Heating The Shop

[Ted Illi]

Spent the summer getting insulation into the ceiling and walls of my shop. Now have to pick some type of heat.. Shop is 500 square feet 8 ft ceiling. I don’t want to run a gas line because of the distance and cost. Considering propane or kerosene space heater. Are they safe? Which would be the better choice? What size? Yada , Yada ,Yada .

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ted,

I built a new shop. One thing you might consider. My shop is located about 50' from my house. The local natural gas company manufactured a flexible gas line for me. It cost me $125. It was about 70' long IIRC. I provided the trench and I had the HVAC contract tie into the gas meter for my home and install the line when they installed my gas heater. Then I filled the ditch back in. It wasn't as nearly as expensive having the gas company provide the line as it was to have the heating contractor do it. It was on the heating contractors advice that I contacted the gas company.

Something to consider if you'd like natural gas.....and it eliminates having someone come out and deliver other fuels.

Good luck with your decisions.

[CPeter James]

I have a Monitor heater in a shop about the same size. A little pricy, but well worth the money. It is vented to the outside for both input and output, so is relatively safe in the wood shop. Has computer controled temps and can be set to go up and down by itself depoending on time of day. Burns kerosene. http://www.monitorproducts.com/products/m2200.html



CPeter

[Jim Becker]

I don't have gas available in my shop, so I use electric. If I did gas (even with propane) it would have to be a direct vent as I don't want any moisture increase, etc. I've used kero once in awhile when the weather is REALLY cold, but the fumes are terrible. No more. I'm planning on augmenting my electric overhead radiant units with a 240v forced air electric unit that I can use to bring air temperature up quickly when I need it. Northern Tool has a nice sale on all their heater offerings right now...

[Carl Crout]

Electricity is way to expensive. I ran a copper line from my propane tank to my shop. About 20'. I have a hanging shop heater, 75k BTU. You could probably get buy with an infrared type that hangs on the wall. They don't make fumes like the old "blue flame" heaters of yesteryear.

[Eric Gustafson]

Here in AZ, cooling is considered before heat in a hobby shop. I will be installing a 1 ton split AC system. These units also come with heat pump. Has anyone used one of these? If so, how did it work out?

[David G Baker]

Ted,
I do not know where you live so the type of heat you need may vary from state to state.
Assuming that you live where it gets cold in the Winter and you insulated your building really well, you may be able to get by with an electric heater that will keep you toasty in a 500 sq foot building. In one of my buildings that I heat only when I work in it during the Winter I have a 240 volt infrared tube wall mounted heater that does okay. I don't like propane unless it is outside vented and kerosene will work but like Jim says it really stinks and the smell gets on your clothes and everything else in the shop. In my 30x40 pole barn I have a natural gas fired ceiling mounted 75K BTU Hot Dawg (made by Modine) forced air heater that I keep the barn at 50 degrees all Winter until I work in it, then I turn the thermostat up to 65 and let the furnace run until it gets up to temp then turn it back down to 50. The building stays warm for hours because of the amount of insulation that is in the walls and ceiling. You could get by with a lot smaller heater than I have, maybe a 45K BTU or smaller.
My barn is approximately 200 feet from my gas meter. It cost me around $1500 for everything, the trench, the supply line, the plumbing, the heater and all of the installation costs. It costs me approximately $30 a month to heat the barn.

[Randy Denby]

Here in AZ, cooling is considered before heat in a hobby shop. I will be installing a 1 ton split AC system. These units also come with heat pump. Has anyone used one of these? If so, how did it work out?

Eric, is this a mini-split system? If so, then realize they do not come with auxiliary heat. Which means, when they defrost, they reverse the cycle to back to a/c, only without the fan. Shouldnt be a problem in Arizona except for extreme days.All this said, the heat pump is a minimum of 3.4 times more efficient than straight electric strips down to freezing.I'm installing a 1 ton Goodman Manufacturing mini-split in my buddys' new shop this week. Its a new offering from Goodman and seems to be well built.Goodman is known to be low end equipment...but my buddy is on a tight budget. I feel it will be a good unit for him, as it does have a Copeland scroll compressor in it....which is the best IMO.

[Eric Gustafson]

Eric, is this a mini-split system?

Yes, that is what I had in mind. They seem to cost between $750 to $1000. I did not know that heat pumps are that much more efficient than resistive heating. :)

I will look into the Goodman unit.

[Gary Keedwell]

I heat my whole basement with a pellet stove. Around 900 SF. Direct vent to outside. Toasty and clean.
Gary

[Randy Denby]

Yes, that is what I had in mind. They seem to cost between $750 to $1000. I did not know that heat pumps are that much more efficient than resistive heating. :)

I will look into the Goodman unit.

Eric, my "wholesale" cost on the Goodman is 572.00 (before sales tax) .Mark-up is generally 38% plus installation. Shouldnt take more than about 4 hrs to install.Since the inside evaporator section gets it power from the condensing unit (the wiring and lineset are prepackaged and 15' long) then you'll only need to install an outside disconnect. This particular unit is 220v.
Heat pumps are definetly more efficient vs straight strips. When outside ambient temps stay close to freezing or lower, is when the heat pumps start loosing ground. They will defrost more often ....and when defrosting the unit reverts back to a/c mode and the auxiliary heat strips kick-in to temper the air. Basically, the a/c and heat is running together when defrosting. As you can see, the more a unit defrosts, the less efficient it becomes. This is why "ground source" heat pumps are recommended in colder regions as the ground temperature is consistent and stays around 65 degrees.