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Shop heaters - what ya got?


kunar

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Sick and tired of the kerosene salamanders. Stinky, noisy, hauling cans of fuel... So I'm thinking about one of those 220v electric heaters that hang from the ceiling. Price is supposed to be comparable to kerosene for the same amount of heat. It'll be up out if the way, no more fuel cans. Then again, natural gas is way cheaper per btu... What do you guys do for heat in your shop/garage?
 
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How much floor space do you have and what is the ceiling height open or finished?

Walls open or finished, insulation?

Yes ceiling mounted is great doesn't take up floor space.

I had a 3 bay shop and best thing I did was to put in ceiling fans, just those slow moving 3 blade units, kept the warm air circulated instead of sitting up high.
I had hot water heat in the slab, natural gas boiler, very cheap to operate
 
We have a waste oil burner and a natural gas heater in the shop at work.
 
Got me one of thosed propane add on units fro HF. Put it on the large bottle and let it go. I only need to heat about half of the shed 1/2 is storage only. Metal 24 x 40 fully insulated.
 
I have one of the "blue flame" ventless style of heaters that hang on the wall, and use a normal bbq grill propane tank to run it. Might upgrade to a bigger 150 pound tank someday. Only costs about $10 to fill the propane tank and will last a week or so running for 6 or 8 hours.
I only run the heater when I am out there.
But it heats the shop up nicely.
 
Sick and tired of the kerosene salamanders. Stinky, noisy, hauling cans of fuel... So I'm thinking about one of those 220v electric heaters that hand from the ceiling. Price is supposed to be comparable to kerosene for the same amount of heat. It'll be up out if the way, no more fuel cans. Then again, natural gas is way cheaper per btu... What do you guys do for heat in your shop/garage?

arizona sun lol:D
 
I bought a little propane torpedo heater, its adjustable 30-60,000 btu. That and a "Mr. Heater" on another propane tank heat up my uninsulated 24x24 pretty quickly. I too couldn't stand the kerosene any more. The propane one will go through a little grille tank pretty quick though, gonna need to upgrade to a bigger tank.
 
Garage is 20x22, walls are uninsulated and ceiling is open. someday that'll change though, and ill insulate the walls and close up the ceiling for a storage loft. the garage is attached to a 10x12 shop area with a large open doorway in the shared wall. it's got finished walls and ceiling, and shares a wall with the house.

if i buy the heater ive got my eye on (something like this one http://www.menards.com/main/p-2403719-c-6328.htm) ill put it in the larger space, but in an area where it can be pivoted to blow either across the larger room or through the door into the smaller room. i may add a smaller elecric heater to the smaller room at some point, but this should do for now.

if i go natural gas, i really like the idea of ventless. i figure if i do something like this though, ill absolutely have to put one in each room, i dont feel like there will be enough air moving to warm one room if the heater is an another.

heated floors would be awesome, might as well do the driveway too, then i wont have to blow snow! arizona sun? can i get that in ohio this time of year? haha
 
I used kerosene for one winter and it only cost about $300...then my sister decided to out in a ceiling mount natural gas heater...cost went down considerably...especially since I wasn't paying the gas bill...

I did pay for the materials to insulate...$300 at the time for a 24 x 24 garage with 2 garage doors...that was the entire ceiling area and
 
ive thought about just switching to a propane salamander or radiant type portable heater... but since the garage is attached, running gas or electricity will be pretty simple. no more filling tanks. price should be better too. the salamanders are loud though. the 60k btu one that i was running before was plenty to heat the area, relatively quickly. turn it off and after another 15 mins, its cold again. annoying. something quiet that'll just hum along and keep me warm without having to constantly flip it on/off would be perfect. though ill still probably buy some sort of portable propane heater once i get rid of the kerosene salamanders. kinda nice to be able to put heat where you need it. out in the garden shed or aimed at the slushed/frozen park brake cables on my car, that sort of thing...
 
I use this;

8480097.jpg


blowing onto this;

8000985.jpg


with the propane tank inline with the warmed air. This keeps the tank warm enough that it doesn't freeze up and stop propane flow. Kept a 30x50x10 warm enough.
 
I use a propane forced air torpedo heater when i work in the garage. Takes a second for it to heat up the garage but it will sweat you out fast.
 
Good deal. Looks like you can wrench in warmth soon!!

I just dont like the electric bill using 240V 5000 watt/hr.

I went with the "blueflame" 30,000 BTU style heater for a few reasons.
1: Easy to move to a new location/wall ( 2 screws). can move to any room if need be.
2: I can use a propane bottle, propane tank or hook into a natural gas line. and is pretty cheap cost per galllon to use.
3: Main Reason besides heating my shop....It Works during a power outage as a back up heat source in winter. Ice storms suck!
 

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