How do you Heat your Shop?

[Brian Kent]

How do you Heat (or cool) your Shop?

Even here in Sunny Southern California working in an attached garage, I'm thinking ahead to a safe heating and cooling unit. The inside shop temperature varies from about 45° to 100°. I can wear extra layers in the winter

What do you do to heat your shop in the really cold parts of the country?

Stay warm.

Brian

[Mark Carlson]

I'm in southern CA, and use a radiant heater (link below). It removes the chill pretty quickly. I dont do anything for cooling.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=44590&cat=1,43456,43465,44590 (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=44590&cat=1,43456,43465,44590)

[Dave Richards]

Maybe overkill for you but I have a Hot Dawg (http://www.modinehvac.com/web/Hot-Dawg.htm#.UqXxdmS09U4) natural gas fired heater. You could probably manage with the smallest one they sell.

[Brian Kent]

Do you keep a fire extinguisher next to it? I can't believe the sample photo has a radiant heater right over a lathe! What about flying curlies???
Maybe a few feet over to the right.

[Dave Cullen]

In my basement workshop I have a portable electric heater that plugs into a 220V dryer outlet. Enough to take the chill out and limitless (tho not cheap) fuel. Glad you asked though - I've considered using a propane heater to get the shop up to temp quicker, and I'm curious if anyone else uses them:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dyna-Glo-15k-LP-Single-Tank-Top-Infrared-Heater-CSA-TT15CDGP/202895385?N=%2FNtk-All%2FNtt-propane%252Bheater

[Doug Herzberg]

Brian, I have a Vogelzang boxwood stove and a radiant heater like Mark posted suspended over the lathe. I got the stove at HF and the radiant heater from Amazon for the same price as Lee Valley. The radiant heater is pretty good at heating the tool you're working on and you when you're in the line of fire, but it would take a long time to heat up the shop because of the way it works.

I've heated similar spaces with small thermostatically controlled forced air heaters I got at Grainger. http://www.grainger.com/search?searchQuery=space+heater A pair of 1500 watt heaters can maintain a 10 - 15 degree temperature increase in that size space. A lot depends on insulation and how many air leaks you have. Uninsulated garage doors leak air and radiate a lot heat to the outside.

[David Weaver]

Mine is halfway underground, surrounded by dirt on two sides, the house above and on one side, and a garage door in the front. If it's zero here, the shop will be 45 degrees usually at the coldest. I don't do anything for it other than take the glue-ups inside to a heated part of the house if it's that cold, and run a dehumidifier in the summer. It can be pretty stuffy and warm in the summer.

After putting a split system in another part of the house, if I ever decided to heat and cool the garage separately, I'd put in a split system without a doubt, but I'd install it myself. I'm really impressed with the efficiency of the newer split systems - unless it's extremely cold or extremely hot, they don't make the meter move much.

[John Downey]

Before the ceiling and insulation was done, I had to have a roaring fire in the woodstove

276666

Now that the interior is finished, those south windows keep the shop bright and warm most of the time. I still build a fire during cold snaps or if we have a couple overcast days in a row.

276667

For cooling, I'm lucky to be close to 7000' up, so just opening the windows and running a fan is enough to keep it comfortable. The roof projection is such that there is no direct sunlight into the building in the summer.

[Doug Herzberg]

Do you keep a fire extinguisher next to it? I can't believe the sample photo has a radiant heater right over a lathe! What about flying curlies???
Maybe a few feet over to the right.

Mine is directly over the area where I stand and hasn't been a problem. And yes, I keep a fire extinguisher close at hand. Curlies landing on and around the boxwood stove are a bigger issue but so far it's been all smoke, no fire. I keep a pretty close eye on that.

[Bill Bukovec]

I use a small wood burning stove theat I got free from a coworker .

It as about -7°F overnight. On Saturday it took about 5 hours to heat until it was 30°.

I stoked the fire and closed down the damper overnight.

Sunday I was able to get things toasty 10:00 am. I also use a propane fish house heater to supplment the wood fire when it's this cold.

I would have had the shop warmer on Saturday but my wife needed me the help her run errands. The "errands" cost me a new cell phone and a tablet at the Verizon store.

[Henry Kramer]

A natural gas horizontal furnace in the attic with flex ductwork to 4 ceiling vents. It doesn't take up any shop space and heats the garage up in no time. The best money that I ever spent.

