Heat Storm 6000 Garage Heater

[Doug Walls]

Does anyone have a Heat Storm HS-6000-GC in their shop?

I just ordered one from Amazon at a pretty good deal, I'm not sure if it was a misprint on their website or not but they had it listed for $181.24.
The order went through & now I see it listed for $209, so I guess I got lucky.:)

Anyways if anyone is using one of these Heat Storms in their shop, I'm kind of curious on how they mounted it!

I have a couple of options for mounting the heater but seeing that I'll need to run a dedicated 30-amp line for it, I'm trying to figure out the best location to mount it.

Doug

[Jim Becker]

I had a similar product in my old shop for a couple years before I bought the mini split. It worked fine but was a different brand and physically larger. You want to mount it so that it projects its air flow out into the shop...a corner is good and one that there's less likely chance of it getting smacked with a piece of lumber.

[Doug Walls]

I had a similar product in my old shop for a couple years before I bought the mini split.
I've been looking at the mini splits for a little while now, unfortunately I would need to upgrade the main panel in my house & the service entrance line before going that route. Possibly an option down the road a bit, but that's kind of out of the budget for now.

I installed a 60-amp sub-panel in my garage with 6-ga. wire, but due to my main service entrance line's capacity, I'm currently only able to supply a maximum of 45-amps to the garage sub panel.

[Walter Mooney]

I've been looking at the mini splits for a little while now, unfortunately I would need to upgrade the main panel in my house & the service entrance line before going that route. Possibly an option down the road a bit, but that's kind of out of the budget for now.

I installed a 60-amp sub-panel in my garage with 6-ga. wire, but due to my main service entrance line's capacity, I'm currently only able to supply a maximum of 45-amps to the garage sub panel.

And your power provider won’t come out and give you a new service line so you can buy more of their product???

[Tom M King]

We have something similar to that in the tackroom in the barn. It doesn't get used much, but when it is I think it would be about the same operating cost as burning dollar bills for heat.

[Doug Walls]

And your power provider won’t come out and give you a new service line so you can buy more of their product???
When I checked on upgrading my service line from 100-amp service to 200-amp service, they said they will only come out to do that when a new main-panel / meter box / and entrance cable has been installed. The best quote I got for upgrading the main panel /meter box / & entrance cable was around $3000 & that was a couple years ago.

I have natural gas for heat / water heater / stove / & clothes dryer, so the electrical usage is pretty low.
A friend of mine that worked as an electrician (now retired) did a power estimate on my house and figured out that I probably only draw about 45~50 amps with all the lights on & everything running at once. My AC unit is on a separate interruptible-meter & that draws about 18-amps, but it's still connected to the main meter box/service cable.

[Jim Becker]

And your power provider won’t come out and give you a new service line so you can buy more of their product???
Not that simple. Upgrading electrical service requires a permit and inspections for the new main panel and meter housing that needs to be installed along with larger feeder cable, etc. It's not inexpensive, unfortunately. The upgrade of my home's service from 200 to 400 amps plus the feed to my shop after splitting it 200/200 was about $6000. As the OP mentioned, his upgrade would likely be about $3000 because of all the stuff, the labor, etc.

[Doug Walls]

I got my Heat Storm heater the other day. :cool:
Being that it needs to be hard-wired & I'll have to run a dedicated 30-amp line for it, I want to try to figure out the best location for it.


You want to mount it so that it projects its air flow out into the shop...a corner is good and one that there's less likely chance of it getting smacked with a piece of lumber.

I have two corners of the garage that would probably work good, one facing the back wall & the other facing the overhead door.
The owner's manual states to mount it on the coldest wall/corner. In my case that would probably be the overhead door side since there's a little bit of a draft near the top of the door. My concern with the corner near the overhead door is that it may actually pull cold air in from the door?

[Jim Becker]

Pulling cold are to be heated up wouldn't be a terrible thing I suspect. Near the overhead door also means it's less likely to interfere with other things you'll do in the shop since the door structure is already a barrier for those same kinds of things. Consider getting the door adjusted, however, so it properly seals. You may actually need a new seal and those are easy to come by.

[Doug Walls]

Pulling cold are to be heated up wouldn't be a terrible thing I suspect.
Yeah, it probably would even help regulate the ambient air temperature up near the heater which the internal thermal sensor reads.
According to several reviews I've read, the heater's internally mounted thermal sensor creates a false reading resulting in having to set the thermostat 8~10 degrees higher than the shop's temp.

