Controlled climate for your storage space?

[Carl Beckett]

Over in the Neander forum, Jim Koepke shares his experience with rod heaters:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?173926-My-Thoughts-on-Rod-Dehumidifiers
(http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?173926-My-Thoughts-on-Rod-Dehumidifiers)

Which got me to thinking: Why not control your cabinet environment where you store tools? I have a bunch of router bits, hand planes, squares, etc etc - all stored in a common set of cabinets, and much of these I built custom for the purpose. But given I have a split shop setup (some unheated, some 'partially heated' as an attached garage space, my tools DO condense and have problems as the seasons change.

So the thought is - I should have built the cabinets with a little insulation, and put in a temp control device (was thinking more along the lines of the under the floor thermostat controlled heaters, vs rod heaters).

I certainly have enough time/energy/expense into the tools themselves, to warrant a few $ giving them a safe storage space.

Any thoughts?

(not intending to hijack Jims thread, so move/delete if appropriate/redundant)

[Neil Brooks]

Depending on the size of box you want/need ... you can rig up a pretty cheap and effective thermostatically controlled .... light bulb ... protected with a plastic/metal "safety cage."

Some keep their finishing supplies from freezing this way.....

[Carl Beckett]

Indeed Neil. But I personally dont trust the safety of light bulb heat sources due to high surface temperatures - prefer the convenience of elements designed with max surface temp in mind (such as the under floor heaters - already UL tested/approved for such a use)

[Steve Kohn]

Interesting idea. I also have a bank of shop drawers against an outside wall that could benefit from such a system. Do you have a link or a source to buy them from?

[Carl Beckett]

Steve - just do a search for 'under floor electric heat'. Or anything similar to this and you will get a lot of hits. Usually sold in large rolls for big rooms, but I know the big box stores have bathroom kits - so just check out one of those.

Another option might be automotive after market heated seat kits. I have bought these cheaply in the past, but the thermostat is permanently set to a higher temp than what I would want for a toolbox. Also a lot of 'mat' heaters available but again it would be a question of thermostat setting.

Capacity sizing would be determined by how well things are insulated and amount of heat loss, which should be extremely low compared to what is needed for under a floor (where you are heating the entire room).

Check out Jim's thread on the rod heaters - another option.

[ian maybury]

Some heat in winter is definitely essential in workshop to avoid condensation problems - the chances are that unless your climate is very benign that sooner or later you will get caught by a cold snap (that drops the temperature of everything), followed by warmer more humid air moving in so fast that your machines and tools are left well below the dew point.

To state what you probably all know already - controlling humidity to a pre-determined set point is a different matter. Heating of the air in the shop to the appropriate temperature is often enough in winter to drop the %RH (which determines the equilibrium moisture content of your wood) to where you need to be (it may drop it too much in very frosty climates, and require humidification to get back), but proper refrigeration driven de-humidifcation is often required (at least for periods) in the Summer....

ian