[Peter Quinn]

I'm in a basement with 7' ceilings and a leaky wooden bilco enterance, old single pane windows, mostly below grade. I use a 22k btu kerosun kerosene heater in winter along with a few 1500w forced air electric units to take the chill out, and a radiant oil filed unit in a small spray room to keep the temp high enough for WB finishing. The machine part of the shop rarely gets much above 62 degrees, last winter I had a built in to spray and a stubborn cold spell, so I ran the kerosun in the spray room (10x10), got things thouroughly heated , then pulled the heater out to spray with the exhaust fan running, replaced the heater after spraying, then kicked on the radiant heater to maintain temp during flashing/curing. All very ramshackle, but cheap. I have a very large oil fired boiler and have plans to put in a forced air hot water zone in the basement, maybe this will be my year.

[Doug Herzberg]

I use a small wood burning stove theat I got free from a coworker .

It as about -7°F overnight. On Saturday it took about 5 hours to heat until it was 30°.

I stoked the fire and closed down the damper overnight.

Sunday I was able to get things toasty 10:00 am. I also use a propane fish house heater to supplment the wood fire when it's this cold.

I would have had the shop warmer on Saturday but my wife needed me the help her run errands. The "errands" cost me a new cell phone and a tablet at the Verizon store.

Below 10 degrees, I don't have a chance. It was 8 degrees the other morning and two loads of firewood later, it was 18. On the -17 degree day, I didn't even go out there.

[Lee Reep]

I empathize with anyone in an outdoor shop or garage shop. My shop is in the basement, and stays pretty constant in temperature year round. I block the vents mostly to keep the cold air out in the summertime when the AC is running.

When I grumble about lack of space -- both square footage and overhead space, I just have to walk out to the garage this time of year to turn on my compressor. It actually seems colder in the garage than outside, but I know it is just the shock of leaving a warm house and stepping out barefoot first thing in the morning onto the concrete floor.

Today it looks like the temperature is above zero -- it is 1 degree (F). Yesterday I fired up the compressor, and realized I had not drained it in maybe a week. No draining, the water in the bottom is frozen solid.

[Mark Carlson]

I do have a fire extinguisher handy and use the heater sparingly and unplug it when not in use. Its not something I'd leave on and then go get lunch.


Do you keep a fire extinguisher next to it? I can't believe the sample photo has a radiant heater right over a lathe! What about flying curlies???
Maybe a few feet over to the right.

[Bruce Page]

I did the portable kerosene and propane heater routine for several years. I finally installed a natural gas heater made by Sterling, (similar to the Hot Dawg by Modine). Total cost installed was ~ $500 IIRC. It’s one of the best shop investments that I have made.

[Brian Kent]

I assume with all kinds of gas stoves you have ventilation to the outside to avoid carbon monoxide?

[Doug W Swanson]

Here's what I use in my 24'x28' detached garage here in Chilly Minnesota:

http://www.radiantsystemsinc.com/

They are electric radiant heaters mounted up near the ceiling (think baseboard heaters but about 6" from the ceiling). I absolutely LOVE them. No worries about CO, leaking gas fuel, refilling, etc. Normally I keep my garage at about 45 degrees but when I go out there to work on my car or motorcycle, I can bump the heat up to 55 and it only takes about 20 minutes to get up to temp.

I LOVE them so much I put one in a basement bedroom just for some supplemental heat in the winter (rather than run more ductwork). I'm also going to use them when we finish our basement family room.

JMHO!

[Dick Brown]

I have an approved by EPA, DEQ, and maybe even the NSA wood stove that I bought to replace a "home built" one that my welding shop class built before I retired. Caught the guy asleep and bought it for $150 and sold the home built for $175. Doesn't heat a well as the home built one did but I changed for fear if I were to have a fire, whether caused by the stove or not, my insurance might not cover it with the non approved stove in there. My shop is fully insulated and sheet rocked so is easy to heat. Nice part about a wood stove is you never have any less then perfect projects leave your shop!!! Has been 0 or below the last few nights but by loading the stove in the evening, it will still be in the 40"s in the A.M. inside the shop. My woodworking skills must be improving. Have to go to the woodpile once in a while now!

[Mike Nguyen]

How do you Heat (or cool) your Shop?

Even here in Sunny Southern California working in an attached garage, I'm thinking ahead to a safe heating and cooling unit. The inside shop temperature varies from about 45° to 100°. I can wear extra layers in the winter

What do you do to heat your shop in the really cold parts of the country?

