Ceiling Height

[Tom Bender]

When planing a new shop building, in a climate with a lot of winter, what ceiling height would be ideal? Assume 8" ducts below an insulated ceiling, and the desire to keep it heated. This would be a hobby shop of about 500 sq ft. I build furniture so not much sheet stock used. 10 ft to the ceiling sounds about right, but a little lower would be more comfortable and less cost to build and heat.

[roger wiegand]

My shop (in an old barn, so I didn't have a choice) is a bit under 9', with pipework dropping down below that. It works fine. I sometimes bang things against the ceiling or light fixtures, but it's not the end of the world. In a perfect world I'd have bumped it up another foot. It beats the heck out of a 7'6" basement!

[Mark Carlson]

My shop has 8 ft ceiling and I wish for 10 ft. I'd like to upgrade to a larger cyclone DC but the one I want needs 107in plus. 10 ft would be perfect and would make the space feel more roomy.

[Matthew Curtis]

I vote 10'.

[Frank Pratt]

My shop is 9' 6" & has 8" ducts overhead. Doing it again, I might go another 6", but as it is it hasn't been a problem.

[Jim Becker]

9-10' is what I'd personally shoot for for a woodworking shop because that will permit vertical storage for lumber more easily than the 8' I have now while still being serviceable using a reasonable size step ladder. Beyond that you get into special lighting considerations, too, not to mention more conditioned space to factor into HVAC.

[Andrew Seemann]

In my shop, I have a 9 foot wall on 8" cinderblock. I wouldn't want it lower. I haven't really needed it higher either. I'm in MN, and don't have a problem heating it. My garage has a ceiling about 10' 4" and it heats fine as well. You might want a ceiling fan to push the heat down in the winter. Even with the 8 foot ceiling in the shop at my parents it was cold for about a foot above the floor. Unless something is moving the air, it stratifies, even if you have the louvers pointed down on the unit heater.

[ChrisA Edwards]

10' is the minimum I would do if staring from scratch. Yes higher will cost more to heat, but not that much more.

It's nice having the headroom to swing a long piece of timber around without bashing into the ceiling or ceiling mounted appliances, such as ceiling fans of dust filters.

The extra wall height also gives you more wall storage space and the ability to store longer lumber vertically.

I've had 8', 13' and 10' ceilings in my various garage/workshops. 10' seems to be the best compromise.

[Jack Frederick]

My shop is 10'. I would not want less or more. So far I haven't knocked any of the flush mounted lights off the ceiling and I have enough height to handle material safely and easily. With 8' I think you are bound up trying to swing a board.

[Ron Selzer]

install a couple of ceiling fans turning slow
or better yet flat duct tight to ceiling or round pipe above with filter grills ducted over and down to floor using an old furnace fan to pull air from ceiling down to floor. use a good filter in the filter grills to help with dust control
good luck
Ron
edit to add at least 10' ceiling more if fixtures and pipe hang below

[Bill Dufour]

In construction the lumber comes in 2 foot increments. Meaning 8 feet is not enough with the ducting so next step up is 10 foot. Where will you buy 9 foot studs and dry wall? You won't so you cut off one foot from each piece and throw it away. Too short for blocking or anything but firewood.
Bill D

[Jim Dwight]

My current shop has 8 foot ceiling height and my last shop was 8 and 1/2 feet. Losing 6 inches is quite noticable. I have living space above my shop so I couldn't easily go higher. Like anything, the benefit of each additional inch over 8 feet will be smaller. In other words, the benefit of 8'6" versus 8' is bigger than the benefit of 9' over 8'6". I doubt you will struggle with ceiling height if you go 10 feet but I think you'd also be pretty happy with 9 feet, even if there are few areas tighter. I would not go less than 8'6", however, if you can.

[Tom Dixon]

My old shop in MN had 10' ceiling and I built my TN shop I have now to also have a 10' ceiling. I'd never go lower than that for all the reasons mentioned above. I have both 8" and 6" duct hanging and with my ceiling mounted air filter enough air is moving around that there is no need for any kind of ceiling fan to pull air down in the winter.

[John K Jordan]

When planing a new shop building, in a climate with a lot of winter, what ceiling height would be ideal? Assume 8" ducts below an insulated ceiling, and the desire to keep it heated. This would be a hobby shop of about 500 sq ft. I build furniture so not much sheet stock used. 10 ft to the ceiling sounds about right, but a little lower would be more comfortable and less cost to build and heat.

My shop is 9' and it's fine for me. However, I put all duct for HVAC and dust collector in the trusses above the ceiling. I do have a couple of hanging light fixtures but they don't hang far. If I had to have ducts below the ceiling I'd go with 10'.

I think if you insulate well above the ceiling the HVAC cost difference would be low for an extra foot. Also, I suspect the cost of building an extra foot of stick construction (studs/siding/paneling/insulation/paint) might be smaller than you think relative to the entire building (site prep/foundation/floor/ceiling/trusses/roof/electrical, etc).

JKJ

[michael langman]

Just a thought, I don't know how practical it would be, but if new construction, you could have a 10 foot ceiling in a corner of the building, or even higher if the ceiling was unfinished, for storing lumber vertically, and then 8 foot the rest of the building.