Being that I'm not really sure how much heat this heater actually puts out, I decided to mount it on my back wall above my toolboxes. It's out of the way there & I can run a temporary power cord from the heater to my 30-amp air compressor line. This way I can get a better idea of how far the heat is dispersed from the heater. If it works out good there, I'll run a dedicated line for it.



Consider getting the door adjusted, however, so it properly seals.

I'm probably going to have someone come out & double check my garage door springs anyway since I'm planning to add some better insulation to the door. The door is already insulated from the factory, but there's still about a 1" area that I plan to add some foam insulation to.

[Steve Demuth]

According to several reviews I've read, the heater's internally mounted thermal sensor creates a false reading resulting in having to set the thermostat 8~10 degrees higher than the shop's temp.



I've got a 40A electric heater similar to the one you just got in my shop. I had to install a small barn fan behind it to move enough air through the shop to make it useful - otherwise, as you said, it would just raise the temperature in it's corner until it was above the thermostat setting and turn off. The built in fan turned off when the element did, so it would just sit there until the temperature in the unit dropped low enough to restart it. It ended up with about a 10% duty cycle as a result. If I jacked the thermostat up to compensate, the whole unit overheated and shut down. The barn fan makes it work wonderfully, though. Heats the shop right up.

[Doug Walls]

I've got a 40A electric heater similar to the one you just got in my shop. I had to install a small barn fan behind it to move enough air through the shop to make it useful.

Yeah, I've seen several You-Tube videos showing the same type of set-up with a small fan helping to regulate the temperature that the thermal sensor sees. The problem seems to be a combination of the thermal sensor being mounted inside the housing near the heat source, and the fact that these heaters are usually mounted to the ceiling where heat rises.

Heat Storm is aware of this issue & on their newest model (only available through their website) they have included a wireless remote thermostat. Unfortunately, the thermostat only works with the new model at $330 https://heatstorm.com/collections/garage-and-patio/products/6000-watt-heavy-duty-wall-mounted-or-ceiling-mounted-wifi-enabled-heater

Amazon & e-bay are selling the older style units for under $200, which is why I bought one.
The one I just got was made on 3 of 2023 so not old, just an older model.

[Doug Walls]

At about the 3-minute mark in this You-Tube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Daej3kKm0R4&t=24s
the guy shows how he just moved the thermostat/sensor to the outside of the housing which he said helped with the short cycling issue.

[Carl Beckett]

I have an electric mounted on one wall. It takes the chill off but I do not consider it fully conditioned space. Which means the thermostat rarely cycles since it simply can not get the entire space up to set temp. Note I ONLY run it when I am in the shop - I do not leave it to cycle automatically. (also I do not want the $$ bill if I were to keep it at temp all the time, as noted resistive heat is not the most efficient)

Also I have an overhead air filter. When that is running it circulates air through the shop and makes it more uniform. However, at the same time it increases convection heat loss to the walls - especially the garage door which is my insulation weak link. Which makes me indecisive whether I run the air cleaner to get circulation, or leave it off to reduce heat loss. I do not have any measurements to know.

[Jim Becker]

Doug, see if you can put a remote thermostat on it...the Farenheat I used at the old shop prior to the minisplit allowed for that.

[Steve Demuth]

Yeah, I've seen several You-Tube videos showing the same type of set-up with a small fan helping to regulate the temperature that the thermal sensor sees. The problem seems to be a combination of the thermal sensor being mounted inside the housing near the heat source, and the fact that these heaters are usually mounted to the ceiling where heat rises.

Heat Storm is aware of this issue & on their newest model (only available through their website) they have included a wireless remote thermostat.

Mine has a wireless remote thermostat, which I find handy. That doesn't really solve the problem though. What's dumb about this is that it would be simple and probably cost next to nothing for the manufacturer's to make it an option for the fan to run even when the element is not on, if the heater is powered on. The fan is already on a separately controlled circuit inside the unit, and it's already under control of the logic setup. I considered altering the wiring on mine so that the fan runs whenever the main power switch is on, but there isn't really any way to do it, due all the logic, including the "power on" logic being in a single chip.

[Doug Walls]

make it an option for the fan to run even when the element is not on, if the heater is powered on. The fan is already on a separately controlled circuit inside the unit, and it's already under control of the logic setup.

The Heat Storm unit I have has something like that built in, when the heater is shut off the fan will still run for a little bit to cool down the heating elements.

