50 F.

 

[RPM]

We have one of these in our shop, and have a digital thermostat. It works great and keeps things warm enough to work in a t shirt, no matter how cold outside.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200577751_200577751

 

[21willys]

We have one of these in our shop, and have a digital thermostat. It works great and keeps things warm enough to work in a t shirt, no matter how cold outside.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200577751_200577751

How expensive is it to operate on the cold days?



I have access to lots of firewood and I'm not in my shop all the time so I use a wood stove that has a oil dripper tube. I start a wood fire then start dripping oil in. The wood last a long time this way and it gets the stove very toasty. It takes awhile to warm the shop when it's real cold tho.

 

[billy]

For a while I used a 300,000btu salamander heater
Ran on diesel
It stunk when I lit it and when I turned it off
But good gravy did it ever heat!
At zero degrees in about five minutes my 30x30 shop would be 80 f

 

[kenny c]

I have a 30x 50 main building wuth a 16x50 addition. I use a forced hot air furnac on home heating oil. I use that to keep the tempurature at 45 degrees or so when not in the shop and turn it up to 60 when I come in to work. I also have a fireplace insert that I welded legs onto that I burn pit oil in with a drip system that I use only while in the shop. It will maintain the temp in the garage as long as it is above ten degrees and I don't open the doors.

 

[62ChevyII]

No matter what you use to generate the heat, insulation is critical to keep costs down. The better you insulate it the easier it is to control the temp. My 36x48 garage stays fairly cool on hot days and is pretty easy to heat on cold days because I insulated it fairly well and made it pretty well sealed up. I have my old house furnace that runs off natural gas and it will heat the garage in a hurry.

 

[Old Iron]

I installed an electric furnace and hung it horizontally from the metal roof perlins in my shop and have never regretted it.
It surprised me how little it costs to heat my 30x40 12 foot wall shop to a constant 55 degrees during the winter.
Any warmer and you'll sweat while working.
Added bonus is there isn't an open flame to blow up the building because of fumes.
My stuff is way too valuable to me to use a questionable heating source.
This is a pic of a friend of mines shop after it burnt due to shoddy workmanship. There was a brand new Harley Fatboy in it also

 

[oldblueoval]

Thanks everybody, guess I didnt take into consideration the limited amount of time most guys get in a home shop and how long radiant heat will take to warm it up. The one from Northern is similar to what the local HVAC guy sells, guy I know has on in his shop, gonna talk to him about cost and how well he likes it. Thanks again[

 

[RPM]

How expensive is it to operate on the cold days?



I have access to lots of firewood and I'm not in my shop all the time so I use a wood stove that has a oil dripper tube. I start a wood fire then start dripping oil in. The wood last a long time this way and it gets the stove very toasty. It takes awhile to warm the shop when it's real cold tho.

We heat 1200 sq ft to work in. The roof has a lot of insulation in it. The walls have no insulation at all. Dec, Jan, and Feb when the bill is the highest about $150.00. The building is heated 24-7. At 7am the thermostat goes to 72 degress, then at 5pm it goes to 45 for night.

The best part is it is clean and quiet and has no odor to it.

 

[21willys]

Rpm that's not bad at all. I need to do some research.

 

[OddRodsGarage]

May finally get to build my new shop this year. 12 ft. ceilings, 28 ft. by 30 ft. work area. Heat and A/C. What are opinions on shop heat. was thinking radiant tube. Can't put it in the floor, using existing concrete from old barn. Thanks!![

Old blue ,
It sure would help to know where you live, what sources do have for an energy source ? Wood , Natural Gas , electricity , propane ? If you are on a large dairy farm hell you could use methane .

I have radiant in the floor and I suggest that if their is anyway possible you do the same . I have been around a LOT of heat sources and have never had the comfort of radiant , if your feet are warm so is the rest of you and you heat with less energy . I use an outdoor wood furnace .

As others have said ...INSULATION .. use lots of it ...correctly ...

I also have natural gas here and if you can believe it it is cheaper than wood right now I keep one 30x60 pole barn @65 degrees for about $35 a month and I also have a small green house in there

FYI ... it was 30 below here this AM
Oldog

 

[OddRodsGarage]

We have one of these in our shop, and have a digital thermostat. It works great and keeps things warm enough to work in a t shirt, no matter how cold outside.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200577751_200577751

That is a nice heater R man and the thermostat ....[cl

 

[PA41]

Old blue ,


I have radiant in the floor and I suggest that if their is anyway possible you do the same . I have been around a LOT of heat sources and have never had the comfort of radiant , if your feet are warm so is the rest of you and you heat with less energy . I use an outdoor wood furnace .

I'm getting going on a new shop and have been considering the Pex tubing in the slab system. The up front $ is high, but it's real comfortable heat. I'm not sure I need to insulate under the slab here. Arkansas is not that cold in the winter. Anyone have experience with it? Any recommendations?

 

[Old Iron]

You definitely want to insulate between the ground and the tubing. It's called a thermal short and the system will lose efficiency.
I used to build shops for others and the one here is Eagle Machine,s new shop that is ground source floor heat.

 

[Threewheelin]

Pex in floor

My 21x 40 addition on my garage is going to be insulated around perimeter with 2 in, then 1 in at 4ft in .the center of the slab will not be insulated as it is cold in NY and the reason it won't be insulated is because you wont get thermal spikes when changing the temperature it won't fluctuate like it would if the whole slab was insulated on bottom .Would work for you in Ark.for cooling whole slab in the summer .Just a thought .

 

[Old Iron]

I replaced my old electric furnace with a new electric furnace. It ran me just a hair over $100 last month with the digital stat set at 65 degrees. Perrrrrfect