Stay warm.

Brian
I am in Irvine Southern CA and this morning my garage dipped down to 62 degrees. In the Winter, 60 is the coldest I've ever seen and I just use a portable heater for the winter and portable air conditioner and vent the hot air out through the air vent on the wall during the summer. Also I park the car inside the garage so the heat from the engine works great when I go out to work after diner.
Mike

[Bruce Page]

I assume with all kinds of gas stoves you have ventilation to the outside to avoid carbon monoxide?

Yes, it has a power vent through the roof, there are no fumes.

[Shawn Pixley]

No heat, no cool.

But for me, no problem

[Stan Mitchell]

5k watt electric ceiling mounted heater. There seems to be several brands that all look the same.

Granted, my shop area is only around 400sf, but when it was near zero outside this Saturday, I was wearing a t-shirt and quite comfy. :cool:

Summer? Here it's never hot enough to worry about.

No matter your location - insulation is key and makes a huge difference. R-30 minimum in walls and ceiling at my place.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

In my still partially in use old shop, the attached garage, I used an electric heater and left the door open to the house. In the new shop, I'm installing a forced air furnace and ac. It's been -10 to -30 F here for over a week, in the summer it's often 100+. Lots of insulation required in this area.

[Alan Bienlein]

I use a 30,000 btu propane heater.

[John Gregory]

I have had a Hot Dawg propane heater in my shop since 2002. I use portable tanks (30#) with a switch over regulator like they have on travel trailers. It has worked GREAT. My shop is stand alone, 20' X 20', 10 foot ceilings. R30 in the ceiling and R13 in the walls. I live in Utah where we are currently having an unusual cold period. the heater works extremely well. My estimated cost to heat my shop is $100 - $120 per season. Depending on use and weather.

[Rick Potter]

Hi Brian,

If you remember, my shop is fairly large, and I use a 240V space heater. In our weather, it cycles off about 2/3 of the time I have it on. The shop is insulated pretty well.

Rick Potter

[Matt Meiser]

Another Hot Dawg here closing in on 10 years real fast. Mine ran on propane about the first 5 or 6 years, NG since then.

[Myk Rian]

276684
17,500 watts heats the garage to 60º from 45º in about an hour.
Bought it several years ago from Greenhousesuperstore when the price was tolerable.
Was shipped by Grainger.

[Clay Fails]

When i build my shop 5 or 6 years ago, i had hydronic heating installed in the concrete floor. Best heating system i've ever been exposed to. A bit pricey, but perfect IMO for a workshop. Warm, clean, quiet, no air moving....nice. I have it set for 60 F and it's probably too warm at that temp. Plus the building is super insulated. I work in short sleeves and shorts all winter in Northwestern PA.

[John Zeitner]

I use an EPA wood stove to heat my 2000 square foot shop. Lately the outside temps have been from -15C to -25C. It takes a while to get the shop up to 20C but once it's there it doesn't take a lot to keep it warm. Usually load the stove twice a day in these temps.

[Tom Bain]

I use a Mitsubishi Ductless Mini-Split Heat Pump in my garage workshop. It heats and cools. It was a bit of an upfront investment, but it is really nice to have and super-efficient.

[Greg McClurg]

I use the same thing that Myk Ryan uses in my 450 sf shop with 10' ceilings. It doesn't take long to warm the space up, and I usually wear a light jacket in the winter. I don't want any form of gas or open flame in my shop so the electric heat meets my needs from a safety and comfort perspective.

[gary Zimmel]

We get pretty cold winters. It was -40 here a couple of days ago.
My shop has in floor heating that keeps it toasty warm.... In winter I keep it at 16C - 17C which is a real comfortable temp for me to work in.

[Ralph Butts]

I use a EPA certified wood pellet stove to "warm" my 1750 square foot shop. With our normal western WA temps being 30-55 in the winter it takes the chill off. Lately we have been unseasonably cold. While the stove puts out quite a bit of heat the concrete floor is a wick for the cold ground to suck the warmth right out of the structure. That is an issue for next years budget.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I used a Lennox hanging natural gas heater.

[Jim Andrew]

I use a wood burning furnace which I installed in a small steel building 4' from my shop. I installed a supply duct as well as a return, insulated the duct with fiberglass and wrapped with a bigger duct. My furnace is a Daka, sold at menards, which I bought on sale. The furnace works great, wish I could have it inside the shop as it heats the tiny building very well. My big concern was having a fire in a woodshop, so I separated the furnace from the shop. Was not a weekend project.

