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Thread: Hot in the Shop!

  1. #1
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    Hot in the Shop!

    I had an interesting experience over the last few days. My shop is our attached 2-car garage. Monday morning about 7 I went out there to discover the shop was incredibly hot and the Hot Dawg heater going full bore. I quickly climbed up and shut off the heater. The instant read meat thermometer said it was 117° F out there! I immediately suspected the thermostat and had a look at it. It's a non-programmable low-temp thermostat intended for out buildings and green houses. Pretty basic. No batteries, just a bi-metallic strip, a magnet and a leaf switch in a glass vial. I checked it out and cleaned the sawdust out of it. After cooling off the shop, did some testing. It all seemed to work fine so I set it at 50° and went in the house. Went out to run some errands and came back about 3 hours later. It was only 105°F this time. New thermostat this morning and so far so good.

    If you have a T-stat in your shop, it might not hurt to look at it and make sure it's clean and working well.

  2. #2
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    Sounds just like summer around here Dave. Well, 117 may be a touch warmer than ususal, but not much. Just dropped from 90+ to 45-55 in the last few days and it is oh-so-nice. Joking aside, I would not be comfortable with leaving that thing "in gear" overnight and dependant upon a thermostat. Is a Hot Dawg electric or propane? It is not a problem here, but maybe you have to prevent going below freezing in the shop overnight in your area.
    David

  3. #3
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    David, here in Minnesota we're having frosty nights so heat in the shop is a good idea to keep things from freezing. I have a low-temp thermostat which I set to 40 when I'm not working out there. The T-stat that I replaced is more than 15 years old and for all that time it's done a good job of maintaining whatever temp I set. Until yesterday I didn't have any concerns. The heater runs off the city natural gas supply (bet my bill will be high this month) and I like it for a shop heater.

    The over-engineer in me considered buying two thermostats and putting them in series. Set one at something like 75 and use the other as my adjustable T-stat. Might work, might be a waste of time. The failure rate of the thermostat I replaced is really very low.

  4. #4
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    When the "very basic" thermostat went in my Farenheat unit, I bought an interface and a standard wall thermostat for it.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
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    I have one of those round Honeywell basic thermostats that have been around for decades. No problems with it so far.
    Please help support the Creek.


    "It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."
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  6. #6
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    Jim, I thought about buying an electronic thermostat to replace the mechanical one on the wall. It'd just be another couple of batteries to replace and wouldn't pay for itself.

    Bruce, I wish I could still get a good round thermostat. The kind with the mercury filled vial instead of the magnet and leaf switch. Oh well, I think I probably paid $20 for the one that went out. For 17 years or so of service, I can't complain.

    It's just a little surprising to touch the cast iron top on my tablesaw and not have it sucking the heat out of me. Especially this time of year.

  7. #7
    We have some old Honeywell line voltage thermostats with the mercury switch the size of a chapstick tube at the family greenhouse business that we have been using since the 1940's. Those things last forever. We did switch them to low voltage a few decades ago

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    Would love to have one of those, Andrew.

  9. #9
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    Dave, for my unit, I had to buy not just the thermostat, but also a control interface that gets wired into the unit so that the external thermostat could "talk" to the unit. That may be just the nature of the Farenheit heater I have. (and likely will no longer use since I put in the MiniSplit in the spring)

    If your heater can take an external thermostat directly...totally a no-brainer there!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  10. #10
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    Yeah, Jim, the Hot Dawg uses an external thermostat which I mounted on the wall across the shop. No built in thermostat so it's more like a regular old furnace in that respect. I keep my shop closed up so it stays pretty cool in there in the summer but a minisplit would be nice.

  11. #11
    Now all your lumber in there is kiln dried LOL

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Engel View Post
    Now all your lumber in there is kiln dried LOL
    True dat!

    I'm glad I caught it before it got really crazy, though. I wonder about the cans of paint and other flammables. Fortunately there's not much gas in the snowblower which has to have a place in the shop.

  13. #13
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    Wow you were almost at Powerpost beetle killing temps! That was a hot dawg indeed.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Van Huskey View Post
    Wow you were almost at Powerpost beetle killing temps! That was a hot dawg indeed.

    I hope there aren't any powderpost beetles in my shop.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Richards View Post
    I hope there aren't any powderpost beetles in my shop.
    If you did I bet they have already enlisted a beetle realtor and looking for a new place to live with A/C, if they did indeed live through the heatwave. IIRC 30 mins at 120 releases them from their mortal coil. < ha that's my second Shakespeare reference on SMC in less than a week.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

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