[Doug Walls]

see if you can put a remote thermostat on it.

I took the back panel off & the thermostat was easy to get at, just one small screw holding it in place.
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There's a little plug for the thermostat, so it wouldn't be hard to make up a jumper wire for it if needed.
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I remounted the thermostat outside of the heater's case like showed in the video & it seems to work well while setting on my workbench.
Once I get the new power line ran for it & get it mounted up near the celling, I'll get a better idea of how the modified thermostat location is working out.
Pic's of the new thermostat location (heater sitting upside down) once mounted to the bracket, the thermostat will be below the heater.
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[Doug Walls]

I had a similar product in my old shop for a couple years before I bought the mini split.

Did you have it hard wired, or was there a cord to it?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I mounted my Heat Storm above my toolboxes so that it's out of the way.
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Being that it's a temporary set-up I connected a 240-volt dryer cord to the heater & installed a 14-30R outlet.
On another forum, I had a guy mention that attaching the cord to the wall so that it doesn't saag or drupe down is a code violation?

[Jim Becker]

Did you have it hard wired, or was there a cord to it?

Hard wired per the specifications. It's less expensive to install that way, too...just the 10-2 cable from the breaker panel to the heater location, a j-box for a splice with appropriate compression fittings (I use a short piece of 10-3 rubber coated between the ceiling and the heater) and a 30 amp double pole breaker. If I didn't want power to go to the heater, such as during the non-heating seasons, I shut off the breaker. I fitted an inexpensive external thermostat to the heater, too.

I found this photo from the old shop after I installed that Farenheat unit in 2017:

https://onedrive.live.com/embed?resid=C0685A604D3742F9%21284&authkey=%21AK6vv-2ZfLrIEwk&width=660

That said, I don't see an issue using a short cord and plug to an existing circuit like you describe that meets or exceeds the amperage rating for temporary use. I can't comment on the code violation question, but securing a cord by reasonable means so it's not a safety issue is something I'd likely do for obvious reasons. Based on your photo...you'd get no argument from me. That's a clean looking installation.

[Doug Walls]

Thanks for the pic!
Thats kind of how I'll eventually wire mine up once I finish the ceiling & figure out the best heater placement location.

So far, this location seems to be working out well! It's out of the way & heats up the center of the garage where I usually work.
Until I can get a ceiling installed & insulated, I do think a small fan mounted up in the rafters will help circulate the rising heat that's not needed up there.


I can't comment on the code violation question, but securing a cord by reasonable means so it's not a safety issue is something I'd likely do for obvious reasons.

I hadn't heard of any code issues from having power cords attached to a wall before, but then I'm also not a licensed electrician.
I did know that it's not ok to run a power cord behind drywall, ceiling panel, or under floorboards.

[Bill Dufour]

I do not understand how you can run an electric resistance heater and not have enough power to run a heatpump minisplit? They make 120 volt heatpumps.
Bill D

[Doug Walls]

I do not understand how you can run an electric resistance heater and not have enough power to run a heatpump minisplit?
Bill D
Yeah, you're correct in thinking that if I can run a 25-amp heater I could also run a mini-split.
The main difference is the cost, $200 for the electric heater & $1,500~$2,000 for the mini-split.

With my current electrical service, I'm limited to 45-amps max in the garage!
This means I would not be able to run my table saw & dust collector at the same time as the heater or mini-split.

I can't really justify the extra cost of the mini split until I can take advantage of using it as intended for the AC during the Summer.
I also do a fair amount or metalworking & 95% of that is done outside where heat or AC is not a factor. I usually try to do that kind of work in the Spring & Fall when the temps. are better for working outside.

[Tom Bender]

So a small fan to suck heat down from the peak would be temporary. You might want to collect from more than one spot on the ridge. If you decide to go with temporary ducting consider heavy cardboard and package tape. Minimal cost and done in a day.

Sharing the compressor outlet has the advantage of preventing the heater and compressor from running together.

[Doug Walls]

So a small fan to suck heat down from the peak would be temporary.
Temporary is the key word here; I plan to get a ceiling installed pretty soon, I hope to have it finished by May before it gets too warm up in the rafters.


Sharing the compressor outlet has the advantage of preventing the heater and compressor from running together.
I have the heater on its own circuit now, but due to my currently limited power supply (45-amps) to the garage I have to pay attention to what's all switched on at a time. If I'm running my DeWalt 735 planner & 3HP dust collector together, I'm pretty close to the limits of my available power.