[Ken Platt]

I have a basement shop, so it doesn't get too cold down there, waste heat from the oil burner in the next room helps. I use one of the inexpensive burners atop a propane tank, but I don't use it for very long at a time. It's an older house (1950's) and even though I've tried to seal it up, I'm sure there are still a lot of little leaks. You would want to be very careful about CO buildup. I've never had the CO detector in the house go off, but I am putting a new CO detector in the basement just because. I also have one the Lee Valley radiant heaters mounted on the ceiling right over the bench, so if I'm just doing bench work I can tun that on the low setting and it's all I need.

The propane tank burner things also produce water vapor as a side product of the burning. I have never had a problem in the shop with rust, but I'm not sure whether that would be an issue if I ran it more. Of course, in winter the air is usually too dry anyhow.

Ken

[Clint Baxter]

I have a hanging natural gas heater as well. draws in outside air for combustion and exhausts to the outside as well. I have it set up with a programmable thermostat with all settings programmed at 53. When I go out to work, will bump up the temp to what's comfortable and if I forget to lower the temp when I leave, it automatically drops when it hits it's next programmed setting. We've been below zero for about a week now and shop stays very comfortable

Use a window air conditioner during the summer. Makes it bearable to where I'm not sweating all over my workpieces.

Clint

[Rick Potter]

Love that picture Clint. Which way do I go??

Rick Potter

[Mike Cozad]

I use a propane torpedo heater. Will make the move to a NG Hot Dawg by next winter.

[William C Rogers]

My shop is 30 X 50 with 12 foot ceilings, new and I have insulated the walls to R19. I have R12 in the ceiling and was installing R13 on top of that, but didn't get finished before winter. Right now I am using a 1500 watt radiant quarts heater and surprising it is keeping the temp between 45-47 degrees when 20 degrees outside. I think some of that is because I insulated around the footer and the floor has insulation under the concrete. For backup I have a Mister Heater 200,000 btu propane. I have only had that on a couple of times as it sucks propane. I now have access to a furnace from a trailer that has 2 10,000kw elements. I will hook that up (should only need one element) as soon as I get some 2 gauge service entrance wire as I am still on a saw post for electric. Long term (next winter) I have the hot water in floor heat. And yes it is expensive up front, however hate cold feet. I probably could have installed geothermal for the same price. I am anxious to see how the hot water in floor heat work out. The trailer heater should be able to heat to 55 degrees and I have been able to work with just quarts heater. Knowing what I know now I would not have bought the propane heater.

[eugene thomas]

In Wisconsin. Cold out today, use in floor heat with 70,000 btu boiler to heat my 34' x 50' shop. Walls r19 ceiling think r38. Was going to use on demand hot water heater that one company suggested but contractors heating guy suggested the boiler.

[Curtis Horswill]

In Wisconsin also, -5 F out this morning. I heat my 3 car garage shop with in floor radiant heat as well. I am using a natural gas on demand water heater. The garage is 28'x32' 10 foot walls and keep it at 55 degrees all winter long. By far the best heat I have experienced, no noise, no blower fan, and everything in the building stays warm. If I build again I will definitely be installing in floor heat.

[jeffrey bailey]

Through-the-wall Pteck units for heating and cooling. They are similar to the heater/AC units used in motels. They are mounted about 5 ft up the wall.

[David Nelson1]

A wall mounted 12000 BTU heat pump and a radiant heater mounted in the back of the shop on the ceiling. Shop is insulated and dry walled so it does stay warm for quite a while after I turn everything off.

[Mark Blatter]

At various times I have used an overhead gas furnace in Billings, MT and it kept things toasty all winter long no matter the outside temps. I used a pellet stove in Helena, MT which also kept a 1600 ft garage/shop pretty warm, though it did use a significant amount of pellets. I had infloor hot water heat in 6000 ft shop which was, without a doubt, the absolute best way to go. As noted earlier, there is nothing better than having warm feet while working. The shop can be cooler if the floor is warm. Currently I have been using a New Air electric heater in my garage/shop and it works well when it works. Unfortunately I have had two of them that quit working after only a short time of use. The customer service from the company has been great, much better than the product. In the mean time I am using a propane torpedo that works well, other than the noise.

If money is not an absolute constraint, I would always use hot water heat in the floor. Second in line would be some type of radiant heat, though this is tougher way to go due to the room they take up.

[Brian Kent]

Looking at the lengths some of you have to go through to get up to 45° (my starting place) I used 4 layers of clothing this morning and just started working.

[Jim Laumann]

I am heating a 1200 SF (40x30x12) shop w/ a unknown name wood burner (purchased used). Shop is pole frame construction - so the walls have 1.5" high denisty foam in the gaps between the purlins, and 6" of glass in the post cavities. The ceiling has 14-16" of blown glass. There is 1" of high denisty foam under the floor.

Most of the time, a fire every couple days is sufficent to keep things from freezing. On a weekend, when I can be out there all day, it gets real toasty.

Located in SE Mn.

Jim

[Ethan Melad]

Wood stove here, along with southern exposure and polycarbonate greenhouse panels I used as windows. been in the 20s for a couple days, it was 60 in the shop last i checked. speaking of which, time to go load the stove for the overnight...

[Dave Zellers]

Wood stove here, along with southern exposure
Ditto here. Walkout basement, south facing wall, mostly glass. Only need to take the edge off the constant 52º to 55º. It's amazing what a sunny day can do.

[Leo Graywacz]

175,000 BTU Propane Modine heater. Shop is 1300 sq ft with 24' ceilings. Really have to get a fan up there. r19 in the walls, which are interior in the main shop and r13 encapsulated insulation in the exterior walls and ceiling in the steel building. I have two 1300 sq ft areas and each has it's own heater.

[Stew Hagerty]

I work out of my oversized 3-car garage. Actually my shop area is just over half of that space, but it's all open. The garage is fully insulated and I have heavy 2" thick insulated steel "sandwich" garage doors.
Since my furnace is located in the garage, I installed an adjustable vent in the pipe that returns to the humidifier. I keep it about half open all winter when I'm not out there just to keep the chill off of everything. When I go out, I open it up and turn on a fan and my air cleaner to circulate the warm air. When it's really cold out, I also have a Stanley 675900 Pro-Ceramic Pivoting Utility Heater that helps to heat everything up pretty quickly.

Actually though, my biggest problem isn't heat... it's cooling. My medical condition includes a wacky internal thermostat. I can't stand warm temperatures. And by warm, I mean the temps that everybody else considers normal. I keep my house 66 in the day and 62 at night year round. My wife has pretty much gotten used to it, but the rest of my family calls it the igloo.

So, in the summer, I use that same vent to pump in some air conditioning, but it's not enough. That means I can't work out there on 90+ degree days. Next summer I'm going to add a portable AC unit and exhaust it through a wall vent. I though about a mini-split, but I just don't want to spend that much right now. I think the portable should be enough to get the temp down to where I can handle it on those hot days.

[Sam Beatty]

Right now I'm operating out of an uninsulated two car garage. I heat it with one of those kerosene torpedo heaters when I'm out there and bring my work and supplies indoors. It sucks, but I'm working on getting it insulated.

[Justin Ludwig]

150000 btu propane. The shop is 40x80 with 16' ceiling. Once it gets up to 40F, I'm golden and turn it off.

[Chris Fite]

I have radiant, hydronic heat in the floor of my shop. Steady temperature, no blowers, no filters, no flames, R19 walls, R49 ceiling. Materials were about $400 more than hanging a gas unit. After years of wood stoves, kerosene heaters, and radiant electric heaters, I am thoroughly pleased with this arrangement.

[Rob Holcomb]

I heat my 1200 sq. ft. shop/garage that has ceiling insulation but no wall insulation with a 75,000 btu kerosene torpedo heater to bring the temp up to 65-70. then I turn that off and use a 45,000 btu pellet stove to keep it at that temp while I'm out there working. On a day with outside temp around 15-20 degrees, I can get things warm and toasty within 20 minutes. I wish the pellet stove was all that I needed but I can only get the temp up to about 40 degrees in cold weather. It does fine to maintain the temp once I get there though. In the summer, I cool the shop with two wall mounted fans that are quite powerful but if it gets into the 90's, it's just too hot to work in there so I do other things like yard work

[Steve Reeps]

I was struggling with how to safely my shop. I wanted something that stand up to the rigors of the shop environment and I didn't want to spend a lot on the install. My answer was old cast iron radiators. I picked up 3 off CL for $75. I ran another zone off my boiler with PEX using monoflow T's to help maintain the return water temps. Total investment was under $250.