What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Type of heat

blazinzuk

blazinzuk

Buzzbox voodoo
GMOTM Winner
Joined
Dec 20, 2002
Posts
21,029
Reaction score
11,621
Location
Rexburg Idaho
So just thinking about my shop and wondering what everyone likes for heat.

Floor heat is what I want bit it simply might be out of my price range.

So radiant, wood stove, forced air? What do you like best.

Unlike most of the country our electric rates are very low. Just under 6¢ a kwh. Propane is not expensive but not the cheapest. We have no natural gas lines within 3 miles of our house so that's out. Although we do live on a major road so it could come someday.

I plan on doing something close to r 25 ish in the walls and r 40 in the attic. Shop is 30x40. Will have a single 16 to 18 ft wide door at 12 ft high with 2 man doors no windows.

If it all works out perfect shop will end up at 40x42 but probably not :)

BTW I intend to hear this all the time keeping it above 40° all the time. At the coldest times of the year that will mean a 60° degree heat rise
 
Ask 100 guys what type of heat is best,and you'll likely get as many different answers..

Every type has it pluses and minuses--electric is nice ,no open flames,heats up fast,but can be costly as hell in most areas..and your at the mercy of the power company--they decide to raise the rates,and your building has only electric heaters,your boned..

Forced hot air via an oil burner or gas furnace has the advantage of no costly plumbing and no fears of freezing in winter if the furnace goes off,and it heats all the objects in the room as well as the air..

Radiant heat is good if your working on the floor,but it can take hours to heat a big building,and probably not get it as warm as other types of heat..the risk of leaks in the slab plumbing is a concern,so is freezing,unless you run anti-freeze and water,which doesn't transfer heat as well as plain water...

Personally I love wood heat,but gathering firewood,cutting,splitting,and hauling it takes a lot of effort and your time,and the open flames could be a hazard in a garage you might want to paint something in,or happen to spill a bit of gas while working on a vehicle...wood stoves also give you a way to dispose of many trash items that you'd otherwise have to haul to a dump or pay to dispose of..(drain oil for example!)..

Coal is another alternative--a coal stove,once you get it stoked,will burn all day,and require only one or two refills a day,if it is a good sized one..if coal is readily available its a good alternative to wood..

Pellet stoves --eh--I dont care much for them--seems they fail often as far as the auger motors and computer circuit boards ,and they cant be used when power is out,and many cant take being run off an older non inverter type generator...your also at the mercy of the pellet suppliers,they can jack prices up or create "shortages" and then your stuck...

A waste oil heater is expensive,but could pay off in the long run if you have access too,or generate a lot of used oil working on vehicles.

A ceiling hung propane fan forced "Modine" type unit is good and fairly cheap to run...ditto for the gas powered "tube" type heaters that hang overhead...
 
Any heater using something other than wood your at the mercy of whatever company your buying from. So not a super big concern. I wouldn't mind having a wood stove but I can't go get wood myself so that gets spendy too.

If the power goes out for less than 6 hours the building itself should do a fairly good job keeping itself above freezing. As long as the doors don't get opened.

Like I said our electric rates are low.

I'm hoping to put in some type of heating system that will be efficient and cost effective and reliable.

That's kind of what I'm asking what has been most efficient and effective for you. I will have one chance to get this right.
 
I say a propane "Modine" Hanging style forced air heater would probably be your best bet. Then if Natural Gas every goes out your way you can change it over to run on Natural Gas and get rid of the propane tank.
Alot of guys use this style over on garagejournal.com They like it alot. If I ever get around to it this is the style I will get for my 20x30 garage.
 
my shop 50* all the time heat . https://ck5.com/forums/threads/shop-heater-it-s-alive.323287/

then if long days in shop fire this up https://ck5.com/forums/threads/24-inch-lift-kit-yet-functional.323361/

like them both for what there installed for .

if short time in shop I just turn up the modine a little and back to 50* when I go out .

best price I find anywere for modine . even my local friends couldn't touch them . http://shurailhvac.com/categories/Unit-heaters-/

here is how you figure out your heater needs . http://www.calculator.net/btu-calcu...=60&temperatureunit=f&calctype=heat&x=59&y=16
 
Yah I need around 60k btus IF I can build lime I want.

How much gas is a woodchuck paying for every month for the shop?

