I have no heat in my garage. I'm used to working under a carport in the winter, so you'd think I'd be satisfied with walls and doors, but I've grown accustom to working in the warmth when I can as my job is mainly out doors.
My first thought was a wood stove. Simple, easy to use, good heat, fairly inexpensive. However, I have 5 trees on my acre of land, no chainsaw, no where to cut wood, and I don't care for splitting and stacking very much. I'm not completely against doing it, but I'd rather do something else if I can.
My next thought was used oil. I have 5 running vehicles, two of which see off-road use and fluid changes are common. So, instead of hauling that somewhere to give it away, why not use it for heat? In looking for ideas, I found this: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me4.html It's a very easy to build unit and very cheap. Both pluses!
Now, it will create alot of heat and with the ceiling fan, it may do pretty good. But, I'd like to have some way to get the heat spread out in the garage better. I've had two ideas on this. First is to enclose it in a sheet metal box and add a blower motor to put the heat out in the shop. Basically the fan mounted low on the box to move air up and then the vent on the top of the box or maybe even a little ducting to put it out in two or three different places in there.
The second is to turn the heater into a boiler. Simple, maybe 10lb of pressure, if that and a couple radiators mounted above the drum. I was thinking that having the radiators drain back into the drum as the water condensed could eliminate the need for a feed water pump and level control.
In essence, the steam would rise from the drum, into the piping to the radiators. As the steam condensed in the radiators, releasing heat into the garage, the water would drop to the bottom of the radiators and drain back into the bottom of the drum where it could be re-heated. A 15lb pop-off mounted outside the building where no one will be burned in case of an over-pressurization and prevent an explosion.
My experience with steam boilers is mainly on the control end. I can pretty well lay out a full electronic control system, but that will require power and air and alot of expensive parts I don't want to have to buy. I'd like it to be a light it and leave it kinda deal where I can spend my time working instead of tuning and adjusting a fully automated system that I'll only need for a few hours after I get it going.
So, any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Should I just go simple with the box and blower or is the boiler feasible?
My first thought was a wood stove. Simple, easy to use, good heat, fairly inexpensive. However, I have 5 trees on my acre of land, no chainsaw, no where to cut wood, and I don't care for splitting and stacking very much. I'm not completely against doing it, but I'd rather do something else if I can.
My next thought was used oil. I have 5 running vehicles, two of which see off-road use and fluid changes are common. So, instead of hauling that somewhere to give it away, why not use it for heat? In looking for ideas, I found this: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me4.html It's a very easy to build unit and very cheap. Both pluses!
Now, it will create alot of heat and with the ceiling fan, it may do pretty good. But, I'd like to have some way to get the heat spread out in the garage better. I've had two ideas on this. First is to enclose it in a sheet metal box and add a blower motor to put the heat out in the shop. Basically the fan mounted low on the box to move air up and then the vent on the top of the box or maybe even a little ducting to put it out in two or three different places in there.
The second is to turn the heater into a boiler. Simple, maybe 10lb of pressure, if that and a couple radiators mounted above the drum. I was thinking that having the radiators drain back into the drum as the water condensed could eliminate the need for a feed water pump and level control.
In essence, the steam would rise from the drum, into the piping to the radiators. As the steam condensed in the radiators, releasing heat into the garage, the water would drop to the bottom of the radiators and drain back into the bottom of the drum where it could be re-heated. A 15lb pop-off mounted outside the building where no one will be burned in case of an over-pressurization and prevent an explosion.
My experience with steam boilers is mainly on the control end. I can pretty well lay out a full electronic control system, but that will require power and air and alot of expensive parts I don't want to have to buy. I'd like it to be a light it and leave it kinda deal where I can spend my time working instead of tuning and adjusting a fully automated system that I'll only need for a few hours after I get it going.
So, any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Should I just go simple with the box and blower or is the boiler feasible?
Due to the design of this type of burner, and depending on the dirtiness of your oil, you will have to shut it down every 8-12 hours of burn time, and clean out the burn pot. The plus side is that this is a fairly simple design, and easy to build with only a combustion fan requiring electricity.
