Shop heater?

[Larry Crim]

Looking into getting some shop heat for my garage, originally I was going to get a fume safe gas heater but with the rising price of nat gas in my area it is not a worth while investment so I was thinking of a electric heater since the ele prices are still managable. Question is what type would be safe and still be big enough to heat a aprox 500 sqft garage?
I am worried about the fumes if I do any finishing with it on.

[Frank Pellow]

Sorry to rain on your parade Larry, but what makes you think that a year or two from now the electric prices are going to be any more "manageable" than the natural gas prices? Given a period of years, I have found that energy prices of all types of energy rise at approximately the same rate.

[Larry Crim]

Living in TN and is TVA country you experience a bias towards electricity here, I only plan on being in this house for another 2 years then who knows, Didn't really want to install a perminant gas heater then just leave it. The Nat gas prices here are expected to go up anywhere from 60 to 140% this winter depending on where you live and what company supplies your gas. I unfortunatly have most of my apliances on gas, dryer, stove, water ect... and the gas bill is already killing me.
Larry

[Keel McDonald]

I personally use a potbelly wood stove. I love it because it really puts out the heat. Not to metion you can get rid of any of those scraps you don't see any other use for. Just in case you were interested.

[Joe Pelonio]

Before I had a duct put into the warehouse/shop from the inside furnace, I used an oil-filled radiator heater. It was 1500 watts on high and while it takes a while to heat it up, once it's warm it kept it that way. No hazards with fumes or sawdust. The space was about 700 sf, and we'd get down to just about 30 in the dead of winter. I think the company was delongi, and it was under $80, but it's now at my Mom's heating her greenhouse.

[Scott Donley]

Hi Larry, I also live in Washington, changed from oil to natural gas about 15 years ago because of price, and a lot cheaper than electric at the time. Now it seems to be a wash. Have a 220 electric heater in the shop but hate to turn it on now because of cost. Wood stove would be nice but to many burn ban days. My advice is go with what is the easy way for you to go and use it when glueing and finishing, otherwise, dress warm :)

[Larry Crim]

That was my next option was to run a duct in from the house with a flapper valve on it to shut it off when not in use.
Larry

[Brad Townsend]

I've got one of these in my 500 Sq. Ft. workshop in northern Illinois. When it's below zero outside, it doesn't heat the shop to 80 degrees, but it gets it into the fifties, which is warm enough to work in. Suspect it would work fine for you where you are.
http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/17303_lg.gif
Can be found at Northern Tool. I got mine for around $180 at a local Farm & Fleet, but it's a strictly upper midwest chain. If you check out other farm supply or hardware outlets, you may be able to find them locally. It is 5000w, 240 and has to be hardwired.

[Don Dean]

Thanks Brad. I'm just putting together my shop and this is just the heater I am looking for.

[Bob Johnson2]

I use a pair of used 8' baseboard heaters that I roll around as needed. They do fine in the basement (about 800'). It may or may not be legal but I put them on a very heavy 20' cord and plug it into my compressor 220 receptical when I need it. It doesn't get near hot enough to worry about.

[Steve Schoene]

[QUOTE=Brad Townsend]I've got one of these in my 500 Sq. Ft. workshop in northern Illinois. When it's below zero outside, it doesn't heat the shop to 80 degrees, but it gets it into the fifties, which is warm enough to work in. Suspect it would work fine for you where you are.

I've got the same one in my slightly smaller shop, and now that I have insulated it keeps it toasty if I want. Northern tool was the source for mine. They had several varieties.

[Brad Noble]

Brad,

Glad to hear this. I just got one from Northern Tool and it too is 5000 Watt. I only have about 400 sq ft of shop with 8 ft ceilings. Well insulated but really was getting concerned if it would be enough mainly to protect my equipment. How much does it cost to operate? I'm in Ohio.

(another) Brad

[Brad Townsend]

I couldn't really say what it costs, as I've never really monitored it that closely and I've only had my shop through one winter. My shop is a separate building, but it is really well insulated and I only run the heater when I'm actually in the shop. If you have good insulation, you would be surprised how long it takes for your shop to fall below freezing with no heat, even in the coldest weather. My equipment handled it just fine with only being heated while occupied and temps typically in the high 30s to 40s with the heat turned off most of the time.

[Dave Lehnert]

Keep us posted on the heater. How it works etc… I live in Cincinnati and am interested in such a heater. I now have a oil furnace but it is very old and would like to get rid of the oil tank . I only heat the 20x20 garage when in use. The oil line is always frozen up in the winter. I just removed an old air compressor that ran on 240 volt so I have the wiring and everything in place. What amp breaker does that heater use? My shop is un-insulated at this time but can easy fix that.

[Jules Dominguez]

One kilowatt-hour of electricity is the energy equivalent of 3413 BTU's. If you use an electric resistance heater that's how much heat you'll get from one kwh of electricity.
It takes an an average of roughly 10,000 btu's of fuel (natural gas, fuel oil or coal) to make one kwh, due to the limitations of the electricity-generating technology. Because of this limitation, electricity delivered to the user is generally the most expensive form of energy, by far.
To compare your heating cost using electricity-resistance heating versus a fuel such as natural gas, use the 3413 btu/kwh factor and crank the numbers using your electricity cost per kwh and your fuel cost per btu. You'll need to either know or assume an efficiency for your gas heater.

TVA electricity used to be relatively cheap and may still be, in which case it might be the way to go for you. In most other parts of the country that wouldn't be the case. And of course, as natural gas costs rise, the cost of electricity generated by it will go up in lock-step.

[Tom Seaman]

Larry,

I installed several electric ceramic radiant heat panels in my 600 sq ft garage workshop 2 years ago. I got them from Radiant Electric Heat (http://www.electricheat.com/) - check out their website for a lot of useful information. I keep the thermostat at about 50-55 degrees when I'm not in there to make sure no condensation forms on the tools. When I go in the shop, I turn up the thermostat, and can feel the heat coming off of them immediately. I've been very happy with them so far. The upfront cost is a little high, but they are virtually maintenance free and should last a long time. I don't have a very good estimate of what it costs to run them since everything in our house is electric (and I installed the heaters shortly after we moved in), but I would guess well below $100/month during the Dec-Feb, and much lower just before and after winter. I insulated well, and the garage is attached to the house, both of which help keep the cost down.