I might be looking at waste oil heaters. My buddy who is a farmer has currently over a thousand gallons of waste oil. Add that to the fact that they will have more every year and the fact he really enjoys the drive to my house might end up with a waste oil heater

Does anyone have a gas infared heater? Those have piqued my interest
 
I use a couple simple 4000w wall heaters....quick heat up, cheap (140$ each) and dry. non vented units create moisture....not an environment I like to have, so I switched from propane to the electric units.
 
waste oil is a have to watch it and tweek it all the time thing . depending on oil viscosity . or it will run rich / lean and cause problems down the road . but does work great . if you get one don't get the built in air compressor option they and LOUD and don't last .

my natural gas bill ? ? ? mom hasn't b!tched about the bill yet and I didn't tell her I installed one . . . . .

guys over on garage journal say 100lb propane tanks last them longer than they were thinking they would .
 
I have three sources of heat - Propane, wood and coal. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages.
Propane is the easiest, cleanest but can cost you if the price goes up like a couple of years ago.
Wood is the cheapest if you have your own source for wood, but it's labor intensive.
Coal is my go to right now ( in fact I just added a couple of scoops to it...Last fill up was last night around 8 pm ) Burns clean and gives off nice dry heat. Around here you looking at around $300 a ton ( Can get cheaper bulk not bagged pricing )
I didn't want electric, it cost to much out here on the Eastcoast.
 
also leaving my shop at 50* all the time makes warm up and warm all day easy .

4-6 sticks of split wood in the stove gets it up there quick and keeps it good for 4-5 hr's . then if need be 3-4 more and that will burn out long after I am in the house.
 
Been reading more and more.

To all you guys with a wood stove. Dies your insurance know?

I still need to call my insurance agent but I think I'm gonna put a 12 x 20 addition on. And make it into a studio apartment of sorts. We are quite worried about my mother and father in law. They have zero retirement. A house they still owe 25 years on. And my father in law has been self employed for years so social security wont even cover their house payment. Might try to put it in there and run some sort of ducting. Then it won't be in the garage.

I'm really leaning towards a gas tube infared heater and a woidstove.

All of this is of course speculation. Just gotta get a budget together and when we sell our house pare stuff out
 
My quonset is all steel,so the building inspector didn't seem too concerned about using a wood stove,and he said "as long as you have permits for the ones in the house,I wouldn't worry about them"--he said to keep them high up off the floor so any fumes that might arise wont be as easily ignited..

Only the contents would burn if I had a fire in the quonset,but I suppose if it were hot enough it could cause the steel arches to droop and cave in,and melt off all the zinc galvanizing..but the garage is far enough from the house it most likely wouldn't pose a big threat to the house...

I so far,have not had to get the property re-inspected by the insurer,since my mother passed 3 years ago,but no doubt if and when they do,I will not be surprised if I'm told the wood stoves will have to "go away",or else face a large increase in my insurance coverage costs...a friend told me his company wanted almost 500 more to insure his mothers house that had one for 30+ years and used every season,mostly because he "rents" the house to his mother...I guess "rentals" are more closely monitored and restricted...

If I could keep my stoves for another 300 a year,I think it'd be worth it...I save that much on fuel oil ,at least I did last year when it was 2-3 times more than it costs now..I'd hate to lose the "emergency back up" heat for the house--frozen pipes are costly for insurance to cover too,they should realize..

Ice dams here wreaked havoc last winter,and many people had their insurance cancelled as a result of all the claims,and now many companies are charging extra for that,also flooding is "separate" coverage...
 
My buddy heats his fairly large shop on waste oil alone. He has to clean it every year. I worked at a John Deere dealership for a few years, that also heated an even larger shop on waste oil alone. It also required annual cleaning.

They work well, esepecially if you can get hooked up with someone wanting to get rid of large quantities of waste oil. Is there much irrigation in your area? Also, it may be illegal to use someone elses waste oil. I am not sure.

Martin
 
The finished garage has an AC/heatpump that I installed. We get heat by using electricity and with 60 solar panels on the house, it makes all the power that the 2 ac units on the house and one on one of the garages uses. AC is used more often here, and the temp only gets down to the high 30's or low 40's when it is really cold. The 2 units on the house have gas heat but the garage didn't have a gas line close by and the heat pump was an old one that I replaced on a commercial building so the only cost was buying the duct work and registers. The OP's weather will be much different. It seems like in floor heat would work the best and might be ok since you plan to always keep